Chamber hosts annual
golf tournament
Tough night for Devils as Cherokee rolls
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
by Dan Russoman
GAzETTE STAff WRITER
HAMMONTON—Hammonton High
School’s football team had a night to forget
last week, as just about everything that
could go wrong did for the Blue Devils in a
37-7 loss to Cherokee.
The defeat knocked the Blue Devils out
of a tie for first place in the West Jersey
football League American Division, and
could adversely impact Hammonton’s
seeding in the upcoming South Jersey
Group IV playoffs.
Things went badly for Hammonton right
from the start of last week’s game. After
taking the opening kickoff out to its own
7 38-yard
HAMMONTON
line, the
37 B l u e
CHEROKEE
Devils fumbled the ball away to Cherokee
on their first play from scrimmage.
The Chiefs failed to capitalize on the opportunity, as Hammonton’s defense came
up with a stop on fourth down at its own 21yard line.
After a Hammonton punt, Cherokee
drove to the Blue Devils’ six-yard line before settling for a 23-yard field goal from
Ethan McCarren and a 3-0 lead.
The Blue Devils then missed a chance to
grab the lead, failing to find the end zone on
their best drive of the night.
Volume 20 • Issue 41
P. 52
Taking over at its own 20-yard, line
Hammonton methodically moved downfield, with solid runs from Matt zein, and
Ron Gibson and a key third-down pass
completion from GianCarlo Palmieri to
Kyle Vandever.
Gibson’s 17-yard run moved Hammonton inside the Cherokee 20-yard line, and a
pass interference penalty against the Chiefs
kept the Devils’ drive going. On third-andgoal from the three-yard line, Victor SolisMays raced around the right side for a
touchdown, but the score was negated by a
holding penalty.
When the down was replayed, Cherokee
put pressure on Palmieri, and his errant pass
was ruled a lateral that went out of bounds
at the Cherokee 28-yard line. On fourth
down, Hammonton tried to pass again, but
Palmieri’s throw was intercepted at the 10yard line.
“You get down there, they call the penalty. I thought we had a score there and then
we’re going backwards. And the spot pass
out of bounds. Not getting points there definitely hurt us. To me, that was the turning
point in the game and after that it seemed
like the wheels fell off for us,” Hammonton
coach Jim Raso said.
Cherokee had failed to take advantage of
Hammonton’s first turnover, but the Chiefs
made the Blue Devils pay this time, as run-
THG/Dan Russoman. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
Lady Wildcats edge Cedar Creek St. Joe downs Oakcrest
See HHS, Page 54
Hammonton’s Sean Ryker tries to break a tackle during the Blue Devils loss to Cherokee last
weekend.
by Dan Russoman
GAzETTE STAff WRITER
THG/Dan Russoman. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
Gab Scocca dribbles through the Cedar Creek defense early in last week’s
game.
HAMMONTON—Midway
through the 2016 season, games
are getting tougher for St. Joseph
High School’s field hockey team,
as the Wildcats’ Cape Atlantic
League opponents are making it
much more difficult for the Wildcats to maintain their unbeaten
record.
After opening the season with
six consecutive shutout wins, St.
Joseph has had to fight to win
many of its games the last two
weeks as opponents have been
able to mount stronger offensive
by Dan Russoman
GAzETTE STAff WRITER
MAYS LANDING—for the
second-straight weekend, a strong
defensive effort helped St. Joseph
High School’s football team overcome some miscues as the Wildcats topped host Oakcrest 26-6,
handing the falcons their first loss
ST. JOSEPH
OAKCREST
26
6
of the season.
The victory knocked Oakcrest
out of a three-way tie with St. Joe
and Cedar Creek atop the West
Jersey football League (WJfL)
Independence Division standings,
See ST. JOE, Page 52
HHS tennis team remains undefeated
by Dan Russoman
GAzETTE STAff WRITER
HAMMONTON—An outstanding fall season
continued for Hammonton High School’s girls tennis
team last week as the Lady Blue Devils remained undefeated with wins against Gloucester County Institute of Technology (GCIT), Gloucester Catholic, and
Pitman.
Hammonton began the week with a tough 3-2 win
See WILDCATS, Page 49
against GCIT.
At first singles, Hammonton’s Kayla Lisek won
the first set of her match against GCIT’s Arin Sheehan 7-5, but dropped the second 2-6 before losing the
match in a 10-8 final game loss.
Kara Samuel won her second singles match, topping Kumbah Givens of GCIT 6-3, 6-1. At third singles, Hammonton’s Julia Harrington defeated Sydney Sheehan 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles action saw Hammonton’s Hannah Cohan
THG/Dan Russoman. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
St. Joseph’s Matt Tucker tossed a pair of touchdown passes to help the
Wildcats defeat host Oakcrest 26-6 last week.
Football teams have some obstacles to overcome
Dan Russoman
We’re more than midway through the
2016 high school football season and both
the local teams are at critical points in their
respective campaigns.
St. Joseph is idle this week as it takes
some much-needed time off to prepare for
its toughest stretch of the season.
The Wildcats enter their bye week sporting a 5-1 record, the lone blemish a poor
performance against a talented Holy Spirit
team a month ago.
Mistakes contributed heavily to that loss,
and while St. Joe has improved in re cent
weeks, it has yet to completely eliminate
the turnovers and penalties that have
proved costly in several games this season.
See DEVILS, Page 55
Next week, the West Jersey football
League’s Independence Division title will
be on the line when the Wildcats host Cedar
Creek. The Pirates have lost just once this
season, a somewhat surprising defeat to
Camden, and will be looking to knock off
St. Joe when the two teams meet for the
first time ever on October 22.
After that game, St. Joe will face maybe
its hardest test of the year when it makes
the short trip to St. Augustine Prep, the
team most regard as the best in southern
New Jersey.
If the Wildcats can at least split those two
games, then win their regular season finale
against Ocean City, they will probably earn
the top seed in the Non-Public Group I/II
playoffs. That would give them possibly
two home playoff games before a championship matchup, likely a rematch with
Holy Spirit, at Rowan University in early
December.
At Hammonton, the Blue Devils have
struggled at times this season, but have
managed to put together a 3-2 record so far
this fall.
Last week, many of Hammonton’s weaknesses were exposed in a lopsided 37-7 loss
to Cherokee, one of their worst defeats in
recent memory.
Injuries have taken a huge toll on the
Devils this season, as they’ve lost not only
starting quarterback Malachi Winters, but
several other key players as well.
Those losses on both sides of the ball,
along with some sloppy play, have made
the Blue Devils a beatable team so far this
season.
Hammonton should still make the playoffs, even if it doesn’t win this week
against Millville. Games against rebuilding teams in Kingsway and Egg Harbor
Township loom later this month, and the
Blue Devils should pick up a few more victories before the postseason begins.
Local football fans have come to expect
deep playoff runs from both teams, and this
season could still see Hammonton and St.
Joe playing for a championship in December.
Dan Russoman is the sports editor of The Gazette.
Watch him on “Gazette Sports Week” every Wednesday afternoon and “Gazette High School Football Report” on Thursdays at www.hammontongazette.com.
Follow Russoman on twitter @DanRussoman.