Category: SCHALICK

This week’s schedule

The start of regular-season high school football and Salem CC’s inaugural game highlights the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Aug. 24-29; football games from WJFL, x-scrimmage

MONDAY, AUG. 24
BOYS SOCCER
x-Penns Grove at Deptford, 10 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
x-Deptford at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Lower Cape May, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Clearview at Woodstown, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY, AUG. 25
FIELD HOCKEY
x-Audubon at Schalick, 10 a.m.
x-Highland at Salem Tech, 10 a.m.
x-Salem at West Deptford, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
x-Vineland at Schalick, 9:30 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
x-Salem at Cumberland, 10 a.m.
x-Schalick at Vineland, 10 a.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Schalick at Buena

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 26
BOYS SOCCER
x-Medford Tech at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
x-Camden Academy Charter at Salem Tech
GIRLS SOCCER
Woodstown at Haddon Twp., 9 a.m.
x-Bridgeton at Salem, 10 a.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
x-Williamstown at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
x-Pennsville at Vineland, 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Ocean City, 11 a.m.
Schalick at Middle Twp.
VOLLEYBALL
x-Lindenwold at Salem Tech, 10:30 a.m.

THURSDAY, AUG. 27
FOOTBALL
Pitman at Wildwood, 11 a.m.
Woodstown at Pennsville, 6 p.m.
Riverside at Clayton, 6 p.m.
Overbrook at Haddonfield, 7 p.m.
Pope John vs. Washington Twp, 1 p.m.
Princeton vs. Ocean City, 4 p.m.
Donovan Catholic vs. Kingsway, 5:30 p.m.
Nottingham at Northern Burlington, 6 p.m.
Seneca at Lenape, 6 p.m.
WW-Plaiinsboro at J.P. Stevens, 6 p.m.
Cinnaminson at Lower Cape May, 6 p.m.
Middle Twp. at Gateway, 6 p.m.
Pemberton at Cherry Hill West, 6 p.m.
Eastern at Hunterdon Central, 6 p.m.
Rahway at Willingboro, 6 p.m.
Middletown South at Cherokee, 6 p.m.
Lawrence at Lacey, 6 p.m.
Pleasantville at Mainland, 6 p.m.
Vineland at Delsea, 6 p.m.
Burlington Twp. vs. Passaic Tech, 6:15 p.m.
Hightstown at Holmdel, 6:30 p.m.
Sterling at Pt. Pleasant Boro, 6:30 p.m.
Shabazz vs. Atlantic City, 7 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
x-KIPP at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
x-Millville at Schalick, 10 a.m.
x-Pennsville at Palmyra, 10 a.m.
x-Penns Grove at Highland, 10 a.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
x-Friends Central at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
x-Salem, Bridgeton, Nottingham at Cumberland, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
x-Bridgeton at Salem, 10 a.m.

FRIDAY, AUG. 28
FOOTBALL
Maple Shade at Schalick, 6 p.m.
New Egypt at Buena, 6 p.m.
Woodbury at Deptford, 6 p.m.
Kinnelon vs. West Deptford, 10 a.m.
Camden Catholic vs. Pennsauken, noon
Wayne Valley vs. Rancocas Valley, 1 p.m.
Delran vs. Cherry Hill East, 2:30 p.m.
Shawnee vs. Old Bridge, 4 p.m.
Ewing vs. Franklin, 4 p.m.
Mastery Camden at Haddon Heights, 4:30 p.m.
Barnegat at Absegami, 5 p.m.
Williamstown vs. Timber Creek, 5 p.m.
Highland vs. Oakcrest, 6 p.m.
Conwell-Egan (Pa.) at St. Joe (Hamm.), 6 p.m.
Moorestown at Bishop Eustace, 6 p.m.
Gloucester Catholic at Paul VI, 6 p.m.
Bonner Predergast (Pa.) at St. Augustine, 6 p.m.
Clearview at Cumberland, 6 p.m.
Long Branch at Hammonton, 6 p.m.
Hopewell Valley at Montgomery, 6 p.m.
St. Mary (Ruth.) at Notre Dame, 6 p.m.
Trenton at Pennsbury (Pa.), 7 p.m.
Warren Hills at Voorheen, 7 p.m.
New Hope-Solebury (Pa.) at South Hunterdon, 7 p.m.
Egg Harbor at Robbinsville, 7 p.m.
Glassboro vs. Immaculate, 8 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
x-Salem at Camden Academy Charter, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
x-Pennsville at Gloucester, 9 a.m.
x-Woodstown at Deptford, 9 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Cedar Creek at Schalick, 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Audubon, 10 a.m.

