Garrett goes off

Leyman has game of his life, plugged in at quarterback, throws 4 TD passes, picks two, returns one for TD, in Woodstown rout of Salem; Woodbury dulls Penns Grove’s playoff hopes with late rally

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM — Garrett Leyman has played a lot of games in a Woodstown uniform over the years, but he’s never had a game like he did Saturday.

The senior was responsible for five touchdowns on both sides of the ball as the Wolverines took it to Salem 42-13 to remain unbeaten and set up a WJFL Diamond Division title game at Glassboro next week.

Pressed into action as the Wolverines’ third quarterback this season Leyman threw four touchdown passes on the only varsity passes he’s ever thrown in his life. Then on defense he intercepted two passes and returned one of them for a touchdown.

Leyman threw two touchdown passes to M.J. Hall (55 and 48 yards) and one each to Bobby Donahue (49) and Rocco String (5). The first two completions gave him a passer rating of 866.80 and curiously it dropped with each successive completion. His 4-for-4 for 157 yards and four TDs total netted him a passer rating of 759.70 for the game.

If he isn’t somebody’s dot-com Player of the Week either the voting is flawed or nobody’s paying attention.

“After last week we faced a lot of adversity, I knew I needed to step up,” said Leyman, who was more of a run threat when he last played quarterback in eighth grade. “Coach chose me to play in Jack’s (Holladay) position, so I knew I had to go out and perform and I did.

“I wasn’t expecting it to go how it did, but I was confident going into today. It felt amazing.”

The Wolverines were into their third quarterback after losing starter Holladay to a sprained left shoulder in the first half of last week’s game at Haddon Heights. JV quarterback Lucas Fulmer played the rest of the game and completed the 17-8 victory.

It was the Fulmer’s first varsity action and while the backup checked all the boxes in his relief appearance it was Leyman’s experience and familiarity with the offense that led Trautz to start him against the Rams. Leyman was told he’d be playing quarterback Monday and had all week to prepare himself.

“He’s played a million football games for us; he’s just football smart, he’s got great football IQ and we can trust him in these situations,” Trautz said. “We know that he’s going to make the right decisions and you saw today. He commanded this offense, he was able to run it fully and he shined. It was nice to see him spin it.

“I’m not the least surprised with what he did today. He’s just a great player and he doesn’t back down from the moment. He elevates his game when the lights start shining the brightest.”

The Wolverines used a sanitized version of the playbook for Fulmer last week, but Leyman had full reign of it this week.

“We were going to run our offense the way we run it and take what they give us and we did a good job executing it,” Trautz said.

Salem moved the ball through the air, too. They immediately answered Woodstown’s first touchdown, working the ball downfield through a series of possession passes.

Rams quarterback Troy Carey was 12-of-15 in the first quarter and finished the game 25-for-35 for 241 yards and touchdowns to Kaden Robinson (5) and Terrance Smith (16). Robinson caught seven passes for 53 yards. Smith caught four for 103.

“It was just trusting our receivers, trusting them to make plays, putting the ball in their hands,” Carey said. “We work on certain plays every week just working to get better at things that affect our craft and just finding open men reading the defense.”

The win sets up a titanic battle of unbeatens between Woodstown and Glassboro Friday night. Whether Leyman gets the call again at quarterback depends on Holladay’s status during the week. Both Trautz and Holladay are hopeful of a return at some point this season.

Players on the Glassboro roster believe the Wolverines will be treating the showdown as “their Super Bowl” because of the recent history in the series; the Bulldogs beat them twice last year, once in overtime and once in the Group I state semifinals. The Wolverines, however, are approaching it, as usual, as any other game.

“It’s Week 8 for us,” the usually understated Trautz understated. “We’re going to attack it like we attack every week and we’re looking forward to the challenge next Friday.”

NOTES: Woodstown’s other touchdown was Bryce Belinfanti’s weekly long run, this one going for 94 yards … String’s TD catch was the first of his career … Salem had thrown only 78 passes in their first seven games. The 35 passes and 241 yards Cater threw for Saturday were the most by a Rams quarterback since 2022 when Jahki Coates threw 29 passes against Woodbury in 2022 and for 245 yards against Pleasantville. His game passer rating was 136.70 … The Rams will be looking to avoid their first winless season since 2012 (0-10) next week against Penns Grove.

