Salem shows no signs of slowing down entering playoffs

Rams overwhelm Penns Grove 40-0 in playoff opener, host Woodstown Saturday

SALEM – When Salem lost its season opener in Ohio 55-14 head coach Kemp Carr wasn’t worried. When the Rams started the season 1-3 with two losses by a total of three points he wasn’t worried either.

While some teams might start hitting the panic button after such a tough start, the Rams didn’t fret because they knew what was waiting in the wings and what was waiting would make them the championship contenders they are today.

All they were doing was biding their time until they had their full complement of players, mainly with the return of quarterback Desmund Thomas and lineman Raymond Brown, who had been waiting for their eligibility to be restored after transferring as seniors. And while they waited – and practiced with their teammates – the rest of the players on the field were jelling with each other ready to cut loose once everyone was together.

The Rams have been all together now for the last six weeks and they haven’t lost since. They look every bit like a team with designs on playing for a state championship at the end of the month , a team they thought they’d be when the season started.

The surge swelled to six in a row Saturday with a dominant 40-0 win over Penns Grove in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs. The Rams (7-3) now host rival Woodstown in the section semifinals next Saturday. They swamped the Wolverines 40-7 in the second game of their current one-sided winning streak.

“Can I believe (they were 1-3 at one point), yes, because it happened,” Carr said. “Coming into the season it didn’t matter who was going to be the starting quarterback, didn’t matter who was the offensive line, I think we have enough guys and I think it was more mental believing than it was physical.

“We lost a game 8-6 we should’ve won. We lost a game 15-14 we should’ve won. You take those two games out we’re easy, what, 9-1, 10-1. I’m not a Houdini or anything like that, but I know what I’ve got. I know what I’ve got in my vault, and when you know what you’ve got in your vault it’s just a matter of when you pull that particular tool out and when you pull that tool out is that tool going to perform and those tools are performing at a very high level. It’s been a joy to watch.”

The two close losses after Ohio were to Paulsboro and Schalick with a two-point first win of the season over Audubon in between. 

“When we were 1-3 I told my guys we’re good, we’re gonna be good throughout the season, we just have to keep persevering,” defensive back Kamal Chatum said. “It was just a matter of getting two dudes (Thomas and Brown) and time for us to come together. I love the way we’re playing now. It was worth the wait.”

“I tell the guys all the time keep your heads up because the sun will always rise again,” rush end Tony Merendino said.

The offense amassed 286 yards and scored on four straight possessions in the first half to open a 26-0 halftime lead. Nine different players touched the ball. Thomas accounted for four touchdowns and 1,000-yard rusher Cashmir Parsley ran for 102 yards on eight carries, his eighth 100-yard game of the season and fifth in a row.

Thomas scored on runs of 25 and 5 yards and threw touchdown passes to KyShann Long (12 yards) and Kyvion Parsons (10 yards). He threw for 39 yards in the game, but rushed for 76 yards on 13 carries (both season highs). Parsley opened the scoring with a 45-yard run after a block in the back brought a long punt return back to midfield. The Rams have outscored their opponents 244-39 during the winning streak.

“Now we’re living up to our expectations that people have for us,” Parsley said.

The defense has it going on, too. The Blue Storm held the Red Devils to three first downs, 23 net yards and turned back freshman running back Jaivon Thomas’ bid for a 1,000-yard season. They had at least six sacks, three by Myshion Barnes, and got the game to a running clock on a pick-six by Chatum in the fourth quarter, the first touchdown of his four-year high school career. 

No team from the state of New Jersey has scored more than 20 points against them, and that happened only once. – and they won that game. They’ve held four of their opponents during the winning streak to seven points or less and haven’t given up a point in the last six quarters.

“This team is playing way more physical and way better,” Barnes said. “I feel the defense is the best in Group 1, the best in Group 1 in the state.”

“Our defense is so tenacious,” Merendino said. “If you talk about our defense the one word they will always say is we are violent, we are always a violent team. And we’re not even at our peak yet. There’s so much room for us to improve, but right now we’re on a good track and I hope we keep that going.”

The only thing keeping them from becoming truly dominant is sharpening their conversion game and cutting down on all the penalties. They missed on four of their six two-point tries against the Red Devils and they were flagged 14 times for 150 yards, seven of the 15-yard variety.

SCORING SUMMARY
S-Cashmir Parsley 45 run (Desmund Thomas run), 4:56 1Q
S-KyShann Long 12 pass from Desmund Thomas (pass failed), 1:11 1Q
S-Kyvion Parsons 10 -ass from Desmund Thomas (pass failed), 9:32 2Q
S-Desmund Thomas 33 run (run failed), 6:00 2Q
S-Desmund Thomas 5 run (pass failed), 2:16 3Q
S-Kamal Chatum 4 interception return (Desmund Thomas run), 4:59 4Q