Schalick’s Romano, doubles team head strong Salem County contingent in South Jersey Tennis Coaches awards
By Riverview Sports News
Schalick tennis coach John Romano and the Cougars’ once-beaten doubles team of Emma Adams and Katie Little have been named to the All-South Jersey Girls Tennis Team by the South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association.
Romano and the doubles team led the Cougars to the Group I final four, where they lost to eventual state champion New Providence in the semifinals.
The SJTCA handed out its annual awards and the Cougars and other Salem County players were prominently featured.
Schalick singles players Rachael Irizarry and Grace O’Neill and the doubles teams Adams-Little and Rachel Goranson-Miya Watkins were named SJ Group I All-Stars.
Woodstown’s Abigail Melle, Woodstown’s doubles team of Vivian Ward-Camille Osborn and Pennsville’s doubles team of Emma Cornette-Fanta One also were SJ Group I All-Stars.
Irizarry, O’Neill and Little received SJTCA Captain’s Awards; Irizarry and Melle received Career Achievement Awards; and Irizarry, who hopes to play tennis in college, earned an SJTCA scholarship.
Romano won coach of the year honors for the second time in his career. His team won a sectional and currently holds a No. 6 ranking in Group I. He also won the award in 2016, the previous time the Cougars won a sectional title. He called the award “the cherry on top” of a big year, but gave the credit to his players.
“It’s nice, just because I’m not a tennis guy,” said Romano, now in his 14th year with the team. “I’m from the John Donovan Soccer School at Schalick; we won a state championship my senior year there. I was always a soccer guy. Even before I started out, when I was at Woodbury for a year, I coached middle school girls soccer there, so tennis wasn’t even on my radar.
“Moving over and having the athletics director I had at the time, he needed somebody for the position, just kind of put me in there and it was nice to get that boost of confidence. Not only to have it come full circle back in 2016, but then to do it again seven years later and with everything this year, it’s nice.
“It’s not about the individual stuff, it’s a team thing. I’ll definitely take that sectional title over a Coach of the Year any year, but it’s nice. It’s nice to see your hard work pays off and it’s because of the girls.”
Shruti Mannan of Cherokee, the South Jersey Coaches Tournament champion, was Player of the Year.
SJTCA AWARDS
Player of the Year: Shruti Mannan, Cherokee
Coach of the Year: John Romano, Schalick; Colleen Senior, Clearview
SJTCA Scholarships: Rachael Irizarry, Schalick; Theresa Strano, GCIT; Kim Wash, Seneca
Service Award: Tony Ponzetti, Oakcrest
SJ GROUP I ALL-STARS: Singles – Morgan McNally, Gateway; Tabitha Bay, Gateway; Ellie Smith, Haddon Twp.; Brenna Bussinger, Middle Twp.; Anna Fisicaro, Pitman; Rachael Irizarry, Schalick; Grace O’Neill, Schalick; Abigail Melle, Woodstown.
Doubles – Kiersten Callahan-Shreva Raji, Haddon Twp.; Emma Cornette-Fanta Kone, Pennsville; Emma Adams-Katelyn Little, Schalick; Rachel Goranson-Miya Watkins, Schalick; Vivian Ward-Camille Osborn, Woodstown.
ALL-SOUTH JERSEY: Singles – Bryana Tigrado, Cedar Creek; Shruti Mannan, Cherokee; Sophia Liu, Cherry Hill East; Sarah Crawford, Clearview; Theresa Strano, GCIT; Ellie Smith, Haddon Twp.; Jessica Yao, Lenape; Christina Htay, Mainland; Alana Lee, Moorestown; Anna Fisicaro, Pitman; Natasha Sharnoff, Shawnee.
Doubles – Maya Pater-Ariel Ivler, Cherry Hill East; Kiera Stokes-Sophia Villare, GCIT; Emily Turnage-Marlina Kadar, Haddonfield; Elizabeth Ong-Marlee Campbell, Mainland; Emma Adams-Katelyn Little, Schalick.
SJ GROUP I CAPTAIN’S AWARDS: Catherine Smith, Haddon Twp.; Cara Mulligan, Haddon Twp.; Shreya Raju, Haddon Twp.; Morgan O’Kane, Haddon Twp.; Brielle Erickson, Haddon Twp.; Rachael Irizarry, Schalick; Grace O’Neill, Schalick; Katelyn Little, Schalick.
SJ GROUP I CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS: Catherine Smith, Haddon Twp.; Rachael Irizarry, Schalick; Abigail Melle, Woodstown.
Month: October 2023
A happy meal
Schalick field hockey edges Middle Twp., heads to a familiar McDonald’s to celebrate and chase a bad taste away
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
Quarterfinals
No. 1 West Deptford 3, No. 9 Haddon Twp. 1
No. 5 Woodstown at No. 4 Collingswood (Wed.)
No. 6 Schalick 1, No. 3 Middle Twp. 0
No. 2 Florence 5, No. 7 Gloucester 4 (OT)
Semifinals
Woodstown-Collingswood winner at West Deptford
Schalick vs. Gloucester-Florence winner
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – The horn had just blown to signal the Schalick field hockey team‘s victory in the South Jersey Group I quarterfinals Tuesday and coach Heather Cheesman knew exactly where the team was going next.
