November 11, 2013 Volume-V Issue-19

3RBC Wins SCT GirlsSoccer Title

4 Jackson Memorial:Division Champs

6 RFH Football Wins Thriller

8-11FOOTBALLSTATEPLAYOFF PREVIEW

13Manalapan BoysSoccer Grabs SCT Crown

15Stumpy’sCorner

The f irs t thing fans, players , coaches and parentswant to know after the big game is always,

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There may be a newcoach at the helm, but theRed Bank Catholic girlssoccer team showed it hasthe same resiliency andability to capitalize inclose scoring games as itdid during its recentchampionship years.Behind another one-goal win, the sixth-

seeded Caseys defeated tournament Cinderellaand No. 13 Central Regional 1-0 to win theShore Conference Tournament championship atMemorial Field Nov. 2

The victory gave the Caseys their sixthoverall SCT title and first since 2010, the lastof three consecutive championships.

“It’s really gratifying to come here in my firstyear as head coach with my girls getting achampionship in this tournament,” first-yearRed Bank Catholic head coach Frank Lawrencesaid. “They have a tradition of winning here and they havebuilt themselves into a great team.”

Red Bank Catholic waited patiently for almost two fullhalves with chance after chance to end the scorelessdrought. In the 76th minute their patience was finallyrewarded when Grace Correll took a touch off a defenderand blasted a left-footed shot as she fell down in front ofthe net off the cross from Kelly Jacoby, knocking it in theback of the net to give them the 1-0 lead.

“It felt amazing to get that goal for my team,” Correllsaid. “Kelly (Jacoby) made a great cross to me and I wasable to get the shot off before falling down and I justwatched from the ground until I saw the ball cross thatline.”

The victory was the Caseys’ 10th 1-0 victory on theseason and 15th straight since a 2-2-2 start. It was also the14th shutout for goalkeeper Jackie Robinson and the RBCdefense.

“It just seems like that’s the way we win games,”Lawrence said. “Even though we dominated and hit postsand shots wide it was just one of those things where wecouldn’t get that goal in but you figure eventuallysomeone was going to get that goal for us and Grace is agreat goal scorer.”

Defense was a key factor in keeping the game scorelessduring the first half. The Caseys outshot the Golden

Eagles in the first half 9-2, with seemingly every shottaking an unlucky bounce off the post or cross bar.

Correll beat a defender in the backfield in the 17thminute to catch Mahnkin off guard in the net, striking anopen shot that Mahnkin punched away. Jacoby waswaiting for the rebound shot that she bounced off the postand out of bounds. Correll would get another chance rightaway to finish in the 21st minute, but the ball bounced offthe post and out of harm’s way.

“I hit the cross bar and the post in two of my shotsduring the game but I just didn’t let myself get downabout it, I knew our chance was going to come eventuallyif we just kept at it.” Correll said.

Central’s only two chances in the first half were off ashot in the seventh minute by Erin Trapp and off a cornerby Elizabeth Kroon that swayed toward the left crossbarand out of bounds in the 10th minute. The Golden Eagleswouldn’t get another scoring opportunity until the 68thwhen multiple Central players bunched in front of the netto try to get a shot past Robinson, who ended the threat asshe covered the ball in the box.

Red Bank Catholic outshot Central 11-5, with Robinsonmaking four saves for the Caseys while Mahnkin madeseven for the Golden Eagles.

Central junior Amanda Carolan, who had been huge forher team the entire tournament with seven goals in the first

four games, was covered tightly the entire game byAmanda Kasten, who prevented the junior striker fromscoring her 29th goal of the season.

“This is two games in a row where we had to shut downa big time scorer,” Lawrence said. “I said to Kasten this isjust like deja vu. Just come out and do what you did thelast game and that is a kid who is just physically andmentally tough and she was able to shut Carolan down theentire game, which was huge.”

After Correll’s goal in the 76th minute, the GoldenEagles tried to create quick opportunities to score butcouldn’t get a shot on the goal. Erin Trapp got her foot ona corner kick on the ground in the final seconds, but hershot sailed over the crossbar. Seconds later, the Caseyscelebrated the championship they have been waiting forsince 2010.

“It’s such an accomplishment to finally get thischampionship as a senior with my team after winning inmy freshman year,” forward Liz Thoresen said. “We werejust thinking all day about how much we wanted it so it isa relief to finally come away being champions after beinghere so many times.”

Photo byCliff Lavelle

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Caseys Capture SCTGir ls Soccer T i t leBy Liz Matakevich – Shore Sports Network Contributor

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4 Return to Glory: Jackson Mem.Wins A South TitleB y B o b B a d d e r s

When Ken Bradley was coming upthrough the Jackson Memorial

youth football program, he watched thehigh school team he’d one day star forbecome one of the Shore’s best. Sincethen he’s been doing everything he can tobring the Jaguars glory once more.“Growing up this was one of the dominant programs in the

Shore,” Bradley said. “Watching them go to a couple statechampionships and be ranked No. 1 in the tri-state, I wanted tobe a part of that.”On Friday night, Jackson Memorial played in its biggest

game in nearly a decade, and Bradley and his teammates werethere to return the program to its former glory.Bradley was sensational on defense and also ran for a pair of

key first downs late in the fourth quarter to lift JacksonMemorial, ranked No. 7 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10,past No. 9 Brick, 9-7, to clinch the Shore Conference Class ASouth division title. It is the seventh division championship forthe Jaguars (6-2, 6-1) and first since 2005 (American Division)when they also won the last of their three state sectional titles.Sophomore kicker Jared Calhoun connected on a 26-yard field

goal in the first quarter and senior running back Khani Gloverran for a second-quarter touchdown to give the Jaguars the lead,and their defense buckled down late in the game to seal victory.Ray Fattaruso ran for 103 yards and scored a fourth-quartertouchdown for the Dragons (6-3, 5-2), who had their bid to claimtheir first division crown since 2008 denied. Fattaruso touchedthe ball on nearly every play in the second half after quarterbackJoe Phillips, who started again in place of injured junior CarmenSclafani, had to leave with an injury.“Sophomore year when we went to the playoffs I knew this

was a team that could do some damage,” Bradley said. “Last

year (3-7) was a little disappointing, but we knew this season wecould do what people know Jackson has done traditionally, andthat’s what we did tonight.”“It’s really special to us,” Glover said. “We hadn’t won a title

since 2005, and we wanted to bring it back to Jackson.”It was tough sledding offensively for both teams throughout

the game, but Jackson Memorial had hit a particular rough patchon both sides of the ball in the second half. The Jaguars did nothave a first down in the second half and Brick, although unableto score, had put together back-to-back long drives. That’s whenJackson rose up to make a few key plays that decided the game.Brick was inside the Jackson Memorial 25-yard line with a

little over five minutes to play when a third-and-three came up.Brick had great success on short runs all game, but this time theJaguars sniffed out a jet sweep to Mike Muratore and junioroutside linebacker Zach Tetro flew in to make the stop for a four-yard loss.“It was base defense and we knew somebody just had to make

a play,” Bradley said. “One of our big slogans is ‘one play makesa difference.’ That one play came at the end with Zach Tetromaking the play in the backfield.”