SATURDAY, AUG. 29
FOOTBALL
Salem at Ironton (Ohio), 1 p.m.
Paulsboro at KIPP, noon
Burlington City vs. Steinert, 5 p.m.
Southern vs. Bridgeton, 10 a.m.
Skyridge (Utah) at Hun, 11 a.m.
Atlantic Tech at Lakewood, noon
Hamilton West vs. Morris Knolls, noon
Simon Gratz (Pa.) at Camden Eastside, 1 p.m.
Cedar Grove vs. Gloucester, 1 p.m.
Collingswood vs. Pinelands, 2:30 p.m.
Monsignor Farrell (NY) vs. Holy Spirit, 4 p.m.
Camden at Imhotep Charter (Pa.), 6 p.m.
Erasmus Hall (NY) vs. Millville, 7 p.m.
Winslow vs. Neptune, 8 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
x-Woodstown at Williamstown, 9 a.m.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Hudson Valley CC vs. Salem CC, Pennsville H.S., 1 p.m.

The inner light

Schalick scrapped the 7-on-7s, spent all summer working to perfect the things it does best to ‘take the next step’

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Say what you will about 7-on-7 not being real football, but a lot of teams take advantage of the platform over the summer to work on their passing game – on both sides of the ball – even if the big linemen aren’t there to provide protection.

Schalick used to be one of those teams and it still might be in the future, but this summer the Cougars took a step back from the traditional offseason exercise, doing what head coach Kevin Leamy called “staying low key and just putting in a lot of … old-fashioned hard work and getting prepared.”

SCHALICK COUGARS
Aug. 28 – Maple Shade, 6 p.m.
Sept. 4 – Burlington City, 6 p.m.
Sept. 11 – at Woodstown, 6 p.m.
Sept. 18 – Salem, 6 p.m.
Sept. 26 – at Paulsboro, 11 a.m.
Oct. 1 – at Cumberland, 6 p.m.
Oct. 9 – Penns Grove, 6 p.m.
Oct. 16 – Pennsville, 6 p.m.
Oct. 22 – at Overbrook, 7 p.m.

The Cougars did four years of 7-on-7s when Mike Wilson was head coach, and they continued last year in Leamy’s first season, but given their approach to offense and the experience of the team they had, the thought was to just keep things in-house and work on making what they do best even better. As such, they didn’t see another color uniform after last year’s South Jersey Group 1 championship game until their first preseason scrimmage against Delsea on Aug. 18.

“Time will tell if it was good,” Leamy said. “We feel like it was the right decision. The kids are on board with it. Everyone has bought in to the reason why we haven’t done it. Now time will tell whether we’re the idiots who are the only ones not doing it or maybe we’re on to something.

“For us, my No. 1 thing is I had a schedule that worked really well that was allowing kids to be kids for their summer and we were going to limit the amount of times we were here. But when you limit time you only have so much time to get things done. So, in my view, taking that extra day we would’ve done a 7-on-7 and making it a practice we were able to get a lot more done in terms of football than you could ever get done in a 7-on-7.”

The Cougars have always been run heavy anyway. They looked to bring more passing into the offense a couple years ago when the coaching staff at the time realized how much not having that part of the game cost them in the playoffs. They’ve always had the weapons to make it work, but that’s not their bread-and-butter.

The skill position players didn’t really miss it and neither did the linemen who weren’t a part of it anyway.

“We know what we have, we know what we are, we know our identity,” backup quarterback and middle linebacker Gary Simonini said. “We can throw the ball if we need to any time we want, but 7-on-7 I feel really distracts people from the game and it wastes a lot of crucial time to where you can be learning in the summer before the season gets to the nitty gritty as opposed to just like going out to these 7-on-7s where you just see guys running unrealistic plays that you’re never going to see on a Friday night.

“We’ve got a lot of guys returning. We know how these plays look. Now, it’s about perfecting them and fine tuning them and making adjustments. It’s not about everyone else, it’s about us. If we can be our best, that’s all we have to worry about.”

