Mighty Oaks host Nassau CC at Schalick HS Saturday
CARNEYS POINT – Everyone knows the adage: A team makes its greatest improvement from Game 1 to Game 2. Salem CC football coach Jay Accorsi is hoping that’s the case with his new team as it has spent the last two week trying to make that a reality.
The Mighty Oaks have come through the most important open week in the program’s young history in preparation for its second ever game, a “home” date Saturday against Nassau CC at Schalick High School. Kickoff has been moved back to 12:30 p.m.
Salem lost its inaugural game 26-18 to now-No. 4 Hudson Valley and spent most of the last two weeks making the necessary corrections and invariable changes.
“We started Aug. 3, that was a long time up to the (first) game time,” Accorsi said. “There’s a lot of days there, so it was a lot. It was grind for the new coaching staff, new players, it was a lot.
“So, when I created the schedule I wanted to get an open date (early) just to assess where we were, where do we need to go, what do we need to work on. Just to take a breath of fresh air and get the players and coaches time off. I think we all needed to take a step back and take a deep breath and kind of assess where we’re at and what we’re doing and fix as many things as we can.”
The first game taught them a lot of things about the team and game operations that only a first game can To that end, perhaps the most recognizable change is the decision to bring offensive coordinator Chris Crowley down on the field to call plays and move offensive line coach Nick Santosuosso to the press box.
“We changed practice around,” Accorsi said. “It’s a new coaching staff. Montclair was a false sense of security for coaches because it was really just offense and defense and punt, so there wasn’t a lot of changeover. It wasn’t like a real game, it was kind of like a practice, which I look back and kind of regret, because there are lot of things as coaches we need to fix and I need to fix. Being in charge of special teams one of the things I need to do communication wise with offense and defense. There’s a lot of that behind-the-scenes stuff I think you do as coaches just to make the overall operation clean.”
Player decisions continue to be work in progress. A starting quarterback hadn’t been determined at the beginning of the week and it’s likely all three will play again against the Lions (1-1), who are coming off a 28-0 loss to an Army Prep team the Mighty Oaks will play at West Point Sept. 25.
Cam Wright was the last-minute starter in the inaugural game and he played the first quarter, moving the offense between the 30s in the most sustained drive of his appearance. Malakhai McKenzie entered in the second quarter, scored a touchdown and played all the way to the final two minutes, when Aidan Hill sent the crowd home buzzing over a 44-yard touchdown pass to Jahfarri Payne on the final play of the game.
Still, the offense generated just 163 net yards, was 4-of-13 on third down and gave up six sacks. They ran 10 fewer plays than Hudson Valley, but held the ball two minutes longer.
“Playing three quarterbacks the first game is kind of a juggling act,” Accorsi said. “You’re trying to see what they can do, what they can’t do, what they’re good at, what you’re asking them to do, where they are with other players. I thought we’d probably play three, might play three again, that’s just the nature of it. Offenses this time of year are always behind the defense. I think that’s just going to be the nature of what we’re trying to do is figure that out. That’s going to be one of those things game day or right around game day.”
The way the Mighty Oaks played in the second half and fought through what could’ve been a demoralizing stretch in the third quarter when the Vikings answered Salem’s touchdown to regain a 14-point lead was Accorsi’s biggest takeaway from the game. “I thought we were competitive,” he said.
“That last play kind of shows the character of our team,” offensive lineman Jacob Hand said. “Even though we’re in the last seconds, we’re down by two touchdowns, like we know we’re not coming back to win this game, but it’s a win with pride type of thing to really stick it to them. Yeah, we lost to you guys, but you know who we are.”
The Mighty Oaks are expecting a team similar to what they faced in Hudson Valley. The Lions started their season with a win over the Wagner JV in which quarterback Elijah Outlaw threw for 288 yards four touchdowns and the defense came up with four interceptions. Army Prep held them to 34 yards rushing and 110 yards of net offense.
“My hope is some of the breakdowns we had defensively will correct and we can get an offense that’s more fluid and can be more consistent,” Accorsi said. “It’s going to be a challenge for us to see where we have improved, if we have from Week 1 to Week 2, and can we play a little bit cleaner. That’s going to be the key for us.
“I’ve always believed I don’t think it’s so much the other team it’s more of what your team does, how they perform and how they play. That’s just going to be the difference for us. Can we play more cleaner offensively. Can we play more cohesively. Can we generate some drives. Can we not turn the ball over. Can we not put ourselves in harm’s way by taking large sacks. Part of that is us learning what we need to be.”