Brick punted, figuring its defense could get the ball backquickly as it had done for the majority of the game. ButJackson’s offense finally came to life to bring home the divisiontitle.There was 4:32 on the clock, plenty of time for Brick to mount

another drive and attempt to erase its two-point deficit. Instead,the Jaguars plowed ahead behind their offensive line to finish thejob with three first downs. Quarterback Joe DeMaio picked upthe most crucial gain when he scrambled away from pressure ona bootleg, raced to the first down marker and spun out of a tacklefor a seven-yard gain on third-and-5. Three plays later, Gloversurged for five yards on third-and-three, and Bradley sealed thewin with a three-yard gain on fourth-and-inches.“We didn’t have a lot of success with the traditional run game,

but we stuck with it and got the first downs we needed to at theend,” Bradley said.“We were going to hand the ball off to our biggest, thickest kid

in Kenny Bradley and run behind our senior center and whateverhappens, happens,” said Jackson Memorial head coach WaltKrystopik.Krystopik played for Jackson Memorial in the late 1990s and

had been an assistant under Mike Smith before being named

Photos byCliff Lavelle

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head coach before the 2011 season. He’s seen the programtransform from average to dominant, and now he’s helped guidethe Jaguars back to the top.“I’ve been here since the end of the Chris Barnes days and I

remember losing a division title game here 10-0, and then twoyears ago to Southern,” Krystopik said. “It’s tough. Sooner orlater you have to finish one of these off.”The Jaguars took the

lead early aftercapitalizing on thefirst of three fumbleslost for Brick in thefirst half. On a third-and-four from his own31, Phillips droppedback to pass and wassacked by Jaguarssenior linebackerVinny Celidonio as hewas readying to throw.The ball came free andwas ruled a fumble,and senior MarcusAdemilola pounced onit at the Brick 10-yardline. The Dragonswere able to keep theJags out of the endzone, but Calhoun’s26-yard field goal putJackson up 3-0 with8:38 left in the firstquarter. Jackson wouldhalt another Brick drive in the first quarter with a turnover.Brick moved to the Jackson 17 before Tetro forced a fumblethat Mike Petrizzo recovered.The game would remain 3-0 until late in the second quarter.

Jackson started at its own 33 and moved across midfield thanksto a 16-yard pass from DeMaio to Glover, and then a 15-yardface mask penalty after a 3-yard run by Glover put the ball atthe Brick 26. On first down, Glover skipped away from a divingFattaruso in the backfield and raced untouched the rest of theway for a 26-yard touchdown. The extra point was no goodafter the holder was unable to get the snap down, but Jacksonhad extended its lead to 9-0 with 2:40 left in the half.

“We had to gameplan around him (Fattaruso), he’s tough,”Glover said. “But once I got past him it was just green.”On the final series of the first half Phillips took a big shot

from Petrizzo on a run up the middle and was shaken up. Hecame off the field with the help of the training staff and did notreturn. Sophomore quarterback Tom Zbranek took some snapsat quarterback in the second half, but carried just once. Over the

final two quarters it was almost all Fattaruso and MikeMuratore running the ball for Brick.The Dragons drove down to the Jaguars’ eight-yard line early

in the third quarter, but Anthony Starego’s 25-yard field goalattempt clanged off the left upright and fell no good. TheDragons would then force Jackson three-and-out to get the ballback near midfield to start their only scoring drive of the game.Runs by Fattaruso and Muratore carried Brick down to theJaguars’ five-yard line, where it took Fattaruso two plays tohammer in from two yards out. Starego’s extra point made it 9-7 with 9:24 left.

Jackson went three-and-out again, and it looked like Brickwas going to march down the field and take the lead. But that’swhen Jackson’s defense rose up with a key stop, and its offensedid the rest to capture the A South division title.“A South has to be one of the toughest divisions, not just in

the Shore, but in the state,” Krystopik said. “There’s not a gameyou can’t be at your very best. A win’s a win. It doesn’t matter

if it’s pretty or ugly, 62 points or 9 points.”Jackson now turns its attention to the loaded

South Jersey Group V bracket that featuresdefending champion Williamstown, Cherokeeand Eastern, which is quarterbacked by TomFlacco, the younger brother of BaltimoreRavens quarterback Joe Flacco.“As long as we stay healthy I think it’s a

realistic goal to be in the South Jersey final,”Bradley said.The playoffs start next week, but for now the

Jaguars can celebrate coming out on top of theShore’s toughest division. When the seasonbegan Jackson wasn’t really in the discussionamong the teams expected to contend for the ASouth title. But at the end, they were the lastteam standing.“You always have to come out (expecting to

compete for a division title),” Glover said. “Wewent 3-7 last year but that means nothing. Wewanted to come out here and surprise theShore, and I think we did.” V

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by:

B o b B a d d e r swww.shoresportsnetwork.com

Seniors Ken Bradley, Vinny Celidonio, Khani Glover & Sam Mistretta

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The No. 1 seed in Central Jersey GroupII, an 8-0 record, and a win over

nemesis Manasquan were sitting one yardaway with 54 seconds left in a tie game onFriday night when Rumson-Fair Haven wasfaced with two choices.First, the Bulldogs had to decide whether to go for it on

fourth-and-goal or kick a field goal. Then they had to make thechoice regarding who would get the ball if they did go for it.Head coach Bryan Batchler made the first decision, and thenstar tailback Charlie Volker, the Shore Conference’s leadingrusher, made the second one by calling for a teammate to get theball with the game on the line.The Bulldogs went for it, and fullback Dylan Zohn executed

the play Volker called for, “22 Wedge,” by battering his way upthe middle and bouncing left and into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in a 22-15 Class A Central victory by theNo. 4 Bulldogs (8-0, 5-0) over the No. 5 Warriors (6-2, 4-2) atBorden Stadium.“I was definitely surprised, but I wanted the ball so bad in that

situation,” Zohn said. “It’s everybody’s dream to get the ballwhen the game’s on the line on fourth-and-goal from the one. Idefinitely felt great that the coaches trusted me there. We wantedthe touchdown. We have so much trust in Connor Kelly, our newkicker, but we wanted that touchdown so bad to seal it.”“I was with ‘Batch,”’ Volker said. “I knew we were getting a