That self-examination was particularly good for this team. Last year was their first season under Leamy and that came with the usual learning curve on both sides. Now, the players have a better understanding of the playbook and expectations and the good core of returning players can work on honing the plan rather than learning it while blending the “decent amount of freshmen” they have, several of whom are likely to play, into the fold without the pressure of competition or hype of 7-on-7. 

“Staying together and running the plays as a team with everybody together I think helped us,” lineman Aiden Torres said. “When we did 7-on-7 last year and were running our plays the line didn’t have a real look to see what was going on so we had a lot of missed blocks, mistakes; we were all over the place. I think this year us staying together more as a team and getting more of a scout, and looks at what we needed to see and do, helped us.”

That’s not to say they won’t do 7-on-7 again. Leamy said he reviews every year and a lot of it depends on the type of team and leadership it has.

“We just felt this was best for us for this year for this group,” Leamy said.

Schalick’s offense will run through junior quarterback Kenny Bartee.

Whatever the Cougars do on offense this season it will all run through quarterback Kenny Bartee. The athletic junior missed the team’s two preseason scrimmages with a nasty gash on his big toe, but he’ll be ready to go for the season opener against Maple Shade. Last year he rushed for 703 yards and 11 touchdowns while throwing for 613 yards and six scores. 

Their next biggest weapon is David Stewart. The senior track star is a threat to break a long one whether it’s catching a pass or breaking off a run. He caught nine passes for 189 yards last year, with a long of 73, and was the team’s second leading rusher with 373 yards on 41 carries.

But they also return playmakers Ayden Jenkins, Dez Purnell and Gary Sinomini, who combined for 356 yards on 139 carries, and most of the offensive line is back. The Cougars graduated a lot of points in record-setting kicker Hunter Dragotta, but they shouldn’t miss a step with Shawn Kelly.

“The biggest thing is it’s Year Two, they know what to do really well,” Leamy said. “Bartee is just in a so much better spot right now than he was last year. He understands the offense more, he’s throwing the ball better, his footwork is better, his reads are better. Everything in light-years better than it was last year.

“The idea is that we take that next step from where we ended last year, which was a really good spot, instead of starting back from the beginning where we had to work our way up throughout the season.”

Most of the offensive starters double up on defense. It will be anchored by the front six that includes Torres and Noah Bermudez up front and middle linebackers Simonini (53.5 tackles) and Purnell (80 tackles). Stewart brings his speed to the secondary, where he had four interceptions last year, and is looking to produce an all-state kind of year.

“I think we’re looking way better than people expected us to,” Stewart said. “People come out here and expect to roll over us because we’re from the country, we’re not that big, but it’s football. We’re going to come out here to hit and play no matter what.”

The Cougars got off to a slow start last year and went through a rough patch in the middle of the season, but they still played in the sectional final for the third year in a row. With a solid group of returnees and an offseason to work exclusively on themselves, they go into this season with high expectations looking for more.

“Overall I think we’re where we need to be,” Leamy said. “The biggest thing, it’s Group 1 football, the biggest thing is depth. Everyone understands it’s going to be the-next-man-up and everyone’s ready to go. Everyone’s ready to play.”

The Schalick Cougars are looking for a big year from speedy senior David Stewart (12) in all three phases of the game.


Preseason Strength Index

Here is the preseason Strength Index for the Salem County high school football teams and their divisions in the West Jersey Football League. The SI is a schedule strength component in the formula for the United Power Rank (UPR) used to seed the NJSIAA playoffs. Power points supposedly will be made available by the protectors of the data after Week 2.

OVERALL STATESIOVERALL WJFLSI
1. Winslow92.841. Winslow (1)92.84
2. Don Bosco89.712. Glassboro (4)88.12
3. Bergen Catholic88.473. Washington Twp. (5)87.49
4. Glassboro88.124. Camden (7)86.55
5. Washington Twp.87.495. Cedar Creek (10)85.20
6. St. Joe (Mont.)87.376. Kingsway (15)81.81
7. Camden86.557. Atlantic City (17)80.51
8. Ramapo86.188. Millville (21)78.99
9. Old Tappan85.629. Mainland (28)76.17
10. Cedar Creek85.2010. Haddonfield (30)75.81
SALEM COUNTYSI
92. Salem67.48
121. Pennsville64.24
122. Schalick64.21
272. Woodstown50.03
283. Penns Grove48.10
WJFL DIAMONDSI INDEPENDENCESI
40. Burlington City73.69237. Clayton53.37
81. Paulsboro68.66255. Buena52.15
92. Salem67.48256. Woodbury52.10
113. Overbrook65.08272. Woodstown50.03
121. Pennsville64.24280. Pitman48.46
122. Schalick64.21283. Penns Grove48.10

