Salem, Gloucester ready to kick off on Saturday in South Jersey Times Game of the Week

Salem lineman hit the blocking sleds during practice. (South Jersey Times)

Salem lineman hit the blocking sleds during practice. (South Jersey Times)

  • 09/27 - 11:00 AM FootballFinal
    Gloucester 24
    Salem 20
Complete Box Score »

It's early in the season, but Saturday's football matchup between Gloucester and Salem -- the South Jersey Times Game of the Week, as voted by the fans -- could be critical.

The winner will find itself firmly in the NJSIAA South Jersey, Group 1 championship conversation. The loser will have some catching up to do over the next month.

Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. in Salem. The Gloucester-Salem matchup won the fan poll for the SJT Game of the Week with 3,502 votes, more than 55 percent of the total. The only other game that was close was Penns Grove at Deptford, which received 37.4 percent of the total.

After starting last season 1-3 and finishing with an uncharacteristic 4-6 mark, the Gloucester Lions have opened the year 2-0 with wins over Wildwood and Deptford.

Salem opened the season with a 40-6 victory over Pitman before falling to Glassboro, 41-15, last week.

The Rams, who started a mostly JV squad in the loss for disciplinary reasons, were in the red zone five times but managed only one touchdown. Head coach Dennis Thomas was pleased to see the offense move the ball up and down the field, but said he wants to see the Rams capitalize in the red zone.

Thomas implemented the spread offense over the summer and likes what he’s seen so far.

“I am happy with the new offense, but the best is yet to come,” he said. “Every game we have played, including the preseason, we have gained over 400 yards of offense – except we had only 350 against Glassboro when we left a lot of yards on the field. When we are clicking on all cylinders we will be a dangerous team.”

Both teams feature a standout running back. The Rams have Dione Alston, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year and has 261 yards and three rushing touchdowns through two games this season. He also has caught five passes for 90 yards and a touchdown and returned a punt for a score.

The Lions counter with Justin Graves, who has 321 yards rushing and five TDs. He has taken the torch from Ben Boyer, who had 1,202 yards and 16 touchdowns a year ago.

“He is a really good athlete and is fantastic on defense and offense,” Thomas said. “He is the one we have to stop. Gloucester always produces good running backs and he is just one of them to add to their history.”

The Lions aren’t afraid to go to the air, either. Quarterback Marc Seibert has thrown for 119 yards and three TDs.

Although the Rams lost by more than three touchdowns last week, Thomas saw enough to encourage him about the rest of the season, and especially this weekend.

“I am more excited coming out of the Glassboro game than the Pitman game because of a lot of the good things we did,” Thomas said. “We haven’t played a complete game yet so I am looking forward to see how we actually play on Saturday.”

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