Cover photo: Woodstown senior Garrett Leyman (10) rolls out in his first career start at quarterback. Leyman threw four passes – all for touchdowns.

Woodstown 42, Salem 13

WOOD (42)		SAL (13)
7	1st Downs	19
15-203	Rushing	17-31
4-4-0	C-A-I	24-35-2
157	Passing	241
1-1	Fum-lost	1-1
1-58.0	Punts	1-38.0
6-58	Penalties	3-35

Woodstown (7-0)	14	21	7	0-	42
Salem (0-8)	7	0	0	6-	13

SCORING SUMMARY
WO-M.J. Hall 55 pass from Garrett Leyman (Jake Ware kick), 9:26 1Q
S-Kaden Robinson 5 pass from Troy Cater (Andrew May kick), 2:21 1Q
WO-Bobby Donahue 49 pass from Garrett Leyman (Jake Ware kick), 2:01 1Q
WO-M.J. Hall 48 pass from Garrett Leyman (Jake Ware kick), 9:29 2Q
WO-Garrett Leyman 33 interception return (Jake Ware kick)
WO-Bryce Belinfanti 94 run (Jake Ware kick), 35.6 2Q
WO-Rocco String 5 pass from Garrett Leyman (Jake Ware kick), 9:32 3Q
S-Terrance Smith 16 pass from Troy Cater (kick failed), 9:12 4Q

**Woodstown receiver M.J. Hall races towards the end zone with one of his two touchdowns catches Saturday. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)**

Late miscues spoil PG upset bid

WOODBURY — KaRon Caesar’s 68-yard touchdown run on Penns Grove’s first play of the third quarter gave the Red Devils a nine-point lead and hopes for playoff contention. They carried that lead carried into the fourth quarter, but Woodbury took advantage of late Penns Grove mistakes to score three touchdowns in the final nine minutes to hand the Red Devils their sixth straight loss, 37-23.

Tim Holmes’ 34-yard touchdown pass to Jason Solomon cut Penns Grove’s lead to 23-21 with 9:06 left and then the mistakes set in for the Red Devils.

Penns Grove had Woodbury stopped later in the quarter but mishandled a punt and the Herd recovered at the 30. Holmes ran for 20 yards, then Marquis Taylor ultimately scored from 2 yards out to give the Herd their first lead since the game’s opening drive, 29-23 with 2:49 left.

Solomon iced the game with a 10-yard scoop and score with a fumbled pitch.

Caesar rushed for a career-high 228 yards with touchdown runs of 73, 14 and 68 yards.

Had the Red Devils held on, they would have earned their second win of the season with a shot for a third and possibly a playoff spot against struggling Salem next week. They currently hold the 20th spot in the South Jersey Group I power rankings that should be updated Sunday.

Woodbury 37, Penns Grove 23

Penns Grove (1-7)	7	9	7	0-	23
Woodbury (3-4)	7	7	0	23-	37

SCORING SUMMARY
WO-Marquis Taylor 4 run (Fabian Gonzalez kick)
PG-KaRon Ceaser 73 run (Tre Brown kick)
PG-KaRon Caesar 14 run (Tre Brown kick)
WO-Marquis Taylor 30 pass from Tim Holmes (Fabian Gonzalez kick)
PG-Safety, QB tackled in end zone
PG-KaRon Ceaser 68 run (Tre Brown kick)
WO-Jasuan Solomon 34 pass from Tim Holmes (Fabian Gonzalez kick), 9:06 4Q
WO-Marquis Taylor 2 run (Marquis Taylor run), 2:49 4Q
WO-Jasuan Solomon 10 fumble return (Elijah Young pass from Marquis Taylor)

WJFL Standings

DIAMOND DIVISION	DIV	ALL
Glassboro (1)	4-0	7-0
Woodstown (2)	4-0	7-0
Schalick (5)	2-2	5-3
Woodbury (11)	2-2	3-4
Penns Grove (20)	0-4	1-7
Salem (21)	0-4	0-8

NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power ranking through Oct. 19

FRIDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro 20, Schalick 10
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Woodbury 37, Penns Grove 23
Woodstown 42, Salem 13
NEXT WEEK’S GAMES
FRIDAY
Woodstown at Glassboro, 6 p.m.
Woodbury at Schalick, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY
Salem at Penns Grove, noon

PATRIOT DIVISION	DIV	ALL
Camden Catholic (NPB-3)	5-0	7-0
Paulsboro (4)	5-1	6-2
West Deptford (G2-14)	3-2	4-4
Pennsville (10)	2-3	4-4
Audubon (16)	1-4	2-4
Collingswood (G2-18)	1-4	3-5
Overbrook (G2-23)	1-4	3-4-1

NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power rankings through Oct. 19 (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
Overbrook 34, Audubon 6
NEXT WEEK’S GAMES
THURSDAY
Paulsboro at Clayton, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY
Collingswood at Pennsville, 7 p.m.
Overbrook at West Deptford, 7 p.m.
Camden Catholic at Audubon, 7 p.m.

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

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

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)

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).

Riding the wind

Teams buffeted by stiff wind, but Woodstown scores two early goals, then holds on to beat Clayton

BOYS SOCCER
Woodstown 2, Clayton 1
GIRLS SOCCER
Woodstown 1, Clayton 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CLAYTON — Erich Lipovsky stepped off Woodstown’s team bus at Haupt Field and immediately got smacked in the face by a big gust of wind. He instinctively knew what that meant.

If the Wolverines were lucky enough to have the coin toss go their way they were going to take the wind to start their morning matchup with Clayton.

The toss went their way, they went with the wind in the first half and scored two goals to fuel a 2-1 win that nudged coach Darren Huck a little closer to 300 wins.

“With the wind you don’t have to put too much pace on the ball, you just let the ball work,” junior back Bryce Ayars said. “When you’re playing without the wind it’s harder to push it down because the wind slows down the ball.

“It felt different today because I felt like our mood shifted from having the wind the first half (where) we generated some things. The second half it didn’t really go our way. I’m not saying it’s all the wind’s fault, but I think the wind was a big factor today.”

The Wolverines (10-4) like to play the game along the ground so getting an extra boost from the breeze at the start wasn’t behind the windy wisdom. It was more about what the breeze was going to do to the Clippers’ goalie punts and clearing the ball out of their defensive end, and then what they would do when they had it in the second half.

Woodstown scored both its goal with the wind at its back, but the wind didn’t influence either of the scores. Ayars and Lipovsky both scored on low bullets from in front of the net five apart in the first 15 minutes of the match.

For Ayars, it was his career-tying seventh goal of the year. For Lipovsky, it was his second and proved to be the game-winner.

“I don’t score a lot,” Lipovsky said. “I tend to move the ball forward more and then I don’t end up being in front of the net when the ball comes in, but I saw my opportunity, saw a gap in the defense, and just happened to put it in the right spot.”

“He got us what we needed today – he got us a goal,” Huck said. “He is not our top goal-scorer by any means, but he got what we needed today.”

What concerned Huck more than the wind was the Wolverines inability to finish when they had the chance – and they had plenty of chances. They took 36 shots in the match, but had only the two goals to show for it. Shots that by all accounts needed to find the back the net went wide, right into the keeper or off the cross bar. Ayars, Lipovsky and Nick DiTeodoro all had good chances in the second half.

The missed chances became even more glaring after Jonathan Rehm got the Clippers within 2-1 with a goal five minutes into the second half.

“I thought we had a couple really good opportunities where we could’ve put the third goal in and built on getting the fourth goal and we didn’t do that today and that was discouraging,” Huck said. “I thought the defense played strong like they usually do … it was just a matter offensively we’ve got to finish.

“We should have put a third goal in and built on getting a fourth goal. We need to be different on Friday. If we don’t do that, Overbrook will sneak out of there with a 1-0 win.”

Girls game

WOODSTOWN 1, CLAYTON 0: Ryann Foote broke a scoreless tie in the second half when she converted an Emma Morgan pass for the game’s only goal. It was her third goal of the game. Ellie Wygand made four saves in posting the shutout. Each of the Wolverines’ last five wins have all been by shutout; they are 5-1-1 in that stretch.