The Cougars dispatched Middle Twp. 1-0 and then headed off to McDonald’s on the way out of town to celebrate and exorcise some unfriendly ghosts on Halloween that have been hanging around since 2016.
The story goes that when the Cougars lost to Middle in the sectional finals that year, they went to the local Golden Arches for a post-game meal. The Panthers, meanwhile, hopped on their township fire trucks and paraded around town with the sirens blaring.
The motorcade passed right by the McDonald’s where the Cougars where eating their lunch. It was not a happy meal.
Cheesman was in her first year as the Cougars head coach that season, but she remembered and told her current team that story right before the game. She told them if they won Tuesday that’s where they were going to celebrate.
“It was just like a stab in the heart after losing the game,” Cheesman said of the parade scene. “It was a different vibe this time.”
The Cougars (13-5-1) came out aggressive and senior Sophia Longo scored the game’s only goal two minutes into the match. They scored their first goal in the opening round 62 seconds into the match.
“You’ve got to get going early, keep the pressure on and be aggressive,” Cheesman said. “We’ve been telling them play your game, be aggressive and they’ve been doing that.”
Longo is a midfielder, but found herself in the right place at the right time crashing on a corner and knocked a pass from Lucy Virga back into the cage. It was her third goal of the season.
“Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting the ball to come at me so quickly, so I just kind of just passed it in and it just rolled into the goal,” Longo said. “I was pretty excited because I don’t score a lot and it was a pretty big game.”
It was the Cougars’ fourth straight win and ninth shutout. They now play at second-seeded Florence (15-2-1), a 5-4 overtime winner over Gloucester. The game must be played by Saturday.
The team started back to Salem County shortly after the game then the bus pulled into the parking lot and the players were loving it. When it came her turn at the counter, Longo ordered four chicken nuggets and fries.
“I thought that was really fun,” Longo said. “It’s something we don’t normally do and all the team went to celebrate. It was a really great experience. It was a great way to tie up the rivalry that team had with them, us winning and then going back to that place.”
Sounds like something the Cougars might be inclined to do after every big win now.
“I think that’d be a pretty cool tradition to start, to be honest,” Longo said.
Secret’s out
People outside Salem County are starting to notice what undefeated Schalick has been putting together
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP I
Friday’s Semifinals
Shore (6-3) at Schalick (10-0), 7 p.m.
Glassboro (6-3) at South Hunterdon (9-1), 7 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — The football team at Schalick High School is quietly turning into one of the biggest comeback stories in the state.
At 10-0, the Cougars are one of four remaining undefeated teams in the West Jersey Football League and one of 16 left in the state in any classification. But outside of their community in Salem County hardly anyone is noticing.
Until now.
Where once the team’s “coverage” consisted of maybe three paragraphs off the call-in sheet on Friday nights, one of the larger media outlets in South Jersey finally stumbled upon the Cougars’ story and sent a reporter to practice earlier this week. A TV station from Philadelphia is due in Thursday on the eve of their Central Jersey Group I semifinal game against Shore Regional. There is said to be ‘mutual interest’ in playing in next year’s season opening Battle at the Beach extravaganza in Ocean City.
What makes it even more compelling is just four years ago, in coach Mike Wilson’s first season with the program, when this year’s senior class were wide-eyed freshmen, they were 0-7 with about two dozen players who probably weren’t ready for varsity competition. None of the other 15 unbeaten teams have come from that far back, although three (Weehawken in 2021, Roxbury in 2020 and Holmdel last year) have had one season of just one win at any time in the previous three years.
“I think it’s great for the kids, they’re finally getting recognition for all their hard work over the last four years,” Wilson said. “It’s new, it’s refreshing, I’m happy for the kids they’re finally going to get the recognition they truly deserve. Now they have to learn we can’t read our own press clippings. There’s still work to be accomplished.”
This undefeated stuff is relatively new to the Cougars, who haven’t been 10-0 since their 12-0 season of 2004, but Wilson has been 10-0 before. It was 2019 as an assistant coach at Mainland Regional, where the rebuild he helped undertake there was similar to what he’s done at Schalick with admittedly some of the same concepts.
That year his team got through the regular season undefeated and then lost to rival Ocean City just a week after beating it in the annual Battle of the Bridge rivalry for the division title. It’s a loss his coaching buddies talk about all the time and he admits still stings whenever they do.
The Cougars have built their success story with a genuine be-where-your-feet-are, one-game-at-a-time approach with players who have grown with the program.
And through that approach they now have an offense full of dynamic skill players, a line that allows them to control the clock and a defense that’s been hard to move on — most of whom will be back next season. They have literally outgrown the WJFL Horizon Division they’ve dominated the last two years and are prepared to be competitive on whatever stronger division they’re sure to be dispatched to in the next rotation.
“I knew we had a good group of younger, we had good kids coming up from the youth program, so we knew they were brighter days ahead, but to get as one of my assistants said this good this quick I don’t think we knew that,” Wilson said. “I knew we would be better every year but we have really exceled this year, we have really jelled as a team.