nice push, so I had faith in Dylan that he could score. We weredefinitely going for it all the way.”On its previous possession, Rumson had driven 84 yards in 18

plays, consuming more than 10 minutes, only to have it end in amissed 26-yard field goal that kept the game tied at 15.However, three plays later, senior defensive back Sam Shaudrecovered a fumble on a toss play by Manasquan at theWarriors’ 9-yard line to jolt the Bulldogs back to life. Four playslater, they faced the momentous decision on fourth down asBatchler talked it over with offensive coordinator CharliePirrello.“My decision was, ‘Let’s go for it,’ first of all, and that was

the toughest decision, and then we got in the huddle and talkedabout what we want to run, and the kids said it,” Batchler said.“We all thought ’44 power’ or ’45 power’ with Volker, but theywere crashing off the end so much, and Volker, he says, ‘We gotwedge.’ We got our strength and conditioning coach in thehuddle saying, ‘This is why we squat!’ We got good movementand executed the play.”“I would (go for it), too,” Manasquan head coach Jay Price

said. “You got a kid like (Volker) in the backfield thateverybody’s worried about. (Batchler) called a great game in thesecond half. They ran the ball well, they executed well, and hiskids didn’t make mistakes. It’s a good group.”Manasquan had a final chance to tie it, but Volker picked off a

pass by senior quarterback Tucker Caccavale on fourth down inthe final seconds to seal the win.Rumson’s defense, which had not allowed more than one

touchdown in a game all season, registered a second-halfshutout and came up with three turnovers, all in crucial spots.Shaud’s was the biggest, as it helped Rumson unofficially clinchthe No. 1 seed in Central Jersey Group II and guarantee twoplayoff games at Borden Stadium.“I didn’t know if it was live or not because I didn’t know if he

was throwing it back or if it was a pitch, but I just jumped on it,”Shaud said about the fumble recovery. “I was just at the right

place at the right time, I guess. They were thebest team by far that we played in the regularseason. We have the utmost respect for thatteam.”The victory also means that Rumson-Fair

Haven and old rival Red Bank Catholic, theShore Conference’s No. 1 team, will square offin their Thanksgiving game with the Class ACentral title on the line if RBC takes care ofundermanned Monmouth on Saturday. As forManasquan, the Warriors still appear like theywill get the top seed in South Jersey Group III,so they have a chance to regroup and add totheir Shore Conference-record 11 NJSIAAtitles.“We can fix missed tackles,” Price said. “We

can fix coverage mistakes. Walking away fromthis, does it hurt? Yeah, they’re destroyed.We’ll get their minds right, we’ll get home, andwe’re still in pretty good shape. You can’tquestion their effort, you can’t question theirheart, and you can’t question their guts.”Rumson started the game off with a four-play, 41-yard scoring

drive set up by a kickoff return by junior Sam Eisenstadt.Volker, who finished with 130 yards rushing on 27 carries, tooka direct snap and scored on a 12-yard run for a 7-0 lead.Manasquan answered immediately with a 16-play, 67-yard

drive that culminated in a 9-yard touchdown pass on a fade fromCaccavale to junior tight end Tanner Cowley to tie the game atseven.After the Warriors’ defense came up with another stop, they

mounted an 11-play, 34-yard drive, but Eisenstadt came up witha clutch interception in the end zone for the Bulldogs to stifle it.The Warriors’ defense came up with a three-and-out, and

Manasquan punched in one more to take the lead into halftime.Caccavale capped a six-play, 57-yard drive when he foundsenior wideout Joe Fittin for a 30-yard touchdown. Fittin wasoutstanding in defeat with eight catches for 122 yards.Manasquan was attacking downfield against a Rumson

secondary missing senior starter Chris Hubler, who is out for theseason with a torn labrum suffered in a win over Monmouth lastweek, which forced star linebacker Tom Martello to have to playsome safety for the first time.“I thought their play-calling in the first half was fantastic,”

Batchler said.After Fittin’s touchdown grab, the Warriors then came out in a

muddle huddle and surprisingly went for two, converting itwhen Fittin found Blaine Birch to make it 15-7 with 1:56 left inthe first half.Volker, who entered the game with a Shore Conference-best

1,382 yards rushing, was held to 33 yards rushing on eightcarries in the first half. However, he came alive on Rumson’sfirst drive of the third quarter, carrying the ball on nine of 10plays for 63 yards and capping the drive with a two-yardtouchdown run on third-and-goal to cut Manasquan’s lead to apoint with 4:39 left in the third quarter.“Their opening drive of the second half, we missed about six

or seven tackles and made some coverage mistakes,” Price said.“Last year’s game, we didn’t make those mistakes (in a 14-9win). This year we made those mistakes, and they capitalized onthem and they won. When you’re so evenly-matched, it comesdown to that stuff.”

“We just rallied our guys,” Volker said. “Batchler said at halfthat we’re a second-half football team. We knew that we justneeded to wake up a little bit. We fixed the problems, and wegot more possession time.”Volker had a lot of success on the perimeter on the right side

running behind 285-pound senior tackle Peter Righi, who pickedup an offer from Monmouth University last week. Hawks headcoach Kevin Callahan was on the Rumson sideline getting afirst-hand look Friday night.“When the holes opened up outside, I knew we were going to

start rolling,” Volker said. “(Righi) really picked it up (in thesecond half).”Rumson tied the game when senior quarterback Chase

Caruso, who made big throws all night, found senior widereceiver Billy Lyons in the back corner of the end zone for thetwo-point conversion pass with a defender bearing down onhim.Manasquan nearly came right back and took the lead when

Caccavale hit Fittin with a 45-yard pass to Rumson’s 15-yardline, but the Rumson defense ended up forcing an incompletionon fourth-and-two from the Bulldogs’ 7-yard line to kill thedrive. They then embarked on their 10-minute march, startingthe sequence of events that ultimately climaxed in a touchdownthat Zohn won’t soon forget.Rumson was also undefeated going into last year’s game at

Manasquan and built a 9-0 lead before losing an emotionalgame in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The two teams havedeveloped a good rivalry in recent seasons.“Coach Batchler says they are the measuring stick for public

schools, and to finally beat them is a big statement for us,” Zohnsaid.“We’re the measuring stick now,” Volker said.

by:

M a t t M a n l e ywww.shoresportsnetwork.com

Rumson Football TopsManasquan in ThrillerB y S c o t t S t u m p – M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

