Woodstown gives coach Darren Huck his 299th career coaching victory in 4-0 shutout of Glassboro; also includes Tuesday’s Salem County sports results
BOYS SOCCER
Overbrook 2, Penns Grove 1 (OT)
Pennsville 5, Clayton 1
Salem Tech 4, Gloucester Catholic 3
Schalick 2, Pitman 0
Wildwood 9, Salem 0
Woodstown 4, Glassboro 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – The milestone has been on the horizon since the start of the season, but now it’s right there on the doorstep.
Adrian Ibarra scored twice and Ben Stengel came up with another shutout as Woodstown blanked Glassboro Tuesday 4-0 to give coach Darren Huck his 299th career coaching victory.
Huck, in his 26th season at the Wolverines’ helm, can become the second Salem County soccer coach to reach 300 wins as early as Thursday in the regular-season finale against Pitman at Alcyon Park.
Schalick’s boys coach Joe Mannella, Huck’s good friend and neighbor, became the first Salem County soccer coach to reach the milestone on Oct. 2.
“People would bring it up and I kept saying I’ve got a ways to go, I’ve got a ways to go, and here we are at 13-4,” Huck said. “It’s definitely a weird feeling because I’m a numbers guy, I love numbers in sports, I’m always looking at different statistics and stuff like that.
“You know how I am about the history of our soccer program, but when it came to me I never really thought about ever being in this situation. Whether I played it off as I don’t know if I’ll be coaching that long or maybe I won’t win as much as I did. As a coach I always downplayed that a little bit, but in all honesty for a while it was like that will be a while before I get to that.”
Ibarra gave the Wolverines (13-4) a 1-0 halftime lead, then scored the first goal of the second half and 46th of his career. Bryce Ayars made it 3-0 and Dante Holmes scored the final goal of the game. Stengel was credited with five saves in the shutout.
“My defense definitely stepped up; they’ve been stepping up all season,” Huck said. “We had a little talk at halftime – we were up 1-0 and were pretty much controlling the game – I looked right at Dante Holmes, my center back, and my two other backs and Ben and I said over the next 40 minutes you guys need to win this game for us. You keep them off the board we win the game.
“Allow the offense to keep working at it and working at it, but you know what you’ve got ahead of yourselves. It’s a 1-0 game and if you can lock ‘em down for 40 minutes than we’ve got ourselves win No. 13. And they did that.”
And it gave their coach win No. 299.
The victory also elevated the Wolverines to No. 2 in the current South Jersey Group I power points standings.
When Mannella joined the 300 Club at Wildwood, the feat was met with a commemorative game ball, balloons spelling out “300” and a healthy dousing from the water bucket. Not that Huck is expecting any of that when his entry into the 300 Club becomes official, but he has never had the water bucket treatment before.
“I always said I’d love to be able to share that (milestone) within the same year of him,” Huck told Riverview Sports News last month. “It also means we’ve been around a long time, too. We’ve had some very good players and, if anything, 300 is just a true testament to staying consistent and doing the right things.”
SALEM TECH 4, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 3: Clinton Bobo scored the tying and winning goals in the Chargers’ three-goal second-half rally that erased a 3-1 deficit. Aiden Bobo scored in the first half and Bobby Jones got the Chargers’ first goal in the second half.
“We were dragging in the first half,” Chargers coach Rob Polk said. “They were beating us to every ball over the field.
“We talked mainly at halftime about effort and coming out fast in the second half. We’ve been playing pretty well the last couple weeks and I was pretty confident if we came out and found a way to pop a goal in early the momentum would shift and more would follow. We were fortunate enough to finish an early chance and the game kind of opened up for us after that.”
The Chargers (5-10) have their eye on a school-record third straight win Thursday at Salem.
PENNSVILLE 5, CLAYTON 1: Shane Puckett scored the Eagles’ first three goals — his first career hat trick — and Ugur Elmali and J.P. Laughrey extended the lead with goals in the final three minutes.
SCHALICK 2, PITMAN 0: Oscar Hernandez and Luke Price scored first-half goals in the Cougars’ ninth straight victory. The Cougars (14-1) remain the No. 1 team in the South Jersey Group I power points standings.
WILDWOOD 9, SALEM 0: NuNu Bedderi and Gavin Burns both scored hat tricks for the Warriors. For Bedderi it was his second straight three-goal game. He now has 30 goals in his first season playing high school soccer in the United States.
OVERBROOK 2, PENNS GROVE 1 (OT)
GIRLS SOCCER
Wildwood at Salem
SCHALICK 4, PENNSVILLE 0: The Cougars outshot their hosts 24-6, scored two goals in each half and had four players light the lamp. Quinn Berger and Abby Willoughby scored in the first half, while Cali Fisler and Jael Winnberg scored in the second. (Related story posting soon)
WOODSTOWN 1, GLASSBORO 0: Sophie Wells scored the game’s only goal in the first half and goalie Ellie Wygand kept the Bulldogs out of the net to make it stand.
GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 6, SALEM TECH 0: Six players scored goals for the Rams.
OVERBROOK 7, PENNS GROVE 0: Gianna Simon scored four goals and Victoria Bupp had three.
GIRLS TENNIS
OVERBROOK 5, PENNS GROVE 0
Keira Riess (O) def. Alease Stewart, 6-0, 6-0
Nesrine Fosso (O) def. Andrea Restrepo, 6-0, 6-1
Sophia Burgos (O) def. Zeven Akkaya, 6-0, 6-1
Hillary Cho-Jennifer Giovanni (O) def. Janiyah Cummings-Makala Washington, 6-1, 6-2
Madison Rikard-Gianna Hardy (O) def. Elif Sagir-Gabriela Roman, 6-0, 6-0.
Records: Overbrook 6-14, Penns Grove 0-12
WOODSTOWN 4, WILDWOOD 1
Gabby Kurpis (Wo) def. Charlie Cunningham-Hackney, 6-0, 6-0
Camille Osborn (Wo) def. Cydnee Kilian, 6-1, 6-0
Angela Wilber (Wi) def. Aubrie Rennie, 6-2, 6-2
Alyssa Berry-Julianna Lindenmuth (Wo) def. Kiana D’Antuano-Estella Robinson, 6-1, 6-0
Leah Waterman-Nathalie Neron (Wo) def. Selin Ogden-Emma Contreras, 6-0, 6-1
Records: Woodstown 14-5, Wildwood 7-8
FIELD HOCKEY
Woodstown at St. Joe (Hamm.)
PENNSVILLE 1, OVERBROOK 1: Izzy Saulin scored in the fourth quarter to earn the Eagles (5-8-2) a tie.
VOLLEYBALL
Washington Twp. 2, Salem Tech 0 (25-11, 25-18)
Category: SCHALICK
So you say there’s a chance
Unofficial (but generally pretty accurate) UPR rankings has Penns Grove holding the final spot in the South Jersey Group I playoffs heading into final regular-season game; official list has Red Devils 20th
By Riverview Sports News
Penns Grove’s hopes for a spot in the Group I football playoffs may not be as far off as the final nine minutes of its game Saturday at Woodbury might have led one to believe.
In the South Jersey Group I power ratings updated Sunday by Gridiron New Jersey, the official supplier of the state’s UPR rankings that determine the 16-team playoff brackets, the Red Devils were No. 20, one full UPR point behind current No. 16 Audubon. The outlet noted its rankings would change “slightly” when it finalizes Strength Index Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Central Jersey Sports Radio index, which has been one of the most accurate unofficial UPR sources, has the Red Devils in a more favorable position. It lists them at No. 16, four-tenths of a point ahead of No. 17 Highland Park.
The Red Devils (1-7) wrap up their regular season Saturday at winless Salem (0-8) and will have to win the game to at least meet the minimum wins qualification for playoff consideration.
Their position looked strong early in the second half Saturday. They grabbed a nine-point lead early in the third quarter and carried it into the fourth. They held a two-point lead with less than six minutes to play, then misplayed a punt and fumbled a pitch that led to Woodbury touchdowns.
Woodstown, Schalick and Pennsville all seem safely in the field. If Pennsville gets in, it will be the Eagles’ first playoff appearance since 2019.
Here are the rankings according to the two groups:
SJ Group I power ratings
| TOP 16 | (as of Oct. 20) | |||
| SCHOOL | RECORD | POWER PTS | OSI | UPR |
| Glassboro | 7-0 | 12.00 | 57.08 | 2.4 |
| Woodstown | 7-0 | 11.57 | 61.83 | 3.0 |
| Shore | 7-0 | 13.71 | 45.61 | 3.4 |
| Paulsboro | 6-2 | 11.81 | 48.65 | 4.0 |
| Schalick | 5-3 | 10.13 | 49.7 | 5.4 |
| Haddon Twp. | 5-1 | 11.58 | 41.19 | 6.2 |
| Riverside | 6-2 | 12.13 | 38.32 | 8.0 |
| Middlesex | 6-2 | 11.38 | 40.13 | 8.2 |
| Burlington City | 5-3 | 10.50 | 39.67 | 9-2 |
| Pennsville | 4-4 | 8.44 | 40.94 | 10.4 |
| Woodbury | 3-4 | 7.71 | 42.88 | 10.8 |
| New Egypt | 5-2 | 8.86 | 38.67 | 11.0 |
| Manville | 6-2 | 9.25 | 37.35 | 11.8 |
| Clayton | 4-2-1 | 8.00 | 34.00 | 16.8 |
| Pt. Pleasant Beach | 4-3 | 7.71 | 35.68 | 16.8 |
| Audubon | 2-4 | 7.83 | 34.78 | 17.0 |
20. Penns Grove (1-7) 18.0, 21. Salem (0-8) 19.4. Source: Gridiron New Jersey
PROJECTED PLAYOFF MATCHUPS
(Based on current standings)
SOUTH JERSEY
Glassboro vs. Audubon
Middlesex vs. Burlington City
x-Paulsboro vs. New Egypt
x-Schalick vs. Manville
CENTRAL JERSEY
Shore vs. Clayton
Haddon Twp. vs. Woodbury
Riverside vs. Pennsville
Woodstown vs. Point Pleasant Beach
x-Schalick jumps Paulsboro based on head-to-head
CENTRAL JERSEY RADIO RANKINGS
South Jersey Group I Top 16
1. Glassboro, 2. Woodstown, 3. Shore, 4. Paulsboro, 5. Schalick, 6. Middlesex, 7. Haddon Twp., 8. Riverside, 9. Burlington City, 10. Woodbury, 11. Pennsville, 12. New Egypt, 13. Manville, 14. Clayton, 15. Audubon, 16. Penns Grove.