“I told the kids today in practice we have an opportunity in front of us, let’s not take it for granted. We have a very winnable game in front of us, let’s not take anything for granted right now because football is so unforgiving you may never get this chance again.”
Current Schalick athletics director Doug Volovar didn’t hire Wilson to succeed long-time coach Seth Brown, but he has had a front-row seat to the whole metamorphosis. As an assistant principal at the time he was involved in the interview process and then served as Wilson’s receivers/defensive backs coach in that difficult first year.
Among the elements Wilson brought with him from Mainland were establishing a weight room for strength training and injury prevention and a re-engagement with the booster club. Both continue to be an integral part of the program.
“It’s become not just a football team, it’s become a football program,” Volovar said. “Things have gotten so much better. The program has progressed. Mike has filled in all the pieces and pushed all the right buttons at this point in time to get us to where we’re going in this direction.
“Obviously it’s taken a lot of hard work from not only him but everybody else who’s involved. For us, being a small community, there’s a ton of buy-in from everybody that’s in the community and even in the school and we’ve gotten nothing but support. Without foundation you can’t build a house.”
All the players remember those tough early days and that’s what makes this ride so fun for them. The Cougars lost their first 11 games under Wilson and 13 of their first 14, usually giving up a lot and scoring very little. They have gone 20-3 since. It’s the best run in the program’s history since they went 29-3 between 2003 and 2006.
‘’Me and (tight end) Ryan Johnson, our freshmen year we went 0-7 and we really got our butts kicked every game,” senior receiver Jake Siedlecki said after the win over Gloucester Catholic that completed their first undefeated regular season since 2006. “This game meant a lot for both of us and the program. To go 0-7 to 9-0 in four short years, it’s unbelievable. To play a part in that … means a lot.”
Of course, with the new-found success comes a whole new set of distractions. Like the sudden media attention that’s fallen upon them in the run up to the biggest game of any of their players’ careers.
“We have to focus on the game ahead and go 1-0 every week,” Wilson said, repeating the mantra of the season. “As you stack the wins staying focused is even harder. Like I told the kids (Monday) for the first three years it was kind of nice because people kind of ignored us as a team. Now we have to learn how to ignore the distractions and how do we handle success. That’s a big learning curve right now. We’re being successful and people are noticing and that’s awesome because of all your hard work, but we have to learn how to stay focused and continue to build upon that and not get distracted by what we did last week.
“The other thing is we have to resist the temptation to do things different. Even though the competition is better, we’re getting deeper in the playoffs, we are good enough as we are right now and we have to continue to get better at the things we’re doing and eliminate the things that can beat us and avoid the temptation of trying to do something that we don’t usually do on the field and continue to get better at what we’re already doing.”
Shore makes the 100-mile drive across the state with a 6-3 record and a team that had a chance to shake up the South Jersey Group 1 seedings had they beaten undefeated Group III Holmdel in the final regular season game. They were sixth overall in the South Jersey Group I UPR.
The Blue Devils run a true Delaware Wing-T offense that confounds their opponents so close to the real thing TE-DE Jackson Whitacre has committed to the Blue Hens. The defense has shut out two of their last three opponents. Both teams are coming off first-round shutouts.
Cover photo by Heather Papiano
Cougars have it covered
Schalick girls soccer beats Haddon Twp.; Miller scores twice, Hayman gets a goalie assist and shutout
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP !
GIRLS SOCCER
Monday’s quarterfinals
Audubon 2, Clayton 0
Maple Shade 1, Pitman 0 (SO)
Schalick 2, Haddon Twp. 0
Palmyra 5, Gloucester 2
Semifinals
Maple Shade (13-4-1) at Audubon (17-1-2)
Schalick (15-4) at Palmyra (17-3)
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — Emily Miller has scored a lot of goals for the Schalick girls soccer team this year – a lot of goals – but none more important than the two she got Monday afternoon.
The senior striker banged home goals 46 and 47 to lift the Cougars over Haddon Twp. 2-0 in the South Jersey Group I playoffs. The Cougars (15-4) now play at Palmyra (14-4-2) in the sectional semis Thursday.
‘These are two very important goals that I had today,’ Miller said.
Indeed. The first goal came with 4:16 gone in the match when she settled a long punt from goalie Carly Hayman and broke in untouched. She clinched the Cougars’ seventh straight victory when she took a pass from Cali Fisler, raced against the wind and beat the keeper with 23 seconds to play.
It was Fisler’s 22nd assist this season, extending her single-season school record. Fourteen of the assists have been on goals by Miller.
“This is super exciting,’ Miller said. ‘I had low hopes for today, I’m not going to lie. I had a low mindset. I wasn’t too confident, but I put it away early and I finished it off at the end of the game.”
With 47 goals, she has more goals than half the teams in the 16-team sectional field, including two that reached the quarterfinals. Fifty goals “is on the back of my mind,” she admitted, but she won’t be too upset if she misses the mark because she already has hit her main goal – breaking the single-season school record for goals.
“I think if she continues to put her head down and do the work that she knows she can do, I think the goal tally is going to be endless for her,” Schalick coach Will Kemp said.
You might say her big season is making up for lost time. She broke her collarbone as a freshman and stayed out as a sophomore (when the Cougars won the sectional), but returned to the pitch last season and “just fell in love with (soccer) again.” But it might not be her first love. When she’s not playing soccer, she’s racing dirt bikes, and that might be her true calling.