Senior fullback Dylan Zohn

P h o t o b yB i l l N o r m i l e

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A S A M P L I N G O F C U R R E N T A N D F O R M E R M A C A L L - S T A R S

n Thomas Acerra—Monmouth Regional n Jared Allison—Matawann Kaysonne Anderson—Manasquann Robert Barksdale—Asbury Park n Joey Beggans—Red Bank Regionaln David Bergeron—Middletown Northn Mike Bland—Long Branchn Jared Bradham—Long Branchn Jawann Brown—Matawann Chris Bunge—Middletown Southn Brian Calder—Colts Neckn Shilque Calhoun—Middletown Northn Cleveland Cannon—Long Branchn Dwayne Chapman—Matawann Swede Chevalier—The Lawrenceville Schooln Allen Choback—Red Bank Catholicn Joe Cilurzo—Shore Regionan Dwight Clark—Long Branchn Jason Corley—Long Branchn Tom Corley—Matawann Rahmir Cottman—Red Bank Regionaln Richie Curran—Red Bank Catholicn Charles Davis—Neptune n Amir Dew—Toms River Northn Drew Diakos— St. John Vianneyn Sean Dolan— Red Bank Catholicn Brian Dominianni—Point Beachn Alex Faherty—Brooklyn Polytech (NY)n Glen Ford—Red Bank Catholicn Chris Fortunato—Wall Townshipn Jeremy Fountain—Matawann Tyrone Garland—Matawan n Wesley Garland—Matawan n Clifton Geathers—Carver’s Bay (SC)

n Kwame Geathers—Carver’s Bay (SC)n Nick Gialanella—Red Bank Catholic n Tom Gorski—Holmdel n Tajh Hammary—Asbury Park n Malcolm Harris—Neptune n Chris Herring—Matawan n Carl Howard—Matawan n Jihaad Howard—Brick Memorial n Anthony Hubbert—Freehold Boro n Darryl Jackson—Red Bank Reg. n Bobby Jameson—Matawan n Greg Kafaf—Don Bosco Prepn Tom Kalieta—Matawan n Larry Kelly—Manasquan n Caleb King—

Christian Academy (GA)n Terrence King—

Long Branch n Tyler King—Buford H (GA)n Donald Klein—Shore Reg. n Donnie Klein—

Manasquan n Kyle Leach—Point

Pleasant Beach n Frank Lefkowitz—Colts Neck n Joe Lepore—Colts Neck n Glennis Lester—Matawan n Ron Lewis—Asbury Park n Matt Maddox—Manasquan n Christian Martino—Point Pleasant Beach n Joseph Martucci—Matawan n John Masini—Morristown Beard Schooln Tyron McCalister—Asbury Park n Eric McCoo—Red Bank Regional n Terrance McKeller—Long Branch

n John McLaughlin—Middletown Southn Joe Mickens—Manchester n Knowshon Moreno—Middletown South n Kevin Moriarity—Shore Regionaln TJ Moriarity—Red Bank Catholicn Darius Morris—Long Branchn Matt Moulton—Colts Neckn John Pellegrino—St. John Vianneyn Jim Pittenger—Walln John Pittenger—Wall n Stephon Pluviose—Matawan n Mike Postell—Matawan n Simon Press—Asbury Parkn Ryan Quinlan—Wall

n Dave Reeves—RBC n Charlie Rogers—Matawan

n Jerret Sanderson—Long Branchn Tyler Schmelz—RBCn Bill Shea—Keyport HSn Branden Smith—

Booker T. Washington (GA)n Chris Stavola—RBCn Stephen Swift—

Red Bank Regionaln Jamuir Taylor—Neptunen Maurice Turpin—Long Branch

n McArthur Underwood - Matawan n Tony Vergari— Point Pleasant Beach n Joey Villapiano—Ocean Township

n Scott Wellerson—Point Pleasant Beach n Kade Weston—Red Bank Regional

n Cassius Williams—Matawan

Knowshon Moreno RBMiddletown South,

University of Georgia,Denver Broncos1st Rd Draft Pick

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ne year after failing towin a state title for thefirst time since 1985, the

Shore Conference is ready to burstback on to the scene in this year’sNJSIAA Tournament.

In four of the five Central Jersey brackets, a ShoreConference team is the No. 1 seed, and Manasquanis the top seed in South Jersey Group III. With highexpectations for many teams, the Shore has alegitimate chance to sweep all five Central Jerseybrackets and bring home a title in a South Jerseybracket.

With the playoffs set to get started on the weekendof Nov. 15-16, here is a look at each of the bracketsinvolving Shore Conference teams.

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP VSHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: No. 8 BrickMemorial, No. 1 Manalapan

DEFENDING CHAMPION: South Brunswick

THE TOP SEED: Manalapan

The Favorite:Manalapan.It’s nowor neverfor a

Braves team that hasbeen on the cusp ofschool history thepast two years,losing in twostraight sectionalfinals. Theundefeated Braveshave been amachine thisyear, with noteam comingcloser than 15points in anygame. A strongrunning game isled by seniortailback TylerLeonetti, andthe passingattackfeaturesquarterback Dan Anerellaand one of the state’s topreceivers, Rutgers recruitSaeed Blacknall, who haseight touchdown catches inhis last three games. Seniorlinebacker Chris Noesges leads adefense that has not given up more than14 points in any

game this season. Their special teams have beenhistorically good, having returned seven kicks orpunts for touchdowns, led by four from junior DanDebner. Plus, kicker/punter Mike Caggiano is oneof the best in New Jersey. It’s 12-0 or bust for thisteam, plain and simple.

They will have to get past a local foe in the firstround in Brick Memorial, which has won five out ofsix. Senior quarterback Rob Triano and seniorrunning back Mike Basile make this a strongrunning team, and senior linebacker Jake Lombardoleads the Shore Conference in tackles. BrickMemorial has become known for its upsets as a lowseed in the playoffs over the years, so Manalapanwill have to be on its game.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: No. 6 SouthBrunswick (5-3) at No. 3 Trenton (8-1). TheVikings are the defending champs after beatingManalapan last season, so they are not going outwithout a fight even though they have not had asstrong a season this year. This is Trenton’s best teamin more than 20 years, and it will be interesting tosee if the Tornadoes are for real.

SHORE PLAYER TO WATCH: SaeedBlacknall, Sr., WR, Manalapan. The Rutgers recruitis the major X-factor for Manalapan. When teamsstack the box to stop Leonetti and Co., he makesthem pay. His ability to spread the defense out andoverpower defenders one-on-one makes the Bravesvery difficult to defend.

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP IVSHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: No. 1 Brick,No. 3 Colts Neck, No. 4 Middletown South, No. 6

Neptune, No. 7 Middletown North.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Sayreville(now in Central JerseyGroup V)

THE TOP SEED:Brick

TheFavorite:

None. That’s what makes this bracket sofun. There’s no team you can point at andjust say that team should get it done with noproblem. This bracket is a free-for-all whereanything could happen and it wouldn’t besurprising.