This week’s schedule

Here is the high school sports schedule for Salem County teams for the week of Oct. 14-19

MONDAY, OCT. 14
BOYS SOCCER
Palmyra at Schalick
Woodstown at Clayton, 11 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Woodstown at Clayton, 1 p.m.

TUESDAY, OCT. 15
GIRLS TENNIS
Salem at Penns Grove
Wildwood at Schalick, 4:15 p.m.

Group I Sectional Finals
Pennsville at Pitman, Shertel Park, 3 p.m.
Glen Ridge at Hanover Park
New Providence at Highland Park
Pascack Hills at Glen Rock
CROSS COUNTRY
TCC Batch Meet at Kingsway, 3:30 p.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
Deptford at Pennsville
Glassboro at Salem
St. Joe’s at Schalick
BOYS SOCCER
Salem at Highland
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Cape May Tech

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 16
BOYS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Pennsville, 3:30 p.m.
Pitman at Salem
Woodstown at Salem Tech
GIRLS SOCCER
Gloucester at Schalick
Penns Grove at Paulsboro
Salem at Pennsville, 6 p.m.
Salem Tech at Woodstown
GIRLS TENNIS
Haddon Heights at Schalick
Pennsville at Millville, 3:45 p.m.

THURSDAY, OCT. 17
FIELD HOCKEY
Overbrook at Schalick
Pennsville at Bridgeton
Salem at Clayton
Woodstown at Clearview
GIRLS TENNIS
Overbrook at Woodstown
Penns Grove at Schalick
Salem at Glassboro

Group I Final Four
Mercer County Park
Semifinals, 11 a.m.
Championship Match, 1 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Pitman, 6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 18
FOOTBALL
Pennsville at Lawrence, 6:30 p.m.
Collingswood at Camden Catholic
Glassboro at Schalick
Paulsboro at West Deptford
FIELD HOCKEY
Egg Harbor Twp. at Woodstown
BOYS SOCCER
Clayton at Salem Tech
Salem at Gloucester Catholic
Schalick at Glassboro
Woodstown at Overbrook
GIRLS SOCCER
Clayton at Salem Tech
Gloucester Catholic at Salem
Pennsville at Penns Grove
Overbrook at Woodstown
GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville at Salem, 3:45 p.m.
Penns Grove at Pitman
Schalick at Glassboro
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Triton

SATURDAY, OCT. 19
FOOTBALL
Penns Grove at Woodbury, 10:30 a.m.
Audubon at Overbrook, 11 a.m.
Woodstown at Salem, noon
GIRLS SOCCER
Cherry Hill West at Schalick

How quickly things turn

Saturday football: Pennsville’s loss at Paulsboro turns on three big miscues in second half; Woodstown hits 6-0 for first time since 2013, but facing adversity

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PAULSBORO – Pennsville came out for the second half Saturday brimming with confidence. After a flat first half and long halftime, they were convinced things were going to be different.

And they did start fast, getting two long touchdown bursts from Rylan Hardy to take their first lead of the game. Sure, it was only a two-point lead, but momentum was building on their side. Even their sideline sounded louder after the first score tied the game.

But then things went south. In a hurry. Like a Jenga tower when the wrong block gets pulled.

The Eagles gave up a big play and a touchdown on the next possession to lose the lead and then made three huge mistakes over the next five minutes of game clock they couldn’t recover from and lost to Paulsboro 36-24.

They gave up a 48-yard run to Sawyer Cabanas on the first play after Hardy’s 65-yard touchdown run and Robbie McDade’s conversion pass to Malik Rehmer gave the Eagles a 16-14 lead with 4:39 left in the third quarter. That eventually led to Aundre Hill’s second touchdown of the quarter to put the Red Raiders back on top.

But it got worse. It was still only a six-point game, but the Eagles mishandled a bouncing ball on the ensuing kickoff and Paulsboro recovered. They made the Red Raiders work for it, but Jahsir Johnson tossed a 2-yard TD pass to Jeremiah Carr on fourth-and-goal to stretch the lead.

On the next possession Hardy had a for-sure 47-yard touchdown run, but it was called back by a holding penalty. The Eagles started going backwards after that and then on fourth down they snapped a ball over the punter’s head for a 23-yard loss.

Paulsboro took over in the red zone and Cabanas eventually scored on a 1-yard run.