Hayman, meanwhile, usually makes her biggest contributions in the back of the field. With her hands in a game where nobody else can use theirs.
She assisted the Cougars in another way Monday — with literally a big assist.
The senior goalie drove a wind-blown punt well across the midline, sending Miller on a semi-breakaway. It was Hayman’s third assist this year – first on a punt – and seventh of her career.
“Her foot has helped us multiple times in the past,” Miller said.
“I was surprised it went that far, but I was really happy I got an assist and we got a goal early on,” Hayman said. “I knew (Miller) was going to get to it and when she had it I knew she was about to score this and I was already jumping around by the time she did.”
“Carly’s a student of the game,” Kemp said. “She understands weaknesses in teams and understands how to exploit them. Her distribution skills have always been at the top, especially with her feet, and that’s one of the reasons I put her in the field in certain matches.”
Returning to her more traditional role of stopping shots, she kept the Hawks out of the net, making 17 saves in her 12th shutout and third in a row. She took a point-blank shot in the breadbasket about nine minutes after Miller’s first goal and later watched the wind blow a Haddon Twp. shot past the right post.
She was even sharper in the second half when the Hawks (8-10-2) played with the wind. She withstood several corner kicks dodged a bullet with 17 minutes left when the Hawks got one over her head and hit the crossbar. And the defensive four in front of her turned back a final threat in the last minute, with Athena Eberl making a nice sliding tackle deep in the corner to dislodge Jaylene Peebles from the ball.
The clearing ball on that play sent Miller off to her second goal.
This week’s schedule
Here is the high school sports schedule for Salem County teams for the week of Oct. 30-Nov. 4
FOOTBALL
Thursday
Regional Consolation Tournament
South Jersey Group I
Keansburg at Pennsville, 5 p.m.
Friday
South Jersey Group I Playoffs
Penns Grove at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
Central Jersey Group I Playoffs
Shore at Schalick, 7 p.m.
Glassboro at South Hunterdon
Saturday
South Jersey Group I Playoffs
Burlington City at Woodbury
CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday
NJSIAA Championships, Holmdel Park
BOYS SOCCER
South Jersey Group I Playoffs
Wednesday
Haddon Twp. at Schalick, 2 p.m.
Woodstown at Palmyra, 4 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
South Jersey Group I Playoffs
Monday
Haddon Twp. at Schalick, 2 p.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
South Jersey Group I Playoffs
Tuesday
Schalick at Middle Twp., 2 p.m.
Wednesday
Woodstown at Collingswood, 2 p.m.
Local playoff angle
In honor of this week’s Penns Grove-Woodstown playoff matchup, here are some notes and charts specifically for Salem County football
Making strides
Three of the five Salem County football teams this season have improved records over the year before with one basically a wash. Woodstown could match its 2022 record with a playoff win over Penns Grove this week. The chart tracks this year’s senior class.
| TEAM | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 22-23 +/- | 4YR +/- |
| Pennsville | 2-5 | 3-7 | 1-8 | 5-4 | +4 | +2 |
| Schalick | 0-7 | 4-6 | 7-3 | 10-0 | +3 | +8.5 |
| Penns Grove | 6-3 | 6-5 | 3-8 | 5-5 | +2.5 | -1.5 |
| Woodstown | 4-4 | 9-3 | 8-2 | 7-2 | -0.5 | +2 |
| Salem | 6-1 | 11-2 | 8-5 | 2-8 | -4.5 | -5.5 |
Playoff head-to-head
Here are the records of Salem County teams in head-to-head playoff matchups since 2003.
| TEAM | PG | SAL | PVL | WOO | SCH | TOTAL |
| Penns Grove | — | 2-1 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 3-0 | 6-2 |
| Salem | 1-2 | — | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | 4-3 |
| Pennsville | 1-0 | 0-1 | — | 1-1 | NA | 2-2 |
| Woodstown | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1-1 | — | 1-0 | 2-3 |
| Schalick | 0-3 | 1-1 | NA | 0-1 | — | 1-5 |
The Games
2022
Woodstown 45, Schalick 8
2019
Woodstown 47, Pennsville 14
Salem 31, Woodstown 6
2018
Penns Grove 40, Woodstown 6
Penns Grove 14, Salem 7
2017
Penns Grove 52, Schalick 30
2016
Pennsville 21, Woodstown 6
2014
Salem 22, Penns Grove 14
Salem 56, Pennsville 7
2013
Salem 41, Schalick 13
Penns Grove 22, Salem 17
2011
Pennsville 21, Penns Grove 14
2009
Penns Grove 14, Schalick 6
2006
Penns Grove 35, Schalick 34
2003
Schalick 7, Salem 0
The Rematches
When the playoff game is a rematch of a regular season meeting, the winner of the regular season game is 8-3, the home team in those playoff game are 8-3 (since 2003). Bold playoff team was at home
| YEAR | REGULAR SEASON | PLAYOFF GAME |
| 2023 | Woodstown 21, Penns Grove 6 | Penns Grove at Woodstown |
| 2019 | Woodstown 35, Pennsville 0 | Woodstown 47, Pennsville 14 |
| 2018 | Penns Grove 33, Woodstown 0 | Penns Grove 40, Woodstown 6 |
| 2018 | Penns Grove 26, Salem 20 | Penns Grove 14, Salem 7 |
| 2016 | Pennsville 28, Woodstown 7 | Pennsville 21, Woodstown 6 |
| 2014 | Salem 12, Penns Grove 0 | Salem 22, Penns Grove 14 |
| 2014 | Pennsville 23, Salem 19 | Salem 56, Pennsville 7 |
| 2013 | Schalick 30, Salem 18 | Salem 41, Schalick 13 |
| 2013 | Penns Grove 24, Salem 19 | Penns Grove 22, Salem 17 |
| 2009 | Penns Grove 36, Schalick 0 | Penns Grove 14, Schalick 6 |
| 2006 | Schalick 20, Penns Grove 8 | Penns Grove 35, Schalick 34 |
| 2003 | Schalick 26, Salem 0 | Schalick 7, Salem 0 |
Cover photo: Woodstown and Penns Grove will mix it up for the second time this season Friday night. The first one was for the division title, this one will be to stay alive in the playoffs. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)
Historical pursuit
Woodstown advances to boys soccer sectional semifinals, Ibarra ties junior scoring record; top-seeded Schalick survives Pitman
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
Second-round games
Schalick 1, Pitman 0
Haddon Twp. at Audubon, Sat.
