Most football teams would be happy to have at least one playmaker on the roster. At Salem High School, take your pick.
Ramaji Bundy, Jessiah Gildersleeve and Jahki Coates all took turns making plays on Saturday, scoring two touchdowns each as the second-seeded Rams rocked No. 3 Audubon, 42-7, in an NJSIAA Rothman Orthopaedics Central Jersey Group 1 semifinal playoff game at Salem’s Walnut Street Field.
When asked if he considered himself a playmaker, Bundy, a sophomore who leads the Rams in scoring, didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“A big-time playmaker,” he declared.
Based on Bundy’s performance Saturday, it would be hard to argue. He converted a short catch-and-run into a touchdown and intercepted two passes, including one that he returned for another score.
Salem (9-1) gets the rematch it wanted for next Saturday’s sectional final.
“It’s a party at Paulsboro, and you guys deserve that,” Salem coach Montrey Wright told his team shortly after its second straight blowout win in the playoffs.
The Rams will travel to Paulsboro to take on the top-seeded Red Raiders – a 20-14 winner over Gloucester in Saturday’s other semifinal – for the Central Jersey Group 1 championship. They’ll try to avenge their only loss of the season, a 25-17 setback on September 25, and eight straight overall to the Red Raiders – the previous seven of which were in playoff games.
“It’s going to be a good game, but I like me and my boys,” said Gildersleeve, a senior back who rushed for 154 yards and two scores. “I’ve got a lot of faith in us. I’m going to do my part. We’ve all got a job to do and it’s time to get it done.”
But first, the Rams will take some time to savor a dominating performance against the Green Wave (7-2), which was coming off its first playoff win since 1983 a week ago.
Salem jumped out to a 28-0 lead by halftime, holding the Wave to 113 yards of total offense in the first half. Jasir Thompson, Anthony Selby and Jayden Wright all had sacks of Audubon quarterback Scott Lynch, and Bundy and Gildersleeve both had interceptions.
Bundy ignited the Rams by turning a rare feat - scoring on back-to-back plays from scrimmage late in the first quarter.
He scored his first TD by taking a pass from Coates in the left flat before turning it up the field and slipping a couple of would-be tacklers outside the 10-yard line before darting into the end zone to complete a 37-yard score with 2:36 left in the opening quarter (SEE VIDEO OF THE TOUCHDOWN BELOW).
After the ensuing kickoff, Bundy struck again on the next play from scrimmage. Lined up at deep safety, he picked off a pass at the Audubon 37 and took it all the way for the pick 6, eluding a host of tacklers on the way.
It was his second pick 6 of the season and team-leading 13th touchdown overall.
“I’m hungry, so I do what I’ve got to do,” said Bundy, who continued running beyond the end zone to greet a group of fans watching from a backyard.
“That’s the ‘Dog Pound’ back there,” Bundy said. “That’s where some of the older people sit at when they don’t feel like coming in (to the stadium) to watch the game. I just wanted to say hi.”
SEE VIDEO OF BUNDY’S PICK 6 BELOW.
“He definitely has big-play ability,” Wright said of his sophomore star. “He’s been doing those type things all year. You’re not going to find too many sophomores mature enough to handle stuff, especially in the playoffs, but he handles it well so we’re excited to have a kid like him.”
“When he was a freshman, we knew he was going to be great,” added Gildersleeve. “He’s really stepping up and playing like he’s a senior.”
Gildersleeve delivered the touchdown that really seemed to deflate Audubon with 4:24 left in the first half after the Green Wave’s Logan Gilbert eluded a near block and delivered a 62-yard punt that pinned Salem at its own 2-yard line. But two plays later, Gildersleeve broke toward the left sideline and somehow slipped a tackle near midfield en route to the end zone for a spectacular 86-yard scoring run that made it 21-0.
“I saw a cutback lane and I know one person can’t tackle me,” Gildersleeve said. “I knew we had it there.”
Gildersleeve set up the next touchdown with an interception that gave the Rams the ball at the Audubon 33, and Coates later scored on a five-yard keeper for a 28-0 lead.
Coates (82 yards on eight carries) added a 44-yard scoring run on the third play from scrimmage in the second half.
The Wave ended the shutout bid when Lynch completed a 68-yard pass to Luke Hoke, setting up his 15-yard TD pass to Hoke two plays later, but Gildersleeve tacked on an 8-yard TD run in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
That final score was set up by what appeared to be Bundy’s second pick 6, but his 79-yard return was negated by a penalty during the return, and Gildersleeve scored six plays later.
Now the Rams will turn their attention to Paulsboro as they attempt to capture their first sectional title since 1983.
“We’re hot right now so we want to continue to roll,” Wright said. “We’re a different team from what we were early in the season, and we’re looking to come in and play our style of football. We’re just excited to get another chance. This time around, we want to lock it in and play Salem Rams football.”
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