If this scenario remains, Penns Grove would play Glassboro or Woodstown in the first round of the playoffs, depending on who wins that game Friday night.
This week’s schedule
Here is this week’s Salem County sports schedule for the week of Oct. 21-26
OCT. 21
FIELD HOCKEY
Salem at Gloucester Catholic
Schalick at Deptford
Woodstown at Overbrook
GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville at Overbrook, 3:45 p.m.
Pitman at Salem
Woodstown at Schalick
BOYS SOCCER
Bridgeton at Penns Grove
Salem at Camden County Tech
CROSS COUNTRY
State Tech Championship at Salem Tech
VOLLEYBALL
Cape May County Tech at Salem Tech
OCT. 22
BOYS SOCCER
Glassboro at Woodstown
Gloucester Catholic at Salem Tech
Overbrook at Penns Grove
Pennsville at Clayton
Pitman at Schalick, 6 p.m.
Salem at Wildwood
GIRLS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Overbrook
Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic
Schalick at Pennsville
Wildwood at Salem
Woodstown at Glassboro
GIRLS TENNIS
Overbrook at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Wildwood
FIELD HOCKEY
Pennsville at Overbrook
Woodstown at St. Joe (Hamm.)
VOLLEYBALL
Washington Twp. at Salem Tech
WOMENS COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Cecil College at Salem CC, 6 p.m.
OCT. 23
FIELD HOCKEY
Salem at Schalick
GIRLS TENNIS
Glassboro at Woodstown
Salem at Overbrook
Wildwood at Penns Grove
CROSS COUNTRY
Tri-County Showcase at Cumberland
OCT. 24
FIELD HOCKEY
Woodstown at Hammonton
BOYS SOCCER
Gloucester Catholic at Pennsville
Woodstown at Pitman
Salem Tech at Salem
Schalick at Penns Grove
GIRLS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Schalick
Salem at Salem Tech
Pennsville at Woodstown
GIRLS TENNIS
Schalick at Pennsville (conclusion of susp. match), 3:45 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Timber Creek at Salem Tech
OCT. 25
FOOTBALL
Woodstown at Glassboro, 6 p.m.
Audubon at Camden Catholic
Paulsboro at Clayton, TBA
Collingswood at Pennsville
Overbrook at West Deptford
Woodbury at Schalick, 6 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Pennsville at Overbrook
Salem Tech at Wildwood Catholic
GIRLS SOCCER
Salem at Paulsboro
GIRLS TENNIS
Woodstown at Pennsville
FIELD HOCKEY
Gloucester Catholic at Salem
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic
OCT. 26
FOOTBALL
Salem at Penns Grove, noon
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick at Williamstown, 10 a.m.
MENS COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Baltimore JUCO Jamboree
Salem CC vs. Anne Arundel, noon
Salem CC vs. Southern Maryland, 6 p.m.
Friday sports report
Here are the scores from Friday’s high school sports action involving teams from Salem County
FRIDAY, OCT. 18
FIELD HOCKEY
Egg Harbor Twp. 0, Woodstown 0
BOYS SOCCER
Salem Tech 2, Clayton 1
Salem at Gloucester Catholic
Schalick 4, Glassboro 1
Woodstown 3, Overbrook 1
GIRLS SOCCER
Clayton 5, Salem Tech 0
Gloucester Catholic at Salem
Pennsville 3, Penns Grove 0
Woodstown 3, Overbrook 1
GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville 5, Salem 0
Pitman 5, Penns Grove 0
Schalick at Glassboro
VOLLEYBALL
Triton 2, Salem Tech 0 (25-4, 25-5)
Big plays bite Cougars
Glassboro uses three big pass plays early to seize control, then shuts down Schalick in second half to remain undefeated; Pennsville crushes Lawrence to enhance playoff hopes
FRIDAY SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
Pennsville 35, Lawrence 7
Glassboro 20, Schalick 10
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Every season when the West Jersey Football League schedule comes out the history buffs on the Schalick coaching staff, of which head coach Mike Wilson is a big one, start looking for that one game the Cougars call their “Stalingrad game.”