Woodstown 2, Wildwood 0
Riverside at Palmyra, Sat.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — Adrian Ibarra tied the school record for goals by a junior and the defense posted another shutout as Woodstown blanked Wildwood 2-0 Friday in the South Jersey Group I playoffs.
The third-seeded Wolverines now play the winner of Saturday’s Riverside-Palmyra game in the sectional semifinals.
Trips to the sectional semifinals are rare for the Wolverines, prompting coach Darren Huck to tell his players in the post-game huddle they were making history.
This might be the second time in three years the Wolverines have made it to the sectional semis, but it’s only the fifth time since 2010.
“We’ve only made the semifinals maybe three or four times in school history … so this is quite an accomplishment for the program,” Huck said. “I can think of many teams we come across (that have kept them out). For a lot of those years it was tough because Woodstown was a Group One school and we were in a division, conference where we had to beat Group Three and Four schools to get into it. A lot of times we’d get that 8-9 draw and then we get the No. 1 seed the next one.”
This one won’t be any easier to get through, either. Seventh-seeded Riverside put nine goals on Gateway in the opening round and Palmyra is the No. 2 seed that opened the season with a 12-game unbeaten streak and could be a No. 1 with an earlier win over Schalick.
“As a coach you’re never satisfied always looking for one more when it comes to playoffs; you hold onto it and treasure it as much as you can,” Huck said. “Am I proud of my players? Absolutely. We’re further along than I was anticipating. I knew we were going in a good direction, I knew we were going to be doing some really good things, but they’re being done a little sooner than anticipated.”
Ibarra (pictured) scored his 26th goal of the season with 8:07 left in the first half to put the Wolverines on top. He took a cross from Kaleb Gerace, settled the ball on his foot and fired a precise and powerful shot inside the left post.
He tied the record set by Geoff Schaefer in 2014 and has at least one more game left to break it. But that’s not really on his mind.
“I’m all about team wins, so I’m just grateful that we’re advancing to the semifinals,” Ibarra said. “I could care less about the record as long as we’re advancing. I hope we take the title this year.”
His uncle, Oscar Hernandez, scored 29 goals in his best season at Woodstown and Ibarra would like to top that – within the framework of helping the Wolverines advance, of course.
“I would like to score more than him,” he said softly.
It looked like it would be the only goal of the game until Bryce Ayars found the net the hardest way possible, on a cross-field shot in the final minute. Ayars had been trying all half to score and nearly got one earlier on a header that went from the ground to the crossbar before finally getting his first career playoff goal on a long shot from the left side into the upper right corner.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “This is my first playoff goal ever out of my two years. Putting the game away for my team was a relief and then my coach was nailbiting all the second half with me not finishing but I finally put it in to secure the win.
“When it came down to it, man, did he put a really nice one away,” Huck said.
The win was the Wolverines’ seventh straight. The only goal they’ve given up in the streak has been in a penalty kick. Ben Stengel collected five saves in the latest shutout.
“It’s definitely my defense,” Stengel said. “We’ve got a good line this year, a very good line. We’ve got strength everywhere. They’re all doing great for me. With them in front of me, I didn’t have to do anything, really.”
SCHALICK 1, PITMAN 0: Mike Nelson headed home a free kick from Anthony Sepers with less than three minutes left in the first half and Evan Sepers made eight saves in another shutout to help top-seeded Schalick avoid the upset and advance to the sectional semifinals.
“It was very much a defensive battle,” Cougars coach Joe Mannella said. “Both teams were fighting tooth and nail to keep the ball out of the net.”
The Cougars await the winner of Saturday’s Audubon-Haddon Twp. match to complete its semifinal matchup. Haddon Twp. is the No. 13 seed that upset No. 4 Glassboro in the first round.