“You can call it bad luck, but you’ve got to make your own luck also in football, and we just didn’t do some things right today,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “It kind of started compounding and we weren’t able to settle down and get control of the game again. We just kept making mistakes one on top of the other and that’s what happens.

“It’s frustrating but at the same time we put ourselves in that position by not playing well in the first half.”

The first half was kind of a snoozefest with very little action, but that changed in the second half. The teams traded touchdowns on the first four possessions and then it broke on the mishandled kickoff.

The play happened on the far side of the field and Healy didn’t get a clear look at it so he deferred comment except to chalk it up to cascade of mistakes that was to come.

“We’ve got to coach that up better,” Healy said.

The loss spoiled a big game from Hardy. The junior running back came to life in the second half and picked up 127 of his 145 yards rushing in the third quarter with runs of 28, 29 and 65 yards. And he was denied another 47 yards in the fourth.

Paulsboro, meanwhile, spread the wealth. KyAire Harvey rushed for 113 yards in the first half, including a 64-yard touchdown for the only points of the half. He finished with 193 yards rushing. Cabanas had 73 yards and Hill had 70.

The Eagles did salvage a bit of pride when they drove 45 and scored on Robbie McDade’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Malik Rehmer with just under a minute to play.

“I was glad to us playing there til the end,” Healy said. “Defensively we were still trying to get after kids. It’s frustrating all around, but it’s always good to see kids are still trying to move the ball and do what they’re supposed to do. You’re still to coach ‘em the whole time even when it’s in a situation like that.”

Paulsboro 36, Pennsville 24

PENN		PAUL
8	1st Downs	12
22-161	Rushing	40-343
6-11-0	Passes	5-8-0
67	Passing	29
2-1	Fum-Lost	2-1
3-28.7	Punts	1-25.0
7-45	Penalties	7-50

Pennsville (3-4)	0	0	16	8-	24
Paulsboro (5-2)	8	0	14	14-	36

SCORING SUMMARY
PB-KyAire Harvey 64 run (Jeremiah Carr pass from Jahsir Johnson), 6:36 1Q
PV-Rylan Hardy 29 run (Malik Rehmer pass from Robbie McDade), 7:18 3Q
PB-Aundre Hill 30 run (pass failed), 5:36 3Q
PV-Rylan Hardy 65 run (Malik Rehmer pass from Robbie McDade), 4:30 3Q
PB-Aundre Hill 9 run (Jeremiah Carr pass from Jahsir Johnson), 1:10 3Q
PB-Jeremiah Carr 2 pass from Jahsir Johnson), 10:21 4Q
PB-Sawyer Cabanas 1 run (kick failed), 4:14 4Q
PV-Malik Rehmer 9 pass from Robbie McDade (Robbie McDade run), 58.1 4Q

Woodstown backup quarterback Lucas Fulmer (2) watches starter Jack Holladay throw a pass in the first half against Haddon Heights. Fulmer directed the offense in the second half after Holladay got hurt late in the second quarter. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)

Wolverines win, but face adversity

HADDON HEIGHTS – Throughout his first season as Woodstown’s head coach, Frank Trautz has preferred to focus on the progress of his players and their team above any buzz their season-opening winning streak is creating.

The Wolverines won again Saturday, beating Haddon Heights 17-8 to reach 6-0 for the first time since 2013, but they’re about to face the first real challenge to that all-for-one mindset they’ve embraced.

Senior quarterback Jack Holladay suffered an upper body injury in the collarbone/shoulder area late in the second quarter and didn’t play the second half. The extent of his injury won’t be known until further evaluation Monday.

The Wolverines are currently tied with Glassboro for the WJFL Diamond Division lead and are the No. 1 team in the latest South Jersey Group I power points standings, meaning they would be a No. 1 South or Central Jersey seed for the third year in a row if the playoffs started today.

Holladay was in his first year as the Wolverines’ starter, stepping into the role following the graduation of his four-year starter cousin, Max Webb. In the first five games of the season he completed 17 of 35 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns. He was 3-for-3 for 53 yards, including a 42-yard pass to Garrett Leyman shortly before getting hurt.

“I think you know what I’m going to say about (the winning streak) – we’ll enjoy the win, let’s get ready for next week,” Trautz said. “We’re just a complete team. We can do it in a lot of different ways. The kids just pick each other up and it doesn’t matter really who’s doing it. We find a way to get it done.”