Brick is coming off a 9-7 loss to JacksonMemorial, and its chances revolve around thehealth of junior quarterback Carmen Sclafani,who has missed the last two weeks with ashoulder injury. With him, they have a shotagainst anyone. Without him, as they showedagainst Jackson, it’s a tall order to generateoffense against a quality opponent.There also could be a potentialrematch with Middletown South, whobeat Brick 28-7 during the regularseason.

The intriguing team is Middletown North, whichis 3-5, but 3-1 in its last four games with anexplosive offense led by freshman quarterbackDonald Glenn and sophomore running back ChadFreshnock. Their three wins are over teams that area combined 5-19, but they are playing withconfidence and are dangerous on offense. They takeon a Nottingham team that won the Central JerseyGroup III title last year by beating three ShoreConference teams in the postseason. The Lions willgo in with nothing to lose in their first playoff berthin four years and let it rip.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: (6) Neptune (4-4) at (3) Colts Neck (7-1). An all-Shore Conferencematch-up, this pits an underdog Neptune squad thathas gone to two straight state finals against a ColtsNeck team looking to win its first state title inprogram history. Should be a defensive slugfest.

SHORE PLAYER TO WATCH: CarmenSclafani, Jr., QB, Brick. If the Green Dragons aregoing to win their first state title since 1994, ahealthy Sclafani is going to be needed to help leadthe run. Junior running back/linebacker RayFattaruso also will be counted on to play big.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK: Colts Neck overBrick. There are so many wildcards in this bracket,but I think Colts Neck is solid enough on both sidesof the ball to finish the job and make school historywith Anthony Gargiulo pounding away in the rungame and a rugged defense keeping them right in

every game. Brick is atotal wildcard giventhe health ofSclafani. Theycould win it or begone before the finalas the top seed. I

wouldn’t beshocked if

MiddletownSouth madea run givenhow it hasfaredalready

against ColtsNeck and Brick.Also,Nottinghamcould becomethe first MercerCounty team toever win back-to-back titlesand could be a

strongchallenge forColts Neck in thesemifinals if it shakes outthat way.

B y S c o t t S t u m p – M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

Manalapan's Chris Noesges Brick's Ray Fattaruso

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP IIISHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: No. 2 Ocean,No. 5 Long Branch

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Nottingham (now inCentral Jersey Group IV)

THE TOP SEED: Lawrence (8-0)

THE FAVORITE: Ocean.The Spartans are seekingtheir first NJSIAA titlesince 2005, and have thedefense to do it. With DanLoizos, Mike Halawani

and Frank Henry leading ashutdown unit, andplaymakers TylerThompson at tailback,Royal Moore atquarterback and Cole

Mehr at receiver,they have thegoods to get itdone. The mainquestion markis the offense’sperformanceagainst qualityopponents, as theSpartans have wonthree games where

they scored sevenpoints in each game.That’s a lot ofpressure on thedefense to beperfect. If therunning game canget goingconsistently, thislooks like the teamto beat.

Lawrence may bethe top seed, but ithas never even won astate playoff game inprogram historyand hasstruggled

against Shore Conferenceopponents, so that team has a lot to prove.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: (5) Long Branchat (4) Carteret. The Ramblers went undefeated lastyear and won the Central Jersey Group II title beforegetting realigned into this bracket. Long Branch willhave to go on the road and find a way to knock off aperennial playoff contender.

SHORE PLAYER TO WATCH: Dan Loizos, Sr.,LB, Ocean. The Spartans’ signature has beendefense, and their leading tackler is one of the bestin the Shore Conference.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK: Ocean over LongBranch. I thought about picking Lawrence to be inthe final, but that team is just too much of anunknown considering its playoff history. However, I

wouldn’t be surprised if Lawrence got thereconsidering Long Branch’s struggles to score attimes this year. Maybe Lawrence will be likeNottingham last year and plow through a pair ofShore Conference teams to show how MercerCounty continues to improve, but I think Ocean’sdefense is enough to get the Spartans to the finishline.

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP II SHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: No. 1Rumson-Fair Haven, No. 6 Lakewood

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Carteret (now inCentral Jersey Group III)

THE TOP SEED: Rumson-FairHaven.

THE FAVORITE:Rumson-Fair Haven. TheBulldogs have two gamesat Borden Stadium, and

with the Shore Conference’s leading rusher, juniorCharlie Volker, and a defense that has only given up

more than one touchdown in a gameone time all season, it’s all rightthere for Rumson.

Lakewood has been up anddown, beating previously

undefeated Barnegat oneweek and thenlosing to a winlessPoint Boro teamthe next. ThePiners’ defensewith Ben Watson,Amir Tyler andDatrell Reedshould keepthem in games,but the offenseand juniorChapelle Cookwill have to take itup a notch to makea darkhorse run.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: (6)Lakewood (5-3) at (3)Delran (7-1). The Pinerswill go on the road andtry to win their first stateplayoff game sincewinning their only state

title in 1986.

SHORE PLAYER TO WATCH:Charlie Volker, Jr., RB, Rumson-FH.If a team is going to knock off the topseed, it is going to have to stop Volker,

who is having a breakout season andregularly gets 25-plus carries per game.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK: Rumson-FH overWeequahic. I feel like a total homer picking allShore teams to win these brackets, especially whenWeequahic beat Rumson in last year’s playoffs.However, this Rumson team has a defense led bysenior linebacker Tom Martello, defensive endKevin Clayton and Rutgers recruit Donald Bedellthat is capable of winning a low-scoring defensivebattle with Weequahic and will be looking to avengelast year’s loss.

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP ISHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: No. 1 Shore,No. 3 Point Beach, No. 5 Asbury Park

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Florence

THE TOP SEED: Shore

THE FAVORITE: Shore.Florence is the defendingchampion, but has notlooked as strong as lastyear and enters as the No.6 seed with three losses.Shore has ripped off seven straight wins and gaveundefeated Rumson a game in its one loss. However,

Point Beach is also lurking out there,and if the Garnet Gulls get overthe hump in the first roundagainst Florence, which beatthem in last year’s semifinals,

we could haveShore-PointBeach twotimes in arow to endthe season.The twoteamsplayeachotherin their

Thanksgivinggame for the B

Central title andthen could playagain for a statetitle a week later.Both have beenplaying greatfootball heading intothe postseason.

The wildcard isAsbury Park, whichlost 10-0 to Shore and10-7 to Point Beachon a late field goal.The Blue Bishops’

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defense is clearly championship-caliber, so it’s justa question of whether an offense that has performedmuch better as of late can score enough on a Shoreor a Point Beach, or both, to restore the BlueBishops to the top spot in a bracket they have wonfour times since 2007.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: (6) Florence at (3)Point Beach. Florence broke Point Beach’s heart andruined its undefeated season with a comeback win inlast year’s semifinals, so emotions will be runninghigh for the home team in this one. Junior fullbackJoe Wegrzyniak and a tough defense led bydefensive back Noah Yates, Wegrzyniak and juniorMichael Frauenheim will be eager to erase thememory of last season.