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Aug. 17-21; x-scrimmage

MONDAY, AUG. 17
FOOTBALL
x-Clearview at Woodstown, 9 a.m.
x-Haddon Twp. at Penns Grove, 9 a.m.
x-Salem, Rahway, Pt. Pleasant Boro at Absegami, 10 a.m.
x-Triton at Pennsville, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY, AUG. 18
FOOTBALL
x-Delsea at Schalick, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
x-Pennsville at Middle Twp., 10 a.m.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 19
GIRLS TENNIS
x-Clearview at Schalick, 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Sterling, 10 a.m.

THURSDAY, AUG. 20
FOOTBALL
x-Wildwood at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
x-Audubon at Woodstown, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY, AUG. 21
FOOTBALL
x-Salem at Camden, 10 a.m.
x-Schalick at Buena, 9 a.m.
x-Poly Tech (Del.) at Pennsville, 4 p.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
x-Schalick at Cumberland, 9:30 a.m.
x-Millville at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
x-Salem CC at Montclair, 5 p.m.

On familiar ground

Hand, Daly looking forward to playing Salem CC games in their old high school stadiums, Tomoney has a connection to the opening-day foe

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – The anticipation around Salem Community College is building for the first football game in the history of the school. But it’s a pretty safe bet two players on the team are probably more excited than anybody because they have connections to either the opening-day opponent or the venue of the historic game.

The Mighty Oaks play their inaugural game against Hudson Valley CC Aug. 29 at Pennsville High School.

Defensive back Raheem Tomoney spent a little time in the Hudson Valley program a couple years ago before leaving and eventually landing with the Mighty Oaks. Right guard Jacob Hand is stoked because he will be playing his first college game in the stadium he played his entire high school career.

“It’s everything to me,” Hand said. “Playing at Lou D’Angelo, it was surreal. Even in high school, under the lights and everything, it’s a beautiful stadium, beautiful setting, but just to be back at home for my first ever collegiate football game its awesome. It really hits back to home and really gets me excited.”

Pennsville athletics officials have said the school is excited to have a Hand homecoming in the stadium as well.

Because the Mighty Oaks don’t have a stadium on campus to call home, they scheduled their four home games this inaugural season in three of Salem County’s five high school stadiums. They play at Pennsville in opener and Oct. 17 for homecoming, and one time each at Schalick (Sept. 12) and Penns Grove (Sept. 19).

“I knew they were going to play at the high school, (but) I was thinking most at Penns Grove,” Hand said. “I didn’t really think we were going to have two games at Pennsville let alone one, but now that we have the two it’s an amazing feeling.”

Tomoney played four games for Hudson Valley in 2023, but left after feeling underutilized. The season opener will give him a chance to show the Vikings what they could have had.

“I don’t want to call anybody out, but it’s (to prove) to the coaches in a sense,” he said. “I feel like they gave up on me. They didn’t give me a chance.”

In time, Salem DBs coach Damon Troy reached out to him through social media channels and “showed me it could be more than what it was.” When Tomoney found out the Mighty Oaks were playing the Vikings “I was totally thrilled.”

He’s currently nursing a shoulder injury but says he’ll be ready for the opener.

The Delaware native had a lot of HVCC gear from his days there, but said he gave it to his younger brother. Perhaps he can find a Hudson Valley tee shirt to wear around practice that week to sharpen his teammates’ focus.

Hand heard about the ploy and yelled across the field.

“Hang that thing up in the locker room,” he said. “Don’t bring it out on the field.”

Tight end Robert Daly shares Hand’s excitement when it comes to the Mighty Oaks playing on his home turf. He said it was going to be a “very cool experience” to return to the stadiums he played in during his high school career at Schalick, and it will be especially meaningful when the Mighty Oaks go to his school for the second game of the season. Both local players are looking forward to being a tour guide that day.

“That’s awesome,” he said. “My last home game was filled with a lot of emotions because I thought it was going to be my last time on the field with my teammates and my friends. That was my school for four years and had a lot of emotion. Coming here and seeing it on my schedule it’s a great opportunity for me to show what I can do there because I know I’m going to have a lot of support, friends, family. I know there are going to be a lot of people going to be there because I played there for four years, so it’ll be an awesome experience.”