With Holladay on the sidelines, the Wolverines turned to backup quarterback Lucas Fulmer to run the offense in the second half. The junior has been the Wolverines’ JV quarterback and his appearance in the second half was his first varsity action.

“In my opinion in sports that’s one of the toughest spots to go in as a backup quarterback,” Trautz said. “He handled the offense well. He got us in and out of the huddle, controlled everything. I was very proud of the way he handled himself out there today.”

Of course, the playbook shrunk “a lot” with Fulmer in the game and the second half became more about “grind it out and get the win any way necessary,.”

“Football is all about facing adversity,” running back Bryce Belinfanti told Brian Tortella of South Jersey Glory Days after the game. “That’s what we had to do is face adversity. It’s a football game and at the end of the day we still had to go out and win the second half.”

The Wolverines were leading 10-0 at the time Holladay got hurt. Belinfanti capped their first possession with a 2-yard touchdown run and Jake Ware kicked a 25-yard second-quarter field goal. Belinfanti rushed for 98 yards in the game.

It stayed that way until the final minute of the game when Bobby Donahue scored from two yards out. The Garnets returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to avoid the shutout.

“That was huge to get that extra touchdown there at the end,” Trautz said.

If Holladay can’t go next Saturday at Salem Trautz has “complete faith” in Fulmer stepping up and doing the job. The 2013 team whose start this year’s team matched started 11-0.

“These guys play for one another and they pick each other up,” Trautz said. “I have no doubt if Jack can’t go next week then these guys will be ready to go.”

Woodstown 17, Haddon Heights 8

WOOD		HH
8	1st Downs	7
43-138	Rushing	25-35
3-3-0	Passes	5-8-1
53	Passing	11
4-20	Penalties	NA

Woodstown (6-0)	7	3	0	7-	7
Haddon Heights (1-5)	0	0	0	8-	8

SCORING SUMMARY
WO-Bryce Belinfanti 2 run (Jake Ware kick)
WO-Jake Ware 25 FG
WO-Bobby Donahue 2 run (Jake Ware kick)
HH-Camaj Matthews 75 kickoff return (Damier Outterbridge-Ali pass from Amare Ridley)

**Lucas Fulmer (2) turns to hand the ball to Bryce Belinfanti in the second half against Haddon Heights. Belinfanti rushed for 98 yards in the game. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)**

WJFL Standings

DIAMOND DIVISION	DIV	ALL
Woodstown (1)	3-0	6-0
Glassboro (4)	3-0	6-0
Schalick (6)	2-1	5-2
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

THURSDAY’S GAME
Glassboro 40, Cinnaminson 10
Delran 38, Penns Grove 8
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Schalick 28, Gloucester City 21
West Deptford 58, Salem 19
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Willingboro 43, Woodbury 30
Woodstown 17, Haddon Heights 8

PATRIOT DIVISION	DIV	ALL
Camden Catholic (NPB-3)	4-0	6-0
Paulsboro (5)	4-1	5-2
West Deptford (G2-13)	3-1	4-3
Pennsville (12)	2-3	3-4
Audubon (13)	1-3	2-3
Collingswood (G2-16)	1-3	3-4
Overbrook (G2-25)	0-4	2-4-1

NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power rankings through Oct. 7 (G2-Group 2, NPB-Non Public B)

FRIDAY’S GAMES
Audubon 7, Collingswood 0
West Deptford 58, Salem 19
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Camden Catholic 41, Overbrook 6
Paulsboro 36, Pennsville 24

Thursday sports report

Here are scores and highlights from Thursday’s high school action involving teams from Salem County

BOYS SOCCER
Schalick 2, Woodstown 0: Louis Sepers and Brad Foster scored the goals and keeper Ben Stengel made seven saves for the Cougars’ first shutout in the series since 2021. “This was the first time this group has shut them out, which is something we wanted to do,” Schalick coach Joe Mannella said.

Pennsville 3, Salem 0: Griffin Hern and Shane Puckett scored goals three minutes apart in the first half for the Eagles (8-6) and Evan Pessoa extended the lead seven minutes into the second. The victory matches the Eagles’ single-season high in coach Derek Foglein’s tenure; they were 8-10 in 2022.