SHORE PLAYER TO WATCH: Joe Wegrzyniak,Jr., RB/LB, Point Beach. A 1,000-yard rusher, he is theengine that drives Point Beach’s Wing-T attack andalso is the team’s leading tackler on defense. To beatPoint Beach, you have to stop him.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK: Shore over Point Beach.This could be one of those situations where one teamgets the Thanksgiving game and the division title, andthe other gets the state title. Shore came up just shortagainst Florence in last year’s final. With a deep groupof running backs led by Brian Miller and DougGoldsmith and a defense that has not allowed more

than 14 points in a game all season, the Blue Devilshave the ingredients. So does Point Beach, so it couldbe two great weeks of football to end the season. Themain question is whether Shore quarterback Matt Muhcan make big throws under pressure if Point Beach (orAsbury Park) stuffs the Shore run game. I stillwouldn’t count out Asbury Park from getting into theconversation, either.

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP VSHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: No. 3 Jackson Memorial

DEFENDING CHAMPION:Williamstown

THE TOP SEED: Eastern

THE FAVORITE: No. 2 Cherokee. ConsideringCherokee beat top-seeded Eastern head-to-head in theregular season, it has to be given favorite status if thetwo teams meet again.

BEST FIRST ROUND GAME: (5) Williamstownat (4) Millville. The defending champs have to go onthe road to start their title defense against a toughMillville team that Williamstown blew out in lastyear’s first round. Williamstown is a bit of a darkhorsebut is still dangerous enough to win the bracket again.

SHORE PLAYER TO WATCH: Ken Bradley, Sr.,

RB/LB, Jackson Memorial

The leading tackler for the Jaguars and a great short-yardage back on offense, Bradley will have to be at hisbest if they are going to make a run.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK: Cherokee over Eastern.It could be a shootout in the final, but Cherokee’sdefense looks good enough to put them over the top ina heavyweight showdown.

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP IVSHORE TEAMS IN THE

FIELD: No. 2 TomsRiver South,No. 5 Lacey.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Timber Creek

THE TOP SEED: Timber Creek.

THE FAVORITE: Timber Creek. This program hasbecome a South Jersey juggernaut and is perenniallypacked with FBS talent. This year is no different, asthe Chargers feature one of the state’s most explosivepassing attacks.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: (6) Shawnee at (3)Hammonton. A traditional power that is always athreat in the state playoffs, Shawnee will have to go on

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the road to try to solve another perennial stateplayoff threat in a game between two solidprograms.

SHORE PLAYER(S) TO WATCH: ChristianTutela, Sr., WR/DB, Lacey; Otis Kearney, Sr.,RB/LB, Toms River South

Tutela leads the Shore in receptions, receivingyards and touchdown catches, but the Lions havebeen in freefall. They have lost four straight after a5-0 start and are essentially having the season BrickMemorial had last year when it started 5-0 andended 5-5.

Kearney has an offer from Michigan Stateand several FCS programs and will lookto help the Indians get back to the statefinals for the first time since 1998. He ispart of a talented group that also includesquarterback Tymere Berry, running backKhaleel Greene, widereceiver/defensive back Darrius Hart,and linebacker/kicker Russell Messler.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK: TimberCreek over Toms River South. I’ll give avote of confidence to the local team, although Ithink the Hammonton-Shawnee winner is going tobe a major handful in the semifinals for TomsRiver South, although the game will at least be atDetwiler Stadium. Making it to the final and losingto Timber Creek would certainly constitute a strongshowing for the Indians.

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP III SHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: No. 1 Manasquan, No. 3 Barnegat, No. 5 Central,No. 8 Wall

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Delsea

THE TOP SEED: Manasquan

THE FAVORITE:Manasquan

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME:

(8) Wall at (1) Manasquan. TheThanksgiving rivals will duke it out ina playoff game in the first round. I’msure Manasquan would rather havehad some out-of-area team not familiarwith them that would have been down bytwo touchdowns at Warrior Field beforethey knew what was happening, andinstead they get a fierce rival amped toruin their season. The atmosphere isalways great when these teams play,and then they’ll do it again onThanksgiving.

SHORE PLAYER TO WATCH: Joe Fittin,Sr., WR, Manasquan. Fittin has becomeManasquan’s big-play guy in the passinggame with quarterback Tucker Caccavale, soteams have to find a way to make sure hedoesn’t burn them for big plays. He also is asolid defensive back.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK:Manasquan overNorthern Burlington. This Delsea team is good,but not quite as strong as some of its past teams,so Manasquan should be able to get by them in thesemifinals at home in a tough game. The Warriorsare balanced offensively between the passing gameand the tandem of Joe Murphy and James McAlaryon the ground, and the defense has been solid allyear led by linebacker Blaine Birch and defensivelineman Monte Sinisi. This would be Manasquan’s

Shore Conference-record 12th sectional title if theyfinish the job. It looks to be a Northern Burlington-Barnegat semifinal, so there certainly is the chancethat it could be an all-Shore Conference finalbetween Manasquan and Barnegat, whoscrimmaged each other in the preseason.

NON-PUBLIC GROUP IIISHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD: No. 4 Red Bank Catholic, No. 6Monsignor Donovan.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: St.Joseph’s-Montvale

THE TOP SEED: St.Joseph’s-Montvale.

THE FAVORITE:St. Joseph’s-Montvale. Let’ssee, the GreenKnights are the No.1 team in the state,ranked in the top five

in the country and evenNo. 1 in some polls, and

have 16 state titles. So yeah,they’re a slight favorite.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: (5)Immaculata at (4) Red

Bank Catholic. The Shore Conference’s No. 1 teamshould have a fight on its hands in the first round atCount Basie Field. Immaculata just took outpreviously undefeated Phillipsburg, 31-28, inovertime this weekend and hung 60 on Montgomerya week earlier. The Caseys will need senior tailback

Larry Redaelli and junior MikeCordova, the quarterbacktandem of Pat Toomey andEddie Hahn, and a defense ledby linebackers JamieGordinier and Ryan Schoer

along with defensivelineman QuentonNelson to all beat their best toget out of thisround alive andhead toMontvale.

They face anImmaculatadefense led by JoeVitiello, a defensiveend headed toBoston College.

SHORE

PLAYER TO WATCH: Quenton Nelson, Sr.,OL/DL, Red Bank Catholic. The Notre Damerecruit will get a chance to show what he can doagainst the state’s best in the next two games if theCaseys make it to the semifinals and will be countedon to open holes against tough defensive frontswhile stuffing opposing run games.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK: St. Joseph-Montvaleover Pope John XXIII. Third-seeded Delbarton isalways a threat, but it most likely will come down totwo loaded teams squaring off, with St. Joe’s as theheavy favorite.