Salem CC guard Jacob Hand (42) prepares to hit the shield during an offensive line drill.



The World (Cup) view

Salem County soccer coaches weigh in on Sunday’s World Cup final. Is it Spain or Argentina? It’s a split decision

All the world’s a stage and the biggest stage in the futbol world is set. The FIFA World Cup final.

Spain v. Argentina. Euro champs v defending World Cup champs. Yamal v Messi. Prodigy v Legend.

One can argue whether it’s the best matchup for this year’s final, but after 39 days and 103 matches it’s the one they’ve got. The game already has been dissected and analyzed from every angle in every corner of the globe, and no doubt will be in the weeks that follow.

Riverview Sports News reached out to some of Salem County’s high school soccer coaches to bring some local flavor to the international analysis and provide their pick to raise the golden trophy Sunday night in MetLife Stadium. The consensus is as close as the game is expected to be. Here are their insights, and picks, as told to Al Muskewitz.

Mano Massari, Penns Grove: Passing the torch


THE PICK: Spain.

THE REASON: Spain is going to win the game because of their dominance in their possession and build up play. They are patient with their attack and really do a nice job with their positional rotations. Their midfielders control the pace and tempo of the game. Rodri, Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz, they are great at overloading and work around compact defenses. I also think Lamine Yamal is going to really control the right side of the pitch on the attacking side.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT: It’ll be the passing of the torch from Messi to Lamine Yamal. I think Lamine Yamal is going to take over the game. I think he’s going to put a goal in the back of the net and have an assist as well. I think he’s going to take over. He looked really good in their semifinal game against France. This is going to be like closing the door on Messi and now it’s Lamine Yamal’s turn. I think he’s going to solidify himself in this tournament with this game. I think it’s just going to be like a passing of the torch moment.

As for the best moment of the World Cup it’s got to be the Cape Verde story, with them being the smallest island ever to get to the World Cup, making it out of the knockout round and then going toe-to-toe with Argentina. That goal that kid scored against Argentina to tie the game was absolutely electric. Cape Verde, to me, is the story of the entire World Cup. I just love it. It’s such a good message to send. I look at it like my guys are small-town players and that’s what happens when you’re believing in a goal. You guys can go toe-to-toe with the defending champs if you all believe and you all put the work in. I just think it’s a great message and why the World Cup is so great.

Will Kemp, Schalick: Always my pick


THE PICK: Spain

THE REASON: They were actually inside my original pick. I said it was either going to be Spain or France that could actually be able to win this, just because France is such a powerhouse. But it’s Spain. Their midfield is unbelievable. The same exact thing for their backline. I’m definitely nodding towards Spain.

When you have a team that has only let up two open-play goals inside the entire tournament, especially with one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Unai Simon, you have Rodri, who is probably one of the best midfielders without a doubt pulling the strings, and then you have Lamine Yamal, there are so many different variables that go into this Spanish team. It seems like they’re finally clicking, especially with the way they played against France; that was the best match that they had, they controlled it completely, shut down the best attack inside the world on the international stage and prevented them from even getting any type of hope.

Now they’re going against Argentina and arguably one of the best players ever inside this same format, a struggling Argentina that really only scores goals inside the last 15-20 minutes of a match. I think if Spain gets up early and controls the game they’re going to have a really good shot at winning this thing.

So my bet’s on Spain, just from their forward attack. You’ve got Lamine Yamal, who’s finally starting to really get back into a groove after his hamstring injury. Then you have one of the best, if this were basketball you’d say sixth man, but inside this the 12th man (Mikel Merino), with him coming off the bench and scoring vital goals; plus he’s an Arsenal player, so, of course, I’m going to root for them.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT: I don’t think the championship moment inside this match is going to be a goal; I think it’s going to be a save. I think it’s actually going to come from the goalkeeper to actually save them and win the match. Unai Simon has been actually amazing this whole entire tournament. There’s been a debate between him and David Raya, once again an Arsenal player. I’m not showing any bias right now, but I should, but Unai Simon’s clearly better than David Raya. I think the moment of the match is actually come from a goalkeeper save – in open play. It’s definitely not going to go to PKs.

Derek Foglein, Pennsville: One more magical day


THE PICK: Argentina.

