Every team in Salem County, undefeated or winless, has something to play for; story will be updated

SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
Friday’s games
Bishop Eustace at Schalick, forfeit
Overbrook at Pennsville, 7 p.m.
Penns Grove at Glassboro, 7 p.m.
Woodbury at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s game
Paulsboro at Salem, noon (Walnut Street)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – From the first day the Woodstown football team showed up for summer workouts one game has been on its radar.

Ever since the Wolverines put Woodbury on the schedule as a last-minute pick-up during the COVID season, the teams have had a spirited rivalry, whether it be in games, scrimmages of 7-on-7 camp. The intensity took a big turn two years ago when the Thundering Herd scored late in the South Jersey Group I final to dash the Wolverines’ hopes of winning a state championship and it’s been driving them ever since.

Last year, with Woodstown 5-0 and Woodbury 5-1, the Herd took advantage of several Wolverine turnovers and took it to them pretty good on the way to winning the state title. 

Friday night the stakes will be high again with the winner taking over first place in the WJFL Diamond Division. But for all that’s on the line, Woodstown coach John Adams is going about business like any other week because, in their division, it’s like playing in the SEC of Group I where one could put even the weakest team somewhere else and they’d be undefeated.

“We approach every week the same way whether it’s a game people have circled on their schedule or not,” Adams said. “We always make sure we prepare for everybody the same way. We had a good day of practice on Monday with the varsity. We had a good day Tuesday with everybody. We’re just looking to keep having good practices.”

Both teams come into the game with a loss or two on their record. Woodstown (4-1) lost to Glassboro in overtime. Woodbury (3-2) has lost two in a row without injured quarterback Dante Viccharelli. That hasn’t happened since 2020 when the Herd lost three straight in a stretch that included the game picked up by Woodstown.

The Wolverines are preparing as if Viccharelli will play.

“I’m preparing as if he’s playing, but I have no idea,” Adams said. “And I don’t believe anything kids say because last week people were saying Salem had some kids who weren’t playing and then they showed up and played.

“It seems always to be that way. Usually we get everybody’s best shot, so usually it’s a game where if somebody’s out they’re trying to get back for a game like this, so we’re full head of steam preparing for their quarterback to be back there.”

Whether Viccharelli is in there or not, the Herd also has a dynamic running back in Anthony Reagan Jr. The coach’s son, a Howard commitment, has rushed for 794 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, but maybe because opposing defenses know he is the best remaining threat he’s been held to less than 100 rushing in each of their last two losses.

PENNS GROVE (2-4) at GLASSBORO (3-2): The Red Devils certainly will have their eyes on that game. Depending on the outcome, they could be right back in the hunt for a share of the division title even after starting the season 0-3.

For that to happen, they’d need Woodstown to win Friday and then beat the Wolverines in their final regular-season game in two weeks forcing a potential three-way tie. Woodbury holds the head-to-head tiebreaker on them.

“I didn’t even look at that until yesterday and I said the same thing to myself,” Penns Grove coach John Emel said. “In the big picture, the first thing you always tell yourself you want to win your division because that will get you high in the playoffs and I know that’s a couple weeks out but an opportunity to beat Woodstown would go a long way to getting a couple home games in the playoffs.

“At the end of the day you only have opportunities to win so many things and winning the division is part of having a special season. Last year in the division we were winless, so to go into the last game of the season and have an opportunity to win the division, that to me would be a big step in the right direction.”

First, though, they have to get past the Bulldogs, a traditional opponent who beat Woodstown in overtime two weeks ago and are the current No. 1 in the South Jersey Group I UPR ratings. The Red Devils should have a little more pep in their step after playing their best half of the season last week and coming from 19 down at halftime to beat Paulsboro last week for their second win in three games.

Take out the season opener when they were bedeviled by turnovers, the Red Devils have outscored their opponents in the second half 37-29. It was the first quarter that doomed them in the Woodbury game; they were only outscored 8-6 in the second half of that one.