It’s the kind of game the Cougars look to play in close quarters and wait for their opponent who likes to play in the open field to become impatient.
Sometimes, though, the best laid plans just aren’t enough against superior forces. Instead of getting caught up in the Cougars’ “Rattenkrieg,” Glassboro played “Bombs Away” Friday night.
The Bulldogs hit their hosts with three big pass plays in the first half to either set up or score touchdowns to seize control of the scoreboard in an eventual 20-10 victory that kept them undefeated and sets up a presumptive WJFL Diamond Division title game next week with Woodstown.
“That was 100 percent the game plan, to shorten the game, the only thing we didn’t do, we gave up three big plays – again,” Wilson said. “We didn’t change anything. We stayed patient the entire game. No unnecessary risks. It came down to three big plays, which we coached all week. We just didn’t execute.”
In hopes of frustrating the Bulldogs (7-0) into making a mistake, the Cougars (5-3) wanted to play a ball-control style of offense, picking up three and four yards at a time, to chew up a lot of game clock and play field position. It’s the same approach they took when they played in Bulldogs in last year’s 20-0 Central Jersey Group I title game.
Glassboro beat the strategy Friday by holding the Cougars to a three-and-out on the opening possession and then connecting on a 52-yard pass from Kristopher Foster to Mekhi Parker on its first offensive play of the game. The bomb set up Kenny Smith’s 4-yard touchdown run seven plays later to open the scoring.
Later in the half, Foster connected on a 70-yard touchdown pass to Amari Sabb on the first play of the second quarter and a 63-yard scoring strike to Xavier Sabb 3:41 before halftime to make 20-3. Foster was 4-of-7 for 187 yards passing in the first half and threw for 206 yards in the game.
“We trust the players we’ve got,” Glassboro coach Timmy Breaker said. “We knew they were going to load the box. On film they blitz, blitz, blitz, blitz, blitz, so we came out to take a shot first play of the game.”
Xavier Sabb’s touchdown catch was a thing of beauty. He turned in one direction on the pattern to counter the cornerback, Foster put the ball on his other shoulder and Sabb twisted back in midair to catch it and go.
“I really closed my eyes, honestly,” he said. “I just trusted my hands. I knew he was going to dive at me so I picked my legs up and it was over after that.”
“Special kid, special talent and you’ll see a lot of that from him,” Breaker said. “He’s a gamer. Explosive. At any point in time in the game he can take over the game.”
Schalick scored 10 points in the second quarter on Hunter Dragotta’s 32-yard field goal and Kenai Simmons’ 18-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Sheehan.
The Cougars shut out Glassboro in the second half – even made a goal line stand after the Bulldogs returned the second half kickoff 67 yards to the 19 – but they couldn’t generate any offense as the Bulldogs cranked up the defense.
Glassboro held Schalick to just nine yards of net offense in the second half.
“Take those three plays out it’s 10-0,” Wilson said. “That’s the kind of game we wanted to play. We moved the ball decently here and there. Defensively I thought we played well outside of those plays. In a game like that it just came down to a couple plays and we lost them again.”
Glassboro 20, Schalick 10
| GLASS (20) | SCHAL (10) | |
| 9 | 1st Downs | 10 |
| 33-143 | Rushing | 27-34 |
| 8-13-1 | C-A-I | 7-16-1 |
| 206 | Passing | 121 |
| 2-1 | Fum-lost | 4-0 |
| 0-0 | Punts | 4-27.5 |
| 15-118 | Penalties | 4-20 |
| Glassboro (7-0) | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0- | 20 |
| Schalick (5-3) | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0- | 10 |
SCORING SUMMARY
G-Kenny Smith 4 run (kick failed), 5:45 1Q
G-Amari Sabb 70 pass from Kristopher Foster (Sal Esgro kick), 11:47 2Q
S-Hunter Dragotta 32 FG, 6:46 2Q
G-Xavier Sabb 63 pass from Kristopher Foster (Sal Esgro kick), 3:41 2Q
S-Dylan Sheehan 18 pass from Kenai Simmons (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:21 2Q
Cover photo: Glassboro’s Xavier Sabb (0) had a 63-yard touchdown catch against Schalick. (Photo by Heather Papiano)
Pennsville bounces back
LAWRENCE – Moments after his team lost to Paulsboro last Saturday, Pennsville coach Mike Healy told his players there was still plenty in the season to play for, but now there was no room for error.
The Eagles bounced back on a long road trip to Mercer County Friday night. They played as if their playoff lives depended on it, jumped out to a big halftime lead and eventually put away Group IV Lawrence 35-7.