THE REASON: I honestly think it’s going to be a very close game, and it could go either way. I will definitely be watching the match up between the explosive offense of Argentina and Spain’s defense that has already set the record for most shutouts in a single World Cup. It does seem like Messi and Argentina have that something special that has helped them pull out games (maybe even when they weren’t the better team), so I’m going to take them to have one more magical day and Messi can secure his place atop soccer history.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT: I think it’s going to be a close game, will likely go to PKs, so I’ll say the defining moment will be Lamine Yamal missing his PK and that secures the win for Argentina.

Joe Mannella, Schalick: More Messi magic


THE PICK: Argentina.

THE REASON: I think it’s really hard to pick. It can go either way. I’m going to go with Argentina just because they seem to be playing that style that gets you through this type of situation. They remind me of Haddon Twp. They play a lot of those physical mind games that you see and then they have the quality on top of it. They don’t care how they win, they just win. They just seem to get it done and I think they’ll get it done.

I don’t know if technically they’re better than Spain. They’re kind of a complete team in that they all know their roles and are crazy resilient and they just kind of wait for their opportunity. Obviously they’ve got the best player in the world. If Spain can figure out a way to neutralize him, which no one has ever really been able to do, then certainly it’ll be tough for Argentina to score.

Spain’s probably going to have the ball most of the time and it’s not like Argentina is a fast, counter-attacking team, they just kind of wear you down and punish you when you make a mistake. If I’m going to put my money on somebody, I’m going to put it on the team that’s done it and has done it the whole tournament.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT: If you’re going to put money on anything it’s on Messi doing something outrageous. That’s the easy money on Messi scoring some amazing goal or having a ridiculous pass to set up a goal. Not on the conspiracy side, but I’ve seen VAR have too much to say in some of these games and I’d hate the thing to remember about this World Cup final is that VAR pulled a goal back that shouldn’t have been or allowed a goal that shouldn’t have been.

Argentina plays on such of an edge there could be a red card. I could see them going down to 10 men and winning anyway. Just your backs are against the wall – again – red card, a guy getting his second yellow in the second half and them just holding on, holding on and then Messi putting the ball in the box and somebody getting a head on it. Game over.

Darren Huck, Woodstown: Spain is too solid


THE PICK: Spain

THE REASON: I think Spain overall plays very well defensively and I think they’re going to be a little bit better than some of the teams so far that Messi has gone up against. I think they’re going to contain him pretty well. I think they’re going to keep him in front and I think they’re going to not let him all of a sudden break free. Defensively, they stay very tight, very organized, they don’t give up a whole lot of shots let alone goals, so I think with their defense and the way they work together as a team defensively is what’s going to do it. I think Yamal is going to score the game-winner. I think they’re going to win 2-1.

Spain plays a very simplistic game. They keep it very simple and they’re very disciplined. They’ve been through this before, they know the game is not going to be won in the first 10 minutes. It’s not going to be won in the first 20 minutes. It’s not going to be won in the first half. So, they’ve got stay organized, which they will, and they’ll stay compact and they’ll have good possession. This game is not going to be a bunch of risks. It’s not going to be like that England-France game. It’s going to be a very close game. They’re going to stay behind the ball and they’re not going to give any big transition type goals or breakaways. They’re just too good, they’re too solid. Argentina might want to open it up a little bit, but I don’t think they’re going to be able to.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT: One of Yamal’s gifts, and he’s so young which is so impressive that he can do this, is he’s really good on set pieces. If Argentina gets a little chippy and they play a little too aggressive – it’ll be very interesting to see how the referee calls the game in the beginning – Spain’s going to be looking to take a foul 20-22 yards out and I think the game winner is going to come from something like that. I think he’s going to have a direct kick and he’s going to put it in a spot the Argentinian goalkeeper is not going to be able to get.

Alcohol-free zones

Salem CC wants its fans to have an enjoyable college football experience, but will not be promoting tailgating as they’ll be playing on high school campuses 

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

With the countdown clock reading 28 days before camp opens and 54 days before the inaugural game, Salem Community College officials are fine-tuning the details for the first season of football. 

Everyone involved with the start-up want all who come to their four home games this inaugural season to have an enjoyable college football experience, but due in part to the nature of their scheduling the Mighty Oaks will not be promoting one of the more spirited elements of its traditions.

Because all their home games will be played on various high school campuses around the county that are alcohol- and tobacco-free, the college will not be promoting tailgating.

