shore sports network journal midseason football report

October 20, 2015 Volume-VII Issue-19

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S t e v e M E Y E RShore Sports NetworkDirector High School Divisionsteve.meyer@townsqua remedi a.com7 3 2 - 2 3 3 - 4 4 6 0

K e v i n W I L L I A M SShore Sports Network Directorkev in .w i l l i ams@townsqua remed ia.com

Sen ior Content Prov idersMattManley // [email protected] // [email protected]

Shore Sports Network Journalis published by: T o w ns q ua re Me d i a8 Robbins Street Toms River, NJ 08753

Copyright 2015 Townsquare MediaAll rights reserved Reproduction in whole or in partwithout the permission of Shore Sports Network is prohibited

The first thing fans, players, coaches & parentswant to know after the big game is always,

Shore Sports Network has established itself as a leader in scholastic sports coverage in Monmouth and Oceancounties, providing more video highlight clips, in-depth reporting, feature

stories and regular updates than ANY OTHER OUTLET in the area.

”Is this going to be on ?”

Shore Sports Network Website Featuresn Get Video Highlights of all the important games that Shore Conference fans will be talking about.

n Catch up on the action you might have missedn Watch video clips of everything from the action early in the event to the big finish as well as video interviews with various athletes.

n www.shoresportsnetwork.com is the most visited sports site in the Shore Conference during the scholastic year

n Follow us on Twitter (over 16,000 followers) & Facebook, we keep fans posted onthe latest scores and news

n Established leading portal for local high school coverage.

Thursday, 7-8:30 on 1160 & 1310AM andwww.shoresportsnetwork.com.

The only weekly radio and online show that coversMonmouth and Ocean County High School Football.

Award-winning broadcasters KevinWilliams, Matt Harmon and Ed Sarluca

cover the entire Shore Conferencefrom Matawan to Pinelands.Broadcast live from Baker’sWater Street Bar & Grille inToms River, the weekly show

features players,coaches and apreview ofupcoming games.

SHORESPORTSNETWORK.COM 3

The Jersey Mike’s Team of the Week for Week Five is TomsRiver North, which defeated Jackson Memorial 33-23 for a criticalClass A South victory. The Mariners and head coach DaveOizerowitz were presented with a special game ball at practice byShore Sports Network’s Kevin Williams. The players were alsotreated to free Jersey Mike’s subs from the Silverton location inToms River.

Senior running back Asante Moorer had a huge game with 201yards rushing and three touchdowns, and 81 yards receiving anda touchdown. Quarterback Mike Husni had 217 total yards andtwo touchdowns and the Mariners’ defense came through with

some clutch stops tosnap a two-gamelosing streak to theJaguars.

Toms River Northhas now won threestraight games toimprove to 4-1. Thegame against JacksonMemorial was criticalbecause both teamsentered with one ClassA South loss, meaningthe winner was still intitle contention whilethe loser was almostcertainly eliminatedfrom earning the

division championship. The Mariners are now tied for second placewith Brick Memorial and Toms River South, who are each onegame behind undefeated Brick. Toms River North and Brick play

Shore Sports Network Director Kevin Williams presented the Team of the Weekgame ball to the head coach Dave Oizerowitz and the TR North team

In conjunction with Shore Sports Network, Jersey Mike’s will honor one team a week that showedthe character, perseverance and hard work emblematic of The Jersey Mike’s Company during its

performance that weekend. A Jersey Mike’s game ball and free subs will be presentedto that team during practice that week in honor of a great showing.

