Salem football blanks Pennsville to reach South Jersey, Group 1 final

  • 11/21 - 7:00 PM FootballFinal
    Salem 56
    Pennsville 7
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PENNSVILLE -- Pennsville Memorial could not find an answer for the three-headed rushing attack of Salem High.

Behind the running of Dione Alston, Jonathan Taylor and Zaire Jones, the fourth-seeded Rams defeated the top-seeded Eagles in the semifinals of the NJSIAA/Sports Care Institute South Jersey, Group 1 playoffs, 56-7.

Salem (7-3) avenged a 23-19 regular-season loss and will face the winner of Saturday's game between Paulsboro and Gloucester for the sectional title in two weeks at Rowan University.

Salem's running back committee combined for 202 yards and five touchdowns on 39 carries. Taylor led the rushing attack, finishing with 143 yards on 18 carries and two scores. Alston finished with 13 carries for 23 yards and two touchdowns and Jones had seven carries for 45 yards and a touchdown.

The Rams went wire-to-wire, never allowing the Eagles (8-2) to get closer than seven points. The score was 16-7 midway through the second half when Salem scored 40 unanswered points.

The Salem defense all but shut down the up-tempo Eagles offense. Matt Widmaier, who accounted for 443 yards of total offense in Pennsville's first-round win over Haddon Heights, finished with 116, and much of it came when the game was out of reach.

The Eagles had a hard time moving the ball all night. Running back Josh VanBalcrom scored the lone touchdown with an 11-yard carry. The score was set up by Taylor's fumble for the Rams deep in their own territory.

That would be Salem's only blemish.

Big plays happened often for the Rams. Taylor got it started with a 63-yard scoring run with 10:10 left in the second quarter.

Two drives later, on fourth down, the Eagles attempted to punt, but it was blocked by Ray Bentley Jr., who recovered the ball on the Eagles' 1-yard line. Taylor would get his second score of the day on the next play, putting the Rams up, 24-7.

Immediately after the touchdown, the Rams recovered an onside kick with 1:40 left in the half. On the next play, the Rams had a 41-yard hookup between Shareef Jeffries and Levi Shockley that put the ball on the Eagles' 4-yard line. Another Jeffries-to-Shockley pass-and-catch for a TD came with no time left in the half and put the game solely in the hands of the Rams.

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