“We can’t do tailgating,” said SCC assistant athletics director Angel Rodriguez, who duties include overseeing game-day operations. “It’s a high school field and it’s a high school complex, ‘tailgating,’ that word, because it’s not an actually college venue, we can’t advertise for tailgating. We’re working through the fan experience so we do have ideas … about what’s going to actually be able to happen, but as far as the word ‘tailgating,’ we’re not promoting tailgating.

“We’re not advertising anything along those lines right now, just because it’s not our full-staff function. If it were an on-campus location, we could be flexible with a lot of that. Because it’s off-site and we’re utilizing a lot of the game-day staff already for each venue, it’s not something that we’re promoting. Plus, we’re on school grounds, so school grounds prohibit drinking and alcohol and all those … things.”

That’s not to say fans can’t create team spirit in spirit-less ways. Pennsville athletics director Jamy Thomas, whose school hosts the August 29 opener with Hudson Valley CC and the Oct. 17 game against Sussex CC, said he encourages grilling and other tailgating activities in the parking lots before the game, but alcohol is out. Police will have a presence in the lots to enforce compliance.

“We going to do things a little differently than we would do at a high school game,” Thomas said. “Obviously, we are alcohol- and tobacco-free, that’ll be something the police will be looking at, but in terms of the environment and cooking out, bringing a grill, we support all those things and we want people to come to Pennsville, come to our campus, have a good time, but do it in a safe way that follows the rules of a high school venue.

“We’re not going to control what happens off campus. Obviously, we don’t want people coming in super intoxicated, things like that, at games, but we realize it’s a little different environment than high school, but we still have to maintain the laws and the requirements we have when you do host an event on our campus.”

SCC athletics department officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday to solidify their game-day details. Thomas is schedule to meet with them Wednesday.

Ticket prices and packages also are among the items to be finalized. They are expected to fall in the $5-$10 range on a per game basis and purchasable through an electronic ticketing system.

In the games at Pennsville, the Mighty Oaks will use the Eagles’ stadium locker room, while the visiting team will use the middle school for pre- and in-game operations and then have access to the high school locker room and showers post-game.

The Mighty Oaks’ other two first-year home games will be played at Schalick Sept 12 and Penns Grove Sept. 19. Those schools’ game-day operations were not immediately known.

The games at Schalick and Penns Grove are scheduled for noon kickoffs. Game times for the two Pennsville games are not set, but are believed to be 1 p.m. (to accommodate Hudson Valley’s travel) and noon, respectively.

Since the school’s announced its plan to start football last fall, the program has received overwhelming support from within the region. Head coach Jay Accorsi and his evolving staff are expected to welcome more than 80 players when camp opens Aug. 3. Thomas, for one, is “very excited” to have the Mighty Oaks football program on his campus.

“I think this is an awesome opportunity for Salem County,” he said. “It’s an awesome opportunity for Pennsville and our community to really show off our great facility that we have here. There are a lot of our student-athletes who will benefit from this program even in this coming year.

“(Lineman) Jacob Hand is one who has already signed on to play, so we’re excited to be able to see Jacob at the next level on his home field again. I think there are going to be a lot of other kids who come through our program that this opportunity is a great opportunity that then provides further opportunities after the community college setting to move on to a D-I, D-II, D-III school and still have eligibility.”

Track nationals

Schalick’s Simonini makes adidas Nationals jav finals, finishes ninth; Longo fourth in pole vault flight

By Riverview Sports News

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Gary Simonini has had better throws, but he certainly won’t sneeze at a top 10 finish at the nationals.

The Schalick junior made it to the finals of the boys javelin in the Adidas Track Nationals at North Carolina A&T Saturday and finished ninth in the standings, just missing out on All-America honors. He earned the last spot in the finals with a throw of 160 feet on his last throw of qualifying – one inch from eighth – and it stood as his high mark.

“It was very interesting throwing on a rubber track for the first time in a while and it was my first time throwing the new steel-tip jav,” Simonini said. “But, honestly, I had a great time. I made it to the final, met a lot of cool people – I’ve been talking to kids from all states, everyone was just so nice, so friendly. They made it a great overall experience.

“I was extremely frustrated with my mark. Top eight gets All-American, I got ninth. That kind of bummed me out, but it just leaves a lot to work towards.”

The way the day started he didn’t think he was even going to advance. He opened the competition with his lowest mark of the year (133-10), but found his rhythm and threw 150-10 and 160-0 to make the top nine. His best mark in the finals was 159-1.