Penns Grove 2, Glassboro 1: Edward Swank scored with nine minutes left in the second half to break a 1-1 tie. It was his second game-winner of the season. The Red Devils lost a 2-1 game to the Bulldogs earlier this year and lost a pair of 1-0 games to them last season. Goalie Dwayne Guzman made three big saves in the final 15 minutes to keep the game tied or preserve the lead.

Wildwood 6, Salem Tech 1: NuNu Bedderi scored three goals for the Warriors, playing their first game since losing to Schalick 3-2 in Cougars coach Joe Mannella’s 300th career win Oct. 2. Sophomore Christian VanTonder scored his first career goal for the Chargers in the first half.

SJ GROUP I POWER POINTS STANDINGS (Top 16 thru Oct. 10): Schalick (10-1), Audubon (9-2), Palmyra (9-3), Haddon Twp. (7-2-2), Woodstown (9-4), Riverside (7-4-1), Pitman (6-5-1), Wildwood (8-3), Maple Shade (7-4-1), Glassboro (5-5-1), Penns Grove (5-6), Gateway (5-7), Pennsville (8-6), Clayton (6-6), Woodbury (3-7), Buena (0-9-1).

GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick 3, Woodstown 1: Quinn Berger scored twice and Olivia Vanacker scored once as the Cougars (9-2) won their fourth in a row and completed a season sweep of the Wolverines.

Pennsville 3, Overbrook 2: Riley Bowman had a goal and two assists as the Eagles opened a 3-0 lead and held on to avenge a loss to the Rams earlier in the season. Bowman assisted on goals by Kallie Morrison and Taylor Bass in the first half.

Pitman 6, Salem 0: Teagan Canna scored the first two goals of the match and the Panthers pulled away. Emery Sharpnack had a goal and two assists.

Glassboro 3, Penns Grove 0: Alana Figueroa, Marianna Dempster and Tamia Smith scored for the Bulldogs in the first half.

Wildwood 3, Salem Tech 2: The Warriors scored two goals in the second half to win. Goals by Ava Robinson and Julia Hewitt Friebel staked the Chargers to a 2-1 halftime lead.

SJ GROUP I POWER POINTS STANDINGS (Top 16 thru Oct. 10): Audubon (11-1), Schalick (9-2), Haddon Twp. (7-4-1), Riverside (9-4), Palmyra (10-2), Gateway (9-2), Woodstown (7-4-1), Clayton (7-3-1), Glassboro (6-3-2), Pitman (8-5), Maple Shade (3-7), Buena (6-6), Pennsville (4-9), Penns Grove (1-9-1), Wildwood (3-9), Cape May Tech (1-11).

FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick 4, Mainland 3: The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and held on to remain undefeated (13-0). Luci Virga, Ava Marynowicz and Ava Scurry all scored in the first half. Caylen Taylor scored with 1:58 left in the third quarter after Mainland cut it to 3-2. It was the Cougars’ third one-goal win of the streak and sixth decided by two goals or less.

Gateway 5, Pennsville 0: Bella Fini scored a hat trick for the Gators (10-2).

Maple Shade 4, Salem 0: Sophia Weisler and Rachel Loomis each scored twice for the Wildcats. The Rams are winless in their last four with only one goal after starting the season 4-0.

SJ GROUP I POWER POINTS STANDINGS (Top 16 thru Oct. 10): Shore (14-1), Schalick (13-0), West Deptford (9-3), Haddon Heights (6-5-1), Gateway (10-2), Gloucester (8-5), Woodstown (8-3), Collingswood (5-5), Bordentown (5-6), Florence (5-7-1), Haddon Twp. (4-8), Salem (4-3-1), South Hunterdon (8-5), Lower Cape May (5-6-2), Audubon (6-4), Pennsville (4-7-1).

VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech 2, Gloucester Catholic 1: The Chargers won a tight third set to follow their first win of the season with their second in a row, 25-16, 23-25, 25-23. It’s the first time since 2021 they have won back-to-back matches.

Cori Farnkoph had 13 kills and eight aces. Tiara Bazemore had four kills, 13 assists and eight aces. Alan’s James had five kills and eight assists.