“We owe Twp. after several defeats to them over the past four years,” Mannella said.
Schalick has won seven in a row, the last five by shutout. They’ve only allowed one goal during the winning streak.
Intensity is the word
Woodstown field hockey ramps it up in second half, puts away Maple Shade in sectional
tournament; Salem falls in its opener
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
First-round games
Haddon Twp. 3, Salem 1
Woodstown 2, Maple Shade 1
Collingswood 8, Gateway 1
Middle Twp. 6, Audubon 0
Schalick 3, Bordentown 0
Gloucester 5, Lower Cape May 0
Florence 6, New Egypt 0
Quarterfinals
Haddon Twp. at West Deptford
Woodstown at Collingswood
Schalick at Middle Twp.
Gloucester at Florence
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — Most teams when they break it down to take their game to the field usually shout out something like their school’s name or mascot.
The Woodstown field hockey team chooses its word with purpose.
The word of the day to start the second half Friday was “intensity,” and the Wolverines brought a lot more of what they already had.
They scored both of their goals in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter to fuel a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Maple Shade in the South Jersey Group I playoffs. The Wolverines now will play at No. 4 Collingswood in the quarterfinals. Collingswood beat Gateway 8-1.
“There’s a lot behind the word intensity,” Wolverines coach Bryanna Roberts said. “The second half is when you really have to come out. Obviously you want it in the first half, but it’s now or never at this point.
“As far as the word intensity, all the girls show it and that’s the word that we use because going into that second half it’s now or never and you’ve got to work hard for it.”
It’s not like they weren’t intense in the first half. They actually dominated the play with more corners (11-1) and shots on goal (5-1), but they trailed the Wildcats 1-0.
Lexi Andrada scored on a shot from the top of the circle with 4:26 left in the first quarter to give the Wildcats the lead. Woodstown’s Megan Donelson had the tying goal disallowed by a foot foul in the goalmouth with two minutes left in the half and that seemed to inspire using the key word even more.
“It just gets us all fired up,” Donelson said.
“It really does motivate us to keep moving forward,” goal-scorer Brea DiGregorio said. “If we put that in the air, then it shows on the field.”
Shyann Higinbotham tied the game with a shot from the right side of the circle with only 1:53 gone in the third quarter. The Wolverines continued to press the attack and DiGregorio scored the game-winner with 5:33 left in the quarter.
“I saw the ball coming towards me and I knew I had to be ready and get my stick down in order to hit it back because that was my responsibility,” DiGregorio said. “(Coming from behind) shows our grit and our toughness that we ‘re able to bring it back after they score. We responded.”
HADDON TWP. 3, SALEM 1: The Hawks took control with two goals in the first quarter, added a third before halftime and kept the Rams at arm’s length in the second half. Anna Buzby scored Salem’s goal in the third quarter.
Haddon Twp. now travels to rested West Deptford for the quarterfinals. The top-seeded Eagles drew a first-round bye.
Cover photo: Woodstown’s Taylor Predergast (6) tries to steer clear of the pressure being applied by Maple Shade’s Rachel Loomis during Friday’s South Jersey Group I field hockey tournament game.
Bryce’s big game
Top-seeded Woodstown routs Dunellen, sets up SJ semifinal rematch with Penns Grove; Red Devils edge previously unbeaten Florence for first road playoff win since 2011 and fourth in program history
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS
Friday’s games
No. 1 Woodstown 42, No. 8 Dunellen 6
No. 5 Penns Grove 6, No. 4 Florence 3
No. 7 Burlington City 60, No. 2 Middlesex 15
Saturday’s game
No. 3 Woodbury 40, No. 6 Riverside 8
Semifinals games
Penns Grove at Woodstown, Friday, 7 p.m.
Burlington City at Woodbury
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – The Woodstown football team got to wear its black jerseys again Friday night – this time with orange britches in honor of Halloween – and it was truly a scary sight for the visitors.
The Wolverines got a big Homecoming win when coach John Adams surprised them with the black jerseys for the first time against Salem and they worked like the charm they were again, this time in a 42-6 rout of Dunellen in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs.
“That pretty much set up the night,” running back Bryce Belinfanti said.
As if the Halloween-themed garb wasn’t scary enough, Belinfanti struck fear in the Destroyers’ defense every time he touched the ball. He scored five touchdowns, two of which covered 85 and 50 yards on successive possessions in the second quarter. He also scored on runs of 11 and 8 yards and a 24-yard pass from Max Webb.
The 80-yarder came shortly after Webb had a long touchdown run recalled by a holding penalty.
Playing just a half, he had 168 yards rushing (on only eight carries) and the TD catch was his only reception. Webb rushed for 62 yards. Alex Torres had 47 yards and their last touchdown on 10 carries.
Unlike the first time when Adams sprung the black jerseys on the players at the mid-day pep rally, this time he gave them a heads up on the color combination.
“I loved it,” Belinfanti said. “I thought it was going to be really cool. Like October 27th, black and orange, and our student section is great, so …
“I knew if we made it to the playoffs and if we were the first seed we’d probably break them out one more time. Not with the orange pants, I didn’t think. It looked pretty cool. The black jerseys had some orange on them, so it matched up pretty well.”