“We were very honest with the kids that we didn’t have any more wiggle room, we had to get the job done,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “The big thing for us is from the opening kickoff we showed up.
“I told them before the game we need to be physical the entire game and we need to be aggressive all game, we need to play with effort the entire game. I thought for the first half today we really showed up and did those things. We’ve had some games where we’re lacking one of those things, but I thought today we played up to our potential.”
Quarterback Robbie McDade ran for one touchdown and threw a pair of touchdown passes to Luke Wood and Rylan Hardy rushed for two scores. Hardy remains on track to become the Eagles’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Nick Bard in 2017 (1,657 yards).
The Eagles were up 22-0 with 2:03 left in the first half. They made it 28-0 with 14 seconds left and after the Cardinals fumbled the first play after the kickoff McDade threw his second TD pass to Wood with five second left in the half to make it 35-0.
“It was a pretty cool end to the half,” Healy said
WJFL Standings
| DIAMOND DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Glassboro (4) | 4-0 | 7-0 |
| Woodstown (1) | 3-0 | 6-0 |
| Schalick (6) | 2-2 | 5-3 |
| Woodbury (11) | 1-2 | 2-4 |
| Penns Grove (20) | 0-3 | 1-6 |
| Salem (23) | 0-3 | 0-7 |
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power ranking through Oct. 12
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro 20, Schalick 10
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Penns Grove at Woodbury
Woodstown at Salem
| PATRIOT DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Camden Catholic (NPB-3) | 5-0 | 7-0 |
| Paulsboro (5) | 5-1 | 6-2 |
| West Deptford (G2-13) | 3-2 | 4-4 |
| Pennsville (12) | 2-3 | 4-4 |
| Audubon (13) | 1-3 | 2-3 |
| Collingswood (G2-16) | 1-4 | 3-5 |
| Overbrook (G2-25) | 0-4 | 2-4-1 |
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power rankings through Oct. 12 (G2-Group 2, NPB-Non Public B)
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Pennsville 35, Lawrence 8
Camden Catholic 55, Collingswood 0
Paulsboro 18, West Deptford 12
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Audubon at Overbrook
Scurry, Alward reach milestones
Here are the scores and highlights from Thursday’s high school action involving Salem County teams
FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick 9, Overbrook 1: Ava Scurry and Luci Virga both had three goals and two assists as the Cougars remained unbeaten (14-0-1). Phoebe Alward had two goals and two assists and Addi Shimp scored once.
Scurry, who plays multiple sports for the Cougars but is a field hockey player at heart, has scored a goal in six straight games with three hat tricks in the stretch. Her second goal Thursday was the 50th of her career.
That wasn’t the only milestone in the game. Alward picked up her 50th point of the season to surpass 100 points in her career.
Clearview 7, Woodstown 0: Alaina Lomonaco had a hat trick and Ella Candy scored twice. It was Lomonaco’s third game of three goals or more this season and gave her a single-season career-high 16 goals on the year.
Pennsville at Bridgeton
Salem at Clayton
GIRLS TENNIS
Penns Grove at Schalick
WOODSTOWN 4, OVERBROOK 1
Keira Riess (O) def. Gabby Kurpis, 7-5, 6-3, 10-7
Camille Osborn (Wo) def. Nesrine Fosso, 6-0, 6-0
Aubrie Rennie (Wo) def. Sophia Burgos, 6-1, 6-1
Julianna Lindenmuth-Leah Waterman (Wo) def. Hillary Cao-Jennifer Giovanni, 6-0, 6-3
EvaLouise Thomsen-Melissa Hassler (Wo) def. Madison Rikard-Gianna Hardy, 6-0, 6-0
Records: Woodstown 12-5, Overbrook 4-13.
GLASSBORO 5, SALEM 0
Ella Killelea (G) def. Cassidy Werkheiser, 6-1, 6-0
Kaylee Johnson (G) def. Tytiana Miller, 6-1, 6-1
Halle Lazarus (G) def. Angelina Fothergill, 6-1, 6-0
Records: Glassboro 5-8, Salem 1-9.
Group I Final Four
New Providence 4, Pitman 1
Glen Rock 3, Hanover Park 2
Championship: New Providence 5, Glen Rock 0
BOYS SOCCER
Pitman 5, Penns Grove 0
Slow to start
It isn’t easy being a first-year head football coach and in Salem County it’s been particularly challenging
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
Every football coach who comes into a new situation brings with him enthusiasm and optimism. He usually gets his first win even before the team takes the field, winning the introductory press conference.
Winning on the field, well, that takes a little longer as he tries to make headway against the reality of the underlying circumstances that brought him to the position in the first place.
It isn’t easy being a first-year head football coach and in Salem County it’s been a particularly bumpy ride.
This year has seen the largest turnover of head coaching spots among the county’s five football-playing schools since 2006 – three (Penns Grove, Salem, Woodstown) – and for two of them it’s been a tough go.