NON-PUBLIC GROUP ISHORE TEAMS IN THE FIELD:No. 7 Mater Dei Prep

DEFENDINGCHAMPION: St.Joseph-Hammonton

THE TOP SEED:St. Joseph-Hammonton

THE FAVORITE: St.Joseph-Hammonton.This team has 22state titles andrules this bracketwith an iron fist.Usually there isno suspense in thisrace.

BEST FIRST ROUNDGAME: (5) St. Anthony at(4) Queen of Peace. Twoteams that are prettyevenly matched is about asgood as it gets in thisbracket.

SHORE PLAYER TOWATCH: ChristianPalmer, Jr., QB, MaterDei Prep

Palmer is comingoff a greatgame in anovertime upsetof Spotswood (7-2), and the Seraphs need him to bea dual threat and get the ball to playmakers likeEddie Lewis and Tysaun White to get their firstplayoff win since 1999.

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK: St. Joseph-Hammonton over St. Mary’s Rutherford. Should beGroundhog Day again in this bracket.

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www.c learedge.zenfo l i o .com

B i l l N o r m i l e www.b i l lnormi l e .zenfo l i o .com

D o u g B o s tw i c k www.sportshotsw lb .com

Manasquan's Joe Fittin

Mater Dei's Christian Palmer

RBC's Quenton Nelson

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F O R A D V E R T I S I N G I N F O RMA T I O NC o n t a c t : S t e v e n M e y e r 7 3 2 - 2 3 3 - 4 4 6 0 s m e y e r @ a l l s h o r e m e d i a . c o m

PPrior to the Shore ConferenceTournament final on Nov. 2 at MemorialField in Neptune, the top-seededManalapan boys soccer team had notallowed a goal in its three tournamentgames. So when No. 3 Rumson-FairHaven scored nine minutes into Saturdaynight’s championship match, it caughtthe Braves’ attention.Hammer helped wake Manalapan up with two goals to lead

the charge and the Braves rallied for a 2-1 win over Rumson towin its first Shore Conference Tournament title since 2006 andthird overall.

“It’s never the greatest thing to be down, but the wholeseason we’ve been a second half team,” Hammer said. “So weknew once we got the game tied, we were in good shape.”

Just as Manalapan responded to a one-goal deficit, so too didRumson. The Bulldogs put the pressure on the Braves over thefinal 10 minutes and earned a golden opportunity to tie thegame when senior forward Eamon Kitson drew a foul justinside the 18-yard box to set up a potential game-tying penaltykick.

Kitson stepped up for the penalty kick, but struck the ballwide of the frame to squash Rumson’s best threat to tie thegame. The missed penalty kick was the second in as manygames by the Bulldogs, who missed a chance to score in thethird minute against Holmdel on Thursday when Hornetsgoalkeeper Tyler Marchiano saved Martin’s attempt.

“It’s obviously a heart-breaker when Kitson misses that(penalty kick),” first-year Rumson coach Will Gould said. “Asfar as (penalty kicks) go, we have a ton of guys who can takethem and I just tell them that whoever wants to take it,whoever’s feeling confident you just tell me and I’ll let you haveit. I trust every single one of them and I still do.”

I wasn’t really thinking,” Manalapan goalkeeper Ethan Siegelsaid. “I just tried to focus on the shot. I guessed right, but itmissed anyway so it didn’t matter.”

Manalapan immediately took control of the game followingRumson senior Pete Martin’s goal to open the scoring in theninth minute. The Braves put up three shots before Hammerfinally broke through in the 23rd minute off a chip over the lastline of defenders by junior Adam Weisberger. Hammer ran downthe ball and beat Rumson goalkeeper Chris Tierney to the lowerleft of the net.

“I remember going back to when we played them in preseasonthat I had a little bit of speed on their center backs anddefenders, so I tried to use that to my advantage,” Hammer said,referring to a 3-2 Rumson win over the Braves during thepreseason. “The ball would get played through and at that point,it’s just a matter of trying to cut them off, get there, and go one-on-one with the goalie.”

The Braves continued to attack through the middle of the pitchover the next 40 minutes and took the lead on another through-ball to Hammer. Freshman Rocky Garretson, who scored thegolden goal in overtime of Thursday’s win over Ocean in thesemifinals, sent a pass on the ground to Hammer, who touched itpast Tierney and tapped in the go-ahead score with 15:22 left.

“I thought our guys played a lot better tonight,” Manalapancoach John Natoli said. “I saw at halftime that we had a lot ofroom in the midfield so I told them, ‘Try to hold the ball a littlebit longer and keep the ball to make something happen,’ becausethey weren’t really getting numbers forward.”

Although Kitson’s penalty kick was Rumson’s best chance atan equalizer, it was not the last. Bulldogs senior Harry Gassert

sent a cross from the corner across the box and Braves seniordefender Brian Dolan headed the ball just over his own crossbar.

On the ensuing corner kick, Matt Dell headed Gassert’sservice from the back post to the right post to an open KieranDoherty. The senior midfielder settled the ball and took a shot onnet, but Hammer threw his body in front of the point-blank shotand the ball bounded out of bounds.

Manalapan also had three near misses. The first came withRumson still leading 1-0 and was a cross by junior Rob Pratkathat Hammer made a sliding attempt at in front of the goalmouth, but missed wide. Hammer later sent a cross tosophomore midfielder Mitch Volis, who one timed the cross outof the air past Tierney, only to have Bulldogs senior defenderChris Drummond clear the ball away from the end-line.

“We knew right when Hammer scored that this was a game-changer,” Dolan said. “Even after Robbie crossed the ball rightin front of the net, we were like ‘oh (wow), we can do that?Let’s keep doing that.’”

Tierney later did the denying with the game still tied at 1 inthe 50th minute. Adam Weisberger headed a free kick Hammeron frame and Tierney pushed the ball over the crossbar tomomentarily preserve the draw.

The Braves defense stepped up in front of Siegel afterMartin’s goal and limited Rumson’s weapons. While the Bravesstart only five seniors, four of them – Siegel, Dolan, BrandonGarcia and Chris Colen – are on the defense. Sophomore MikeMcNicholas also played a key role shadowing Kitson’s runs.

“We knew about a bunch of players like Petey in the middleand especially Eamon Kitson up top and we knew we had todeal with them,” Hammer said. “Mike McNicholas in the middlestepped and did a great job shutting him down.”

The seniors on the defense have been the anchor of anotherwise young team and Natoli and the younger players on theteam have lauded the seniors for their leadership.