The Wolverines had another thing going for them. They were playing for a long-time booster and Woodstown alum Jimmy Lee Brooks who was recovering from injuries suffered in a recent car accident. Brooks, Class of ’72 and grandfather of former Woodstown captain Abu Hall, rarely missed a game, but being away for this one he requested whoever scored the first touchdown hold the ball up in salute.
Belinfanti honored the request when he scored on the opening drive and did it at least one other time in the game. It is said Brooks saw the gesture from his room in the rehab center where he was recovering.
With all that going for the Wolverines, the Destroyers, who passed Pennsville on the final weekend of the regular season for the final SJ-I playoff spot, didn’t stand a chance.
“It was a great night,” Belinfanti said. “All week we studied how their defense was going to act and what they were going to run to us. A lot of it had to do with game-planning. We knew the cutback was going to be there all night. It was a good night.”
The win sends the top-seeded Wolverines (7-2) to face fifth-seeded county rival Penns Grove (5-5) for the second time in three weeks. The Wolverines won the first meeting 21-6 to clinch the Diamond Division title, their first outright division title since 2013.
“I’m excited for it, to see how they play us differently,” Belinfanti said. “It’ll be a good game, yeah.”
Woodstown 42, Dunellen 6
| Dunellen (5-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 – | 6 |
| Woodstown (7-2) | 14 | 21 | 7 | 0 – | 42 |
Scoring plays:
W – Bryce Belinfanti 11 run (Jake Ware kick)
W – Bryce Belinfanti 24 pass from Max Webb (Jake Ware kick)
W – Bryce Belinfanti 8 run (Jake Ware kick)
W – Bryce Belinfanti 85 run (Jake Ware kick)
W – Bryce Belinfanti 50 run (Jake Ware kick)
W – Alex Torres 1 run (Jake Ware kick)
D – Chiekezie Ogbuewu 16 run (run failed)
PG scores rare road playoff win
FLORENCE – A lot of special things have to happen for a team to win a playoff game on the road, especially against an undefeated team with a lot of emotion and history behind it.
But Penns Grove got a lot of special things to happen. The Red Devils scored the game’s only touchdown in the third quarter and their defense was its typical unyielding self as they handed Florence its first loss in the final playoff game of Flashes coach Joe Frappoli’s 50-year tenure, 6-3.
Freshman Karon Ceaser scored the game’s only touchdown on a 38-yard run on the opening series of the second half. The Penns Grove defense allowed only 82 net yards. It was the third time in four games they have allowed their opponents three points or less.
“The defense played well,” Emel said. “Once we got the lead I felt like our defense played really well. That was the difference in the game – our defense in the second half and our ability to move the ball a little bit, enough to kind of shorten the game and work the clock. We’re going to have to clean up the penalties.”
The Red Devils overcame 90 yards in penalties in the first half (including offsides on the opening kickoff) to score their first playoff road win since 2011, a 36-8 first-round win at Paulsboro, and fourth in the history of the program. It was the first of coach John Emel’s 11 career playoffs wins to come on the road.
“We’re not real happy because we played fairly sloppy, but it’s our first road playoff win as a program since 2011,” Emel said. “We’ve won some neutral games and things like that, but that’s our first road win in the playoffs.”
Ceaser finished with 77 yards rushing on 11 carries and had an interception on defense. Bryce Wright had 102 yards on 23 carries and completed a pass to Knowledge Young for 18 yards.
Emel said his players are fired up to play Woodstown again.
“It’s good,” he said. “We’ve given ourselves an opportunity to play them again. Obviously we weren’t happy with way things went last week. Usually when that happens you’ve got to wait a while, you’ve got to wait until next season (to try again). It’s hard to beat a team twice. It’s hard to beat a good team once, so we’ll have our hands full.”
Penns Grove 6, Florence 3
| PG | FLO | |
| 12 | 1st Downs | 7 |
| 37-169 | Rushing | 32-77 |
| 1-2-0 | Passes | 1-6-1 |
| 18 | Passing | 5 |
| 0-0 | Fum-lost | 0-0 |
| 5-31.8 | Punts | 3-39.3 |
| 9-93 | Penalties | 9-44 |
| Penns Grove (5-5) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 – | 6 |
| Florence (7-1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 – | 3 |
Scoring plays:
F – John Dodge 32 FG
P – Karon Ceaser 38 run (run failed)
Band on the run
Schalick uses running attack, strong defense to shut down Audubon in Central Jersey playoff opener; Salem falls at South Hunterdon
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS
Friday’s games
No. 1 Schalick 35, No. 8 Audubon 0
No. 4 Shore 14, No. 5 Clayton 0
No. 3 Glassboro 28, No. 6 Keyport 0
No. 2 South Hunterdon 16, No. 7 Salem 6
Semifinals games
Shore at Schalick
Glassboro at South Hunterdon
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Old habits die hard.
Whenever he was asked about it, Schalick coach Mike Wilson said the reason the Cougars invested so much time in the offseason improving their passing game was because they got exposed for the lack of one in the playoffs last year.
If you’re going to beat the better teams, especially those you’ll see in the playoffs, he said, you have to throw the football.
