Long-time Thanksgiving football rivals Salem and Woodstown hooked up on Friday night for a second-ever playoff meeting and first time in 109 games under the lights.
It was the visiting Rams who ended the evening with more to be thankful for.
Third-seeded Salem knocked off second-seeded Woodstown, 31-6, in an NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics Central Jersey Group 1 semifinal. Salem will travel to play top-seeded Willingboro, which survived a scare from Buena, 30-28.
“It felt good to win tonight,” said Salem running back Kaciir Street. “We expected to be able to run the ball. We expect to do the same next week.”
The running of Street and Da’Shon Bundy and a punishing Salem pass rush that forced three turnovers gave the Rams an early lead and they never took their foot off the gas pedal.
Street carried eight times for 121 yards and Bundy gained 109 yards on 16 carries with each back scoring twice, helping to lead Salem to its third final in four years. The Rams (8-3) have recovered from an 0-2 start.
“We applied pressure - Zilon Cupe, Josh Johnson, Damir Rogers, Amir Mansour, that front four - those guys are hungry,” said Salem coach Montrey Wright. “When there’s a pass play, those guys are going to get upfield and make something happen. We came in with the mindset we were more athletic than those guys up front.
“Our program came a long way and for our seniors to go to three finals in four years is amazing. We just have to finish it this time around.”
For most of the night, it was a hard-hitting, tough-running football game in front of a large Woodstown crowd of over 1,800 on a seasonably cool Friday night.
Woodstown doesn’t throw the ball much, but when it tried to on Friday it had trouble keeping the pass rush off quarterback Tyreek Husser. On Woodstown’s first drive, Johnson hit Husser as he threw and the ball popped right to defensive lineman Cupe, who rumbled 35 yards for a score and early 7-0 lead.
“Me and Josh were trying to sack the quarterback, and he got there first,” said Cupe. “The first thing I saw was the ball, and I scooped it and ran as fast as I could to the end zone. It’s hard getting a touchdown on the defensive line. You don’t get the ball as much.”
After an intentional grounding short-circuited another Woodstown drive – caused by more pressure from Johnson - Salem pushed the lead to 13-0 on Street’s 4-yard run. Bundy set up the score with a 40-yard run.
Woodstown then came back with two big fourth-down conversions. Going off left tackle on fourth-and-11, Jamason Taylor hurdled a defender and ran 14 yards for a first down.
Four plays later, Abu Hall powered in from the three on another fourth-down conversion, making it 13-6 with just over two minutes left in the half.
But Salem had an answer, returning the kickoff to the 48, then seeing Street break a 40-yard run on the first play. This time Bundy finished it off with a 1-yard score with 33 seconds left and the Rams went into the half up 19-6.
And the second half was all Rams as Street scored on a 21-yard run and Bundy finished with a 1-yard score.
“Those guys feed off each other, it’s a great feeling when athletes feed off each other and the brotherhood is strong with those guys,” said Wright. “I’m blessed to have a great core of guys. I haven’t seen anybody shut Kaciir Street down yet, and I don’t think we will see it.”
Hall finished with 96 yards for Woodstown, which fell to 8-2. It will have one more game this season on the same field against the same opponent on Thanksgiving Day.
Street said a lot of Salem fans jumped off the bandwagon when the Rams started 0-2, and he wasn’t looking for any extra support now that they are one win from a championship.
“Don’t start hopping on the wave when we get the train rolling,” said Street.
Bill Evans can be reached at bevans@njadvancemedia.com or by leaving a note in the comments below. Follow him on Twitter @BEvansSports. Find the NJ.com High School Football page on Facebook by following this link