Woodstown’s Frank Trautz has had the best of it, going 6-0 with two regular season games remaining after being promoted from within an already winning staff. But it hasn’t been quite so rosy for Penns Grove’s Marc Maccarone or Salem’s Kemp Carr, two outside hires who are 1-6 and 0-7, respectively, going into this weekend’s games.
But the struggles have been the norm for new Salem County coaches. Of the 18 first-year head coaches over the last 21 years, only four have had winning first-year campaigns – Seth Brown (Schalick), Ryan Wood (Pennsville), Montrey Wright (Salem) and Trautz – but they’re the unicorns. Eleven have had losing seasons and three have broken even.
Only eight have gotten to the playoffs in their first year, with Trautz expected to join that list this year. The Wolverines are currently the No. 1 team in the South Jersey Group I power points standings.
“Where a school is hiring a football coach it’s rarely a good situation,” said Schalick head coach Mike Wilson, who went 0-7 his first year with the Cougars to 11-1 last season. “Most of the time the program has struggled and there’s a reason why they’re looking for a coach. There’s not too many programs where you just hand it off and they keep it rolling. It does happen, but usually it’s not a great job when you get that first job; there’s a lot of work to do.”
The chart below documents the struggles of Salem County’s most recent first-year coaches. It’s not an indictment on their coaching ability. Almost all of them have gone on to produce multiple winning/championship seasons once they got their program in place; Carr and Maccarone won championships at other postings. It’s just an illustration of how hard it is to get it started.
“The coach can only control so much,” Wilson said. “They need the support of the school, the administration, the community, the parents; it’s a total group effort. And you need patience because a year turnaround doesn’t happen. You need patience, your school needs patience and if you don’t have support of those other things there’s only so much you can do.
”It really comes down to how much does the school, the administration and the community want football to be successful, because if you’re trying to build a program you need all those things. It takes time and patience. Just show up and play football from August to November, you can’t do that anymore.”
Once that first-year coach gets his program blueprint established and starts to taste a little success, a whole new set of challenges present themselves. The next goal becomes finding a way to maintain that success. That, friends, is a whole different conversation.
Cover photo: Salem County’s three new head football coaches (from left) Woodstown’s Frank Trautz, Salem’s Kemp Carr and Penns Grove’s Marc Maccarone.
First Year Salem County Football Coaches (Since 2003)
| COACH | YEAR | SCHOOL | RECORD | PLAYOFFS |
| (x-in progress) | ||||
| Dennis Orando | 2003 | Penns Grove | 2-8 | No |
| Kemp Carr | 2004 | Penns Grove | 2-8 | No |
| Rob Hinson | 2005 | Salem | 5-5 | Yes, 0-1 |
| Seth Brown | 2006 | Schalick | 8-3 | Yes, 1-1 |
| Frank Larubio | 2006 | Woodstown | 5-5 | No |
| Steve Sheffield | 2006 | Salem | 3-7 | No |
| Randy Johnson | 2009 | Salem | 2-8 | No |
| Ryan Wood | 2009 | Pennsville | 7-3 | Yes, 0-1 |
| John Adams | 2010 | Woodstown | 3-7 | No |
| Dennis Thomas | 2013 | Salem | 5-6 | Yes, 1-1 |
| John Emel | 2014 | Penns Grove | 5-5 | Yes, 0-1 |
| Montrey Wright | 2015 | Salem | 8-2 | Yes, 0-1 |
| Mike Healy | 2017 | Pennsville | 4-6 | Yes, 0-1 |
| Mike Wilson | 2020 | Schalick | 0-7 | No |
| Danny Mendoza | 2023 | Salem | 2-8 | Yes, 0-1 |
| Marc Maccarone | 2024 | Penns Grove | x-1-6 | |
| Kemp Carr | 2024 | Salem | x-0-7 | |
| Frank Trautz | 2024 | Woodstown | x-6-0 |
Quick strike
Penns Grove scores in first 20 seconds of the match, goes on to beat Pennsville in boys soccer, includes Wednesday’s Salem County results
WEDNESDAY BOYS SOCCER
Penns Grove 2, Pennsville 0
Pitman 6, Salem 0
Woodstown 4, Salem Tech 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – If you missed the start of Wednesday’s Penns Grove-Pennsville soccer game, even by a minute, you missed half of the goals in the game.
Junior midfielder Joey Schultz packed a pass from Sebastian Hernandez into the upper right corner 21 seconds into the match to send Penns Grove on its way to a 2-0 victory that garnered the Red Devils some valuable power points.
“I can’t remember one happening that fast, to be honest with you,” Penns Grove coach Mano Massari said. “I’ve been here about nine years coaching, started four years here as a player, I’ve never seen one that fast.”
The goal wasn’t a case of the Red Devils simply kicking the ball into the Pennsville end, chasing it down and putting it away before anyone knew what hit them.