But two weeks after quarterback Kenai Simmons set all kinds of career highs passing the football and now in the first round of those playoffs, the Cougars were back to pounding the ground. They ran it 42 times for 269 yards Friday night and threw only five passes (completing three).
But you can’t argue with the results. They beat Audubon 35-0 for their first playoff win since 2007 and their first playoff shutout since 2003.
The undefeated top seed in the Central Jersey Group I playoffs (10-0) will now host Shore Regional (6-3) in the sectional semifinals Friday.
“It was odd because our game plan coming into this week was really to pass the ball more,” Simmons said. “We saw last year, first round of the playoffs, that’s where we failed at. We ran the ball so much and Woodstown stopped us, so we felt we had to step it up and pass the ball.
“But after we saw Reggie Allen breaking a couple plays we figured like he was hungry so let’s feed him and keep it on the ground.”
Allen led the rushing attack with 117 yards on 21 carries. He scored two touchdowns. Simmons had 98 yards, including a 60-yard dash in the fourth quarter that was more than the Green Wave rushed as a team the entire game. Levi Feeney-Childers had 44 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.
Eighteen of the Cougars’ first 19 plays were runs and they only really started throwing it on their last possession of the first half. They threw one pass in the second half, a 34-yard completion to Jake Siedlecki.
“Here’s the thing, as that game went on we threw when we had to,” Wilson said. “Last year we couldn’t do that. So it’s not the volume, it’s can we make the timely pass when you need it.
“We liked the tempo of the game, we were playing great defense, the stuff they gave us was (by) us not them; we were getting a surge all night. The gameplan was with the question mark on Kenai’s (shoulder), we’re just going to run the football this week. And then Kenai looked like his old self so the training wheels are going to come off.”
The Cougars’ defense also played a big role in the win. It was led by Dylan Sheehan’s one-handed pick-six and three sacks by freshman first-time starting nose Aiden Torres.
Wilson said the Cougars were back to the form they displayed prior to the slowdown brought on by back-to-back forfeit wins in the middle of the schedule.
“It was a good, complete first-round game,” he said.
Sheehan played with a thick black cushion wrapped around his right hand to protect a fractured knuckle in his pinky he suffered in last week’s game. It didn’t hurt his chances making the interception, though, as he snared it with his left hand and used the pad to help bring it into his body.
Then he took off down the left sideline for the first pick-six of his high school career. It gave the Cougars a 14-0 lead they carried into halftime.
“As soon as it was in my hands I knew it was in the crib,” Sheehan said.
Torres, meanwhile, had been elevated to the varsity three games ago after giving the regulars fits on the scout team and originally was used as a rotational player. He was told after last week’s regular-season finale he was going to start in the playoff game, had a whole week to mentally prepare for the biggest game of his life and made the most of his opportunity.
“First play I’m always nervous, but it wasn’t anything really big, I just had to play like I always play, do what I’ve got to do,” the 5-10, 250-pounder said, clutching a game ball in his massive hands. “It was fun. I like it. I really like it. It’s more intense, everything is more fast paced. I like it way better.”
No. 1 Schalick 35, No. 8 Audubon 0
| AUD | SCH | |
| 12 | 1st Downs | 16 |
| 14-56 | Rushing | 42-269 |
| 11-22-2 | Passes | 3-5-0 |
| 100 | Passing | 46 |
| 0-0 | Fum-lost | 0-0 |
| 2-30.5 | Punts | 1-44.0 |
| 4-33 | Penalties | 7-62 |
| Audubon (3-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 – | 0 |
| Schalick (10-0) | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 – | 35 |
Scoring plays:
S – Reggie Allen 12 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 7:57 2Q
S – Dylan Sheehan 64 interception return (Hunter Dragotta kick), 6:28 2Q
S – Levi Feeney-Childers 4 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 3:39 3Q
S – Reggie Allen 1 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 10:15 4Q
S – Kenai Simmons 5 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 3:07 4Q
Salem haunted by missed opportunities
LAMBERTVILLE – Salem missed several opportunities to take control of the game in the first half and it came back to bite it in the end.
Second-seeded and once-beaten South Hunterdon stopped turning the ball over in the second half and scored 16 straight points to end the Rams’ playoff dreams and first season under coach Danny Mendoza 16-6.
The Rams stopped South Hunterdon four times with takeaways in the first half, all of them setting up inside the Eagles’ 30, but had only a 6-0 lead on Jared Pew’s 13-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to show for it. The defense collected three interceptions and a fumble recovery to hold the Eagles (9-1) back. They returned one of the picks for a touchdown, but it got called back for a block in the back.
As the seventh seed in the Central Jersey Group I bracket, the Rams (2-8) were destined to play on the road throughout the playoffs. But it wouldn’t have fazed them. They played four of their previous, but were only scheduled for two before their old field was reopened after undergoing repairs.
South Hunterdon 16, Salem 6
| Salem (2-8) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 – | 0 |
| South Hunterdon (9-1) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 – | 16 |
Scoring plays:
S – Jared Pew 13 run (run failed)
SH – Ryder Manfready 14 run (PAT kick)
SH – Safety, Ramaji Bundy tackled in end zone
SH – Ryder Manfready 12 run (PAT kick)
Riverview Sports News 