Jersey Mike’s Continues TheirSupport With the Team of The WeekBy Bob Badders - Senior Staff Writer

Week 5 9/25/15

TR North - 33Jackson Mem - 23

The Jersey Mike’s Team of the Week for Week Four isMiddletown North, which defeated Manalapan 18-8 to end theBraves’ 33-game Shore Conference Class A North winningstreak and improve to 3-1. The Lions and head coach SteveBush were presented with a special game ball at practice byShore Sports Network’s Steve Meyer and Jersey Mike’sMiddletown owner Ken Bullivant, who is also a Middletown

North graduate, on Tuesday. Bullivantand Ramon Villa have owned theMiddletown Jersey Mike’s since 1988.The players were also treated to freeJersey Mike’s subs.Sophomore Conner Welsh ran for 89

yards and two touchdowns and juniorDwight Wilkerson had a huge night with 20tackles, a forced fumble that was returned

for a touchdown by Brock Zenker, and a blockedpunt. The Middletown North defense had fiveplayers register double-digit tackles with juniorNick Kish registering 19, senior Josh Gomezmaking 14 stops, senior Nick Dombrowski making 11 tackles andZenker getting 10.Even more impressive is the Lions taking down the defending

sectional champion Braves at less than full strength. Seniorstandout running back Chad Freshnock is still out with an injuryand is an All-Shore talent, but the Lions showed their depth insecuring the program’s biggest win in several years.

Week 4 9/18/15

Midd. North - 18Manalapan - 8

Middletown North and head coach Steve Bush accept the JerseyMike’s Team of the Week game ball from Middletown Jersey Mike’s

owner and Middletown North graduate Ken Bullivant.

Week-1 9/11/15

Raritan - 26Manasquan - 14

Week-2 9/18/15

Brick Mem.- 52TR North - 20

Week-3 9/25/15

Red Bank - 16Ocean - 6

The football game may be over, but the excitement surewon’t end anytime soon.

The halls of Red Bank Regional are still decorated from last week’s Homecomingfestivities. Pictures of the senior football players floating in waves are still pinnedup on bulletin boards. A huge mural in one hallway shows a giant wave, with “WashAway the Caseys” written on it and little shamrocks are suspended in the water. Mypersonal favorite is the Buc version of the famous Lilo and Stitch quote on thebanner in the Commons, where many RBR students eat lunch: “Ohana meansFamily. Family means no Buc left behind.” No one’s bothered to take anything down from the Hawaiian-themed Homecomingweekend, and nobody really seems to mind.Senior Sean Naiman sits in the Commons on a Monday afternoon. On the field,he’s a senior defensive end and tight end for the Bucs who is spearheading one ofthe best defenses in the Shore.But at this table as school lets out for the day, he’s just a kid with a smile that’s beenon his face since Friday night. “Everywhere I go, there have been people telling me ‘congrats’. It’s amazing,”Naiman says. “Everyone’s still so excited about it. We can’t stop thinking about it.”It’s been just under three days since the Buccaneers of Red Bank Regional defeatedRed Bank Catholic, 24-21, for their first win over their crosstown rivals since 2004.The game itself was a thrill ride, full of everything that makes high school footballas special as it is. Fumbles. Sacks. Touchdowns. Stops. Fifty-yard runs. Fifty-yardgame-winning runs. Hugs. Tears. Laughs. Smiles. Not necessarily in that order.I’m a junior at RBR right now, and I remember standing on the football field in2013 writing my first story about the Bucs for the school newspaper. I was a nervousfreshman trying to pull some journalistic wonder out of a magic hat and attemptingto describe the 1-9 season the Bucs had that year without saying “we’ll improve”and “we’ll get there.”Suddenly, it’s 2015, and I’m writing for something bigger than the schoolnewspaper, about something much bigger than a one-win season. The Bucs are 6-0, and are at the top of the B-North division after wins over RBC, Wall, Ocean,Raritan, Neptune and Colts Neck. We just won a game against a Goliath so powerfulthat some thought that RBR-RBC shouldn’t even be called a rivalry anymore,because the scores of recent games had been so one-sided: 53-0 Caseys, 49-6Caseys, and 47-0 Caseys.Three years later, we’re “there”. Maroon and white are not just seen aroundcampus anymore. You can find people wearing Buc Pride shirts in restaurants,

stores