Pennsville went long with the opening kick as it’s been known to do when it gets the first ball. The Red Devils gained possession and Hernandez made a long run up the right wing with Schultz trailing right behind.
Hernandez drew in a couple defenders, saw an open space and pushed a Bangu ball to Schultz who had peeled off towards the six in the box and beat Eagles keeper Coen Rinnier.
“We’ve been working on that a lot, transitioning from defense to offense,” Massari said. “We feel like we’ve lacked doing that early in the season. We’ve been practicing transitioning up together as one and what we’ve been practicing’s been working, and it showed there in the first 20 seconds of the game. That’s why we practice these things.”
Schultz remembers getting an assist that early in a game with his club team before, but he’s never scored that quickly before. He was looking forward to seeing the replay on the game film.
“That spark came through,” he said. “It really made me feel good. It brought a lot out of me. It makes me want to take this a little more serious, I guess.”
It certainly got the Eagles’ attention. No one ever expects to be in catch-up mode that quickly into a match.
“I had barely turned around and the ball was in the back of our net,” Pennsville coach Derek Foglein said. “We talked about the fact that this season when we’ve been on the front foot and we’ve jumped on teams it made the difference and when good teams come out and jump on us it makes a difference. Ultimately, that was a huge difference there.
“That first goal, when you blink and now you’re chasing the game … We knew they were a really strong defensive team so trying to find one goal was going to be hard enough and now we need to find at least one to send it to overtime.”
The early goal gave the Red Devils confidence and calmed them. They made it 2-0 with 17:42 left in the half on an own goal credited to Edward Swank. The Eagles settled into the second half, but had a two-goal deficit to overcome.
Schultz wasn’t in at the finish. He hurt his right ankle playing a 50-50 ball early in the game and eventually was lifted for precautionary reasons. The Red Devils have another big game Thursday night at Pitman, a match that could keep their dream of landing a first-round home playoff game alive.
The Red Devils started the season 1-3 and lost their leading scorer to a broken leg, but they’ve won three of their last five and are now tenth in the South Jersey Group I power points standings. They’re about a half-point out of the final first-round home game in the bracket.
“We want to make it to the dance, we want to make it to the playoffs,” Massari said. “Ideally I’d like a home playoff game. I want these guys to experience that; they deserve it. We put ourselves in a hole in the beginning of the year, starting to get hot at the right time.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead. I’d like us to just focus on tomorrow. I feel good about where we’re at, I feel good about the way we’re playing, but I’m trying to get them to understand we’re not looking past our next opponent.”
WOODSTOWN 4, SALEM TECH 0: Adrian Ibarra scored twice, Bryce Ayars scored for the second game in a row and Blake Bialecki netted a goal. The win takes Wolverines coach Darren Huck to within three of 300 career coaching wins.
PITMAN 6, SALEM 0: Brayden Carr scored two goals and assisted on both of Lucas Razze’s goals to lead the Panthers (7-5-1).
Cover photo: Penns Grove’s Sebastian Hernandez pushes the ball upfield against Pennsville Wednesday.
GIRLS SOCCER
Gloucester at Schalick
Penns Grove at Paulsboro
Pennsville 6, Salem 0
Woodstown 7, Salem Tech 0: The Wolverines (9-4-1) got goals from seven players, including Talia Battavio’s 57th career goal. Their last six wins have all been by shutout.
GIRLS TENNIS
Schalick 4, Haddon Heights 1
Pennsville 5, Millville 0: Eagles coach Dan LaMont gets his 300th career win with the Pennsville girls program. (Related story posting soon)
Tuesday sports report
Here are the results of Tuesday’s high school action involving Salem County teams
GIRLS TENNIS
Group I Sectional Finals
Pitman 4, Pennsville 1 (see related story)
Regular Season
Schalick 3, Wildwood 2
SALEM 5, PENNS GROVE 1
Cassidy Werkheiser (S) def. Amaris Butler, 6-3, 6-3
Tytiana Miller (S) won by forfeit
Tahirah Davenport-White (S) def. Janiyah Cummings, 6-3, 6-4
Destiny Carr-Heaven Jones-McCullough (S) def. Emma Griffin-Makala Washington, 6-1, 6-0
JaNye Hubbard-Bianca Gibson (S) def. Elif Sagir-Gabriela Roman, 6-0, 6-1
Records: Salem 1-8, Penns Grove 0-10.
FIELD HOCKEY
Pennsville 2, Deptford 0: Kylie Harris and Makenzie Widener scored first-half goals for the Eagles (5-7-1)
Glassboro 2, Salem 1: Jocelyn O’Brien scored her second goal of the game with 6:03 left in the third quarter to snap a 1-1 tie. Kashira Patterson gave Salem (5-4-1) a 1-0 lead with a first-quarter goal.