“I couldn’t get over the hump; I was just stuck at 48 (meters),” he said. “At first I was very upset about it, then I really came to terms with it. Last year I’d be over the world to be in the 140s and now I’m angry about being in the 160s. In the grand scheme of things, there’s really nothing to be mad about.”

Schalick senior Sal Longo wrapped up a tough senior season by finishing fourth in his flight of the National Elite Boys Pole Vault. A hamstring injury he suffered at the indoor Meet of Champions kept him off the track until the sectionals, which he promptly won upon his return.

He jumped 12 feet, 9.5 inches Saturday, hitting the mark on his third attempt. None of the seven vaulters who advanced from the height cleared 13-3.5.

“I’m pretty happy with it with how my season went,” he said. “Getting to nationals was the main goal, but placing as high as I did in my flight was something I’m grateful for.”

A third Schalick athlete, Ethan McLean, finished 64th in the National Elite Boys Shot Put (44-2.75), one spot and less than an inch ahead of Penns Grove sophomore Ja’Kai Ingram (44-2).

Woodstown high jumper Kami Casiano competed in the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field Saturday. She missed three attempts at her entry height of 5-3. Woodstown senior Josh Crawford runs in the Boys 800 Sunday.

Top photo: Schalick had three athletes compete Saturday in adidas Track Nationals. (From left) Gary Simonini (javelin), Sal Longo (pole vault) and Ethan McLean (shot put).

Diamond Division Golf

Here are the first and second team selections for the Tri-County Conference Diamond Division boys all-star team

FIRST TEAMSCHOOLSECOND TEAMSCHOOL
Seth FisherSchalickNate ValenteWoodstown
Jaxson WeberSchalickJack BucksarWoodstown
Anthony SepersSchalickAlejandro VazquezWoodstown
Michael NelsonSchalickBraxton GillisOverbrook
Logan JonesWoodstownTrevor HannPennsville
Joey NolanCumberlandManntram PatelCumberland

Softball century club

Here is the list of Salem County softball players with 100 career hits, 100 career strikeouts (since 2011); note: stats source does not include seasons prior to 2011 in player totals, so some qualified may be omitted

Softball

100 HITSTOTALGRAD
Courtney Hankins, Pennsville1802015
Kylie Harris, Pennsville1682026
Morgan Zane, Schalick1522018
Gracie Meyer, Schalick1422017
Taylor Brown, Pennsville1392016
Tulana Mingin, Woodstown1372024
Gracee Roberts, Woodstown1312018
Brooke Coleman, Pennsville1272014
Sarah Morgan, Woodstown1222018
Megan McCurdy, Woodstown1212014
Casey Kisielewski, Pennsville1212014
Miranda Rodriguez, Schalick1332018
Janna Gaburo, Schalick1192014
Danica Pratta, Penns Grove1152015
Jessica Nines, Penns Grove1122015
Courtney Miller, Schalick1102014
April Laury, Schalick1102021
Ellie Wygand, Woodstown1092026
Victoria Nugent, Pennsville1082016
Danielle Werts, Pennsville1082019
Paige Wilson, Pennsville1082022
Lily Edwards, Pennsville1072026
Jessica Thompson, Penns Grove1042015
Taylor Sparks, Schalick1032024
Kylee Barton, Schalick1012014
100 STRIKEOUTSTOTALGRAD
Janna Gaburo, Schalick4012014
Toni Almond, Salem3832020
Gracie Meyer, Schalick3422017
Jessica Thompson, Penns Grove3352015
Olivia Mattioli, Penns Grove2632022
Leah Clark, Woodstown2532026
Paige Wilson, Pennsville2392022
Haley Broomell, Woodstown2342013
Paige Coleman, Schalick2332021
Meghan Wiggins, Pennsville2192016
Angela Lakatos, Pennsville2072015
Brooke Coleman, Pennsville2042014
Allison Cabo, Woodstown1972013
Savannah Palverento, Pennsville1902025
x-Addi Shimp, Schalick186
Grace White, Woodstown1792024
Raegan Wilson, Salem1762024
Katie Melchiorre, Schalick1662023
April Hartman, Pennsville1602019
Nina Verdecchio, Penns Grove1522019
Olivia Boultinghouse, Woodstown1432024
Rebecca Harris, Woodstown1402022
x-Graillyn Weber, Pennsville122
x-Avah Brown, Salem102
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