“The young guys are the future of the program and really, theyare the now too,” Siegel said. “They already outnumber theseniors. If they hate us, then I don’t know who we’re going toplay for. I guess we kinda gotta love them.”

“Not only are they teammates on the field, but they’re friendsoff the field,” Natoli said. “They want to play for each other, andthat’s half the battle in high school soccer because they alreadyhave that chemistry. You don’t always get that either, when youhave the talent but you can’t get them to jell and you fall short.But this year’s team has come together pretty well.”

Rumson-Fair Haven suffered just its second loss of the seasonand in each loss, the Bulldogs held a 1-0 lead. Rumson is theNo. 2 seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II playoffs thatbegin on Tuesday, with only Holmdel seeded above theBulldogs. Rumson beat Holmdel in Thursday’s semifinal, 1-0,and has won two of the three meetings between the teams thisyear.

“I think this is going to be a blessing in the long run,” Gouldsaid. “Our goal at the beginning of the year was to go far in thestate tournament and even though this hurts right now, I knowwe’re going to be better because of this. We’ve played in apressure-packed atmosphere, we’re going to learn from it andwe’re going to come back stronger.”

Manalapan’s climb back to the top of the Shore Conferencefollows a 2012 season in which the Braves finished 5-10-3.

“Every year, coaches say ‘This is the team, we can do this,’ totry to hype you up,” Hammer said. “We never thought we’d behere this year, winning our division, winning Shore Conference.No, we didn’t envision this. Right from the beginning, you couldsee we were all friends, we clicked on an off the field and youcould tell we were going to be friends and will be forever.”

“We’re playing like a family,” Siegel said. “That’s beenour motto. If we weren’t a family before today, wedefinitely are now.”

Manalapan Rallies PastRumson for SCT CrownBy Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer

by:

Matt Manleywww.shoresportsnetwork.com

Photo byCliff Lavelle

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Join TheShore Sports Net work Team Today!Interested in joining our team and

think you have what it takes to becovering sports in the ShoreConference for Shore SportsNetwork? We are looking for localwriters interested in covering sportslike Lacrosse, Baseball, Football,Basketball, Soccer, Swimming,Track, Ice Hockey and more as part

of our newspaper and our website(www.shoresportsnetwork.com).Grab your chance to appearregularly in The Shore SportsNetwork bi-weekly publication andon www.shoresportsnetwork.comwhile helping us recognize moreathletes and bring more stories toShore Conference sports fans. This

is your chance to become a regularcontributor to a growing businesson the cutting edge of coveringsports in Monmouth and OceanCounty.Just contact: Managing EditorScott Stump @stump@allshoremedia.com

There’s two sides tothe argument when

it comes to allowing sub-.500 teams to qualify forthe NJSIAA FootballTournament. One argument is that it allows more teams to get a

taste of the playoff atmosphere and creates moremeaningful games for the teams that might otherwise bealso-rans just playing out the string. The other is that itwaters down the brackets by allowing undeserving teamsinto the field and somewhat cheapens winning a titlewhile also cheapening the regular season.

I am against the teams with losing records getting in,because to me it makes the regular season fairlymeaningless. There’s already five Groups now, up fromfour, so right there that gives more teams a chance toqualify. Adding the sub-.500 rule basically doesn’t makeit much of an accomplishment to reach the statetournament in many brackets. I know that rule has beenin place for other sports for several years, but there areso few regular-season football games compared to theamount of games in other sports that I think it lessensthe importance if teams know they can lose and still getinto the playoffs anyway.

What’s wrong with giving top seeds a bye in the firstround? If they worked hard enough to get a high seed,there’s nothing wrong with rewarding them for thateffort and showing the importance of winning in theregular season. Part of it is because the NJSIAA doesn’twant to miss out on the entry fees they collect by havingfull eight-team brackets in every sectional bracket.That’s how you get a 2-6 West Windsor North team in theCentral Jersey Group IV bracket, and a 3-5 Wall teamthat has lost five straight in the South Jersey Group IIIbracket.

St. John Vianney raised eyebrows this year by decidingto opt out of the Non-Public Group III playoffs, wherethey were slated to be the No. 7 seed, and play aconsolation game against Keyport instead. This brought

mixed reactions, starting with those who were stunnedthat anyone would ever turn down a playoff game, evenone where the Lancers would have been a heavyunderdog against second-seeded Pope John XXIII.

The reasoning by Lancers’ athletic director RichLamberson for not entering was that they are

“striving for greatness’’ and that the athletesshould work toward being over .500 as a goal

rather than accept getting in as a losingteam. The administration made thedecision last May that if any of theirteams were under .500 at the playoffcut-off, they would not participate in

the postseason. I can respect that stance in theday and age of “everybody gets a trophy.” If youdidn’t earn it, you shouldn’t be in, even if thesystem says you can be.

It’s an interesting contrarian stance because mostathletic directors quietly like the system of allowinglosing teams into the postseason because they can pacifyparents and their fanbase by saying they are still in theplayoffs and not doomed to irrelevance.

I just wonder how realistic it can be sometimes to takethat stance, especially at a non-public school whereparents are paying for their kids to play there. One of theselling points is often that if you play there, you get achance to compete against the best in the state in the

playoffs. Even if your team loses handily, individualrecruits can get film competing against elite opponentsthat may help their ability to get noticed and play incollege. You would rather go up against the best than optout of the playoffs and take on a much lesser opponent insearch of a win.

It’s a tricky situation. On the one hand, you’re taking astand against a system that has certainly gotten its shareof complaints for being watered down and not requiringmuch effort to qualify. On the other hand, it’s still theplayoffs and a chance to do something special, so whypass it up? Plus, there are always those handfuls ofexamples where sub-.500 teams pull an upset or two,which can lead to second-guessing about why you didn’tenter.

Granted, St. John Vianney would have been a hugeunderdog to a loaded Pope John XXIII team so it was a

small sliver of hope and avery long bus ride, butclearly some backers of theprogram who reached outto me were bothered that itsent the message that theLancers don’t want tocompete against the bestand would rather take thelesser opponent.

My contention is thatsub-.500 teams shouldn’tbe forced to make adecision like Lambersonand the St. John Vianneyadministration made. Theyjust shouldn’t be in,period. However, that shiphas probably sailed, asthere are too many entryfees to collect and toomany athletic directors topacify by letting everyonein, so this is the system weappear to be stuck with.

At the very least, I hopethat the NJSIAAmembership votes in thefootball proposal inDecember to play to Groupchampions in the fivepublic groups. (The non-publics already play to four

Group champions.) If there are teams getting in at thebottom that shouldn’t be there, at least the cream will beallowed to rise to the top by the end. You can savor yourchampionship in a watered-down section, but the best ofthe best will get a chance to show they rule the entirestate in their Group. At the very least, just give us that.

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