100th-anniversary meeting for Salem-Woodstown

Lydell Mitchell remembers the last game of his high school career.

"That one was special," Mitchell said. "We won, but I fell a little short of winning the South Jersey scoring title. I would have liked to have been No. 1 in South Jersey, but the important thing was that we won and we were able to celebrate a victory over Woodstown in our last game."

Mitchell, who graduated from Salem in 1968 and went on to play at Penn State and in the NFL, is the most famous alumnus of one of the South Jersey's oldest rivalries.

Salem and Woodstown will play their 100th-anniversary game at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Woodstown's Clint Ware Field.

Salem holds a 56-33-10 edge in a series that began in 1911. Both teams have winning records this season, as Salem is 5-4 and Woodstown is 6-3.

Mitchell played in the series in 1965, 1966, and 1967. His Salem teams were 1-1-1 against Woodstown, including a 20-18 victory in his senior season.

As a senior at Penn State in 1971, Mitchell ran for 1,567 yards and scored 29 touchdowns. He was the Most Outstanding Offensive Player as Penn State beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl to finish 11-0.

Mitchell played nine years in the NFL. He was a three-time Pro Bowl player for the Baltimore Colts in the mid-1970s and finished his career with 6,534 rushing yards and 47 touchdowns.

"I still have a lot of ties to Salem," said Mitchell, who lives in Baltimore.

Contact staff writer Phil Anastasia at 856-779-3223, panastasia@phillynews.com, or @PhilAnastasia on Twitter. Read his blog, "Jersey Side Sports," at www.philly.com/jerseysidesports