“Sometimes I feel like our team and our younger guys lack a little confidence so hopefully this will be an example we can use not just the rest of this season but next year that when things aren’t going well there’s always an opportunity to turn it around,” Emel said. “I think every game this year except for Woodbury has come down to the second half. We feel we’re competitive and we’re a good enough program that every game will be decided the second half.

“You say that to your guys as a coach and you practice to reinforce that, but until they have success in that type of situation those words probably sometimes ring hollow. Hopefully this will give our young players confidence not just the rest of this season but in the future that the game is never over good or bad. Football’s a long game and things can change really quickly. We’ve got to just keep playing, play hard in the second half and we’ve got to finish games, and we did that last week.”

OVERBROOK (3-2) at PENNSVILLE (3-2): It’s an out-of-division game against a bigger opponent, but it’s another chance for the Eagles to get better, avenge another of last year’s losses and enhance their position for a playoff spot. And it all comes on Homecoming, to boot.

The Eagles remain at No. 17 in the South Jersey Group I UPR ratings, two-tenths of a point out of the last qualifying spot, but stand to pick up a lot of points if they can knock off a Group II team with a winning record and a dynamic quarterback.

Overbrook took it to them pretty good last year and has won three of the last four games in the series, but the Eagles are in a different place this season. They’ve already beaten two teams that took them down last year (Gateway and Cumberland).

“It’s similar to the whole theme of our year, just trying to get back respect,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “It’s a situation where we want to go in and show we are a different team this year and we believe we could do it.

“And just like every game right now this is another huge one in terms of playoffs. Right now we’re still stuck at 17, so we’ve got to do some work still. Regardless of that, we’ve got to just keep winning anyway. We’re still fighting and just want a shot in the playoffs.”

A win would give them as many wins as the last two seasons combined and four in a season for the first time 2017 (4-6). They won their fourth game that year in the eighth game.

“We’ve played better in every game this year compared to last year,” Healy said. “In that sense it’s all been positive, but we’re still trying to learn and we have not reached our full potential yet, so we have to keep getting after it and getting better every week, but we’re seeing constant improvement. There’s a ton of positives this year already.”

Signs of that improvement can be found in sophomore quarterback Robbie McDade, who took a big step towards turning into the quarterback the Eagles need him to be with last week’s 300-yard game against Cumberland. McDade threw for 205 yards on 16-of-29 passing – all career highs – and rushed for 102 yards. He accounted for three touchdowns in the 25-12 victory.

“He’s even said he feels a lot more comfortable now,” Healy said. “You can see him taking command of the offense. He’s fixing kids when they make mistakes instead of the coaches having to do it. He’s really taken a leadership role and developed a much better understanding of the offense as a whole.

“As a sophomore that’s really want to see from him. He’s still a young player and he’s going to make mistakes and we expect that, but to see these steps in terms of leadership and just understanding what we’re trying to do is huge and going to pay big dividends for him. Like everyone else he’s getting better, but I definitely think he’s starting to kind of get in a groove.”

SCHALICK vs. BISHOP EUSTACE: http://rb.gy/e58jq

Saturday’s game

PAULSBORO (0-5) at SALEM (0-6): In a game between two storied programs, strangely, somebody’s going to get their first win this week. Paulsboro, which hasn’t been winless this long since 1970, has come close the last two weeks. Last week the Red Raiders blew a 19-0 halftime lead at Penns Grove and scored all three of their touchdowns on big plays

Salem has shown signs of turning the corner, but needs to put four quarters together. The Rams were one big play from being tied with Camden at halftime, threatened Cedar Creek in the second half until a late turnover ended their comeback, and stopped Woodstown at the goal line at the end of a time-consuming opening drive last week.

The game will be played at the Walnut Street Field as the Rams’ on-campus stadium isn’t quite ready for game day. School officials are hopeful it will be ready in time for next week’s Homecoming Game.