Schalick 2, St. Joe (Hamm.) 2: Ava Scurry (28th) and Phoebe Alward (15th) scored goals as the Cougars remained unbeaten (13-0-1).
CROSS COUNTRY
Calhoun County boys champion Karson Chew of Woodstown finished second in the boys race at the TCC Batch Meet at Kingsway. He ran 18:16.07. Teammate Jacob Marino was sixth (18:31.61).
Woodstown’s Abby Marino, the county runner-up, was the fastest Salem County finisher in the girls race, coming in fourth at 21:04.09. Salem Tech’s Sarah Seiden was eighth (22:45.31).
Good as gold
Weber’s golden goal PK lifts Schalick over Palmyra in battle of South Jersey Group I’s top two power teams
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — Joe Mannella has been part of a lot of big wins in his 20-plus years as Schalick’s soccer coach, but he might not have had one with as much grit as the one his Cougars pulled off Monday.
Playing a man down for nearly 55 minutes because of a first-half red card to their captain, the Cougars scored two goals short-handed and kept their opponent at bay to beat Palmyra 2-1 in overtime and take a big step towards claiming the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I tournament.
Schalick came into the game ranked No. 1 in the SJ-I power points standings. Palmyra was No. 2. Both teams have beaten current No. 3 Audubon. The Cougars (12-1) now hold a nearly a seven-point lead over Palmyra (9-3) and Audubon.
To make the win even sweeter, Palmyra beat the Cougars twice last year, including the South Jersey Group I final – in overtime.
This time, it was the Cougars prevailing in overtime, with junior midfielder Jaxon Weber getting the game-winner on a penalty kick 7:19 into the first extra period.
“Result wise, the way they responded to losing their captain is phenomenal,” Mannella aid. “If it were just that, then I would be completely pumped. But we keep having these episodes where we lose a little bit of our discipline and if you want to do the things we want to do, I don’t think you get away with that long term. You’re dodging bullets at that point.
“But soccer wise, today, they answered the called and showed a lot of guts. If you said Palmyra had a 1-0 lead at halftime and you’re down to 10 men what are your odds, but I felt from the way they responded you just felt that wasn’t going to make that much of a difference.”
The Cougars were thrown into the short-handed situation when senior captain Eli Cummings was red-carded for a handball trying to protect the left side of Schalick’s net with 7:35 left in the first half.
Cummings looked like he was instinctively trying to protect his face when Connor Jones’ header bounded his way, but he was carded for intentionally trying to stop a goal-scoring opportunity. The play put Cole McCamy on the spot and he put the PK past Evan Sepers to give Palmyra a 1-0 lead.
After the play the Cougars seemed more determined than ever to get after it.
“After going down 10 men in the first half I felt like it lit a fire in us,” senior midfielder Louis Sepers said. “We came out way harder in the second half, put our heads to it and worked really hard.”
“I feel like I played harder,” Weber admitted, “because he’s our captain and he backs us up on everything and I know I had to go even harder just for him.”
About the only tactical difference was the Cougars moved two strikers up and pinched in their wings.
“It’s rough, but you have to bounce back; you have to pick up your heads and you just play like a team,” sophomore Luke Price said. “You play your normal way of soccer and keep going on from that. You can’t let your head drop.”
They got the tying goal with 25:41 left in the second half when Sepers redirected a shot off his shoulder just inside the left post off a corner kick. He has scored in each of the Cougars’ last four games and three of them have been similar to the one he got Monday.
The goal got the Cougars to overtime, but they were still a man down. Weber won it on a golden goal penalty kick with 2:41 left in the first overtime. It was his third successful PK this year. He was going to shoot to his right, then tucked it into the left side of the cage.
He got the opportunity when Price was shoved by the Palmyra keeper after a scoring chance moments earlier.
“It was really nerve wracking when I saw him go and almost save it, but it went in,” Weber said. “I was going to go right. It’s that little over thinking, but you’ve got to stay confident in what you’ve already done.”
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
POWER POINTS STANDINGS
(Top 16 through Oct. 14)
| SCHOOL | W-L-T | POINTS |
| Schalick | 12-1 | 25.264 |
| Palmyra | 9-4 | 18.422 |
| Audubon | 9-3 | 18.316 |
| Haddon Twp. | 8-2-2 | 16.669 |
| Woodstown | 10-4 | 16.269 |
| Riverside | 8-5-1 | 14.502 |
| Pitman | 6-5-1 | 13.697 |
| Wildwood | 8-3-1 | 13.398 |
| Maple Shade | 7-4-1 | 12.777 |
| Glassboro | 5-5-1 | 12.317 |
| Penns Grove | 5-6 | 12.159 |
| Gateway | 5-7 | 10.198 |
| Pennsville | 8-6 | 9.214 |
| Clayton | 6-7 | 7.020 |
| Woodbury | 3-8 | 6.764 |
| Buena | 0-9-1 | 5.178 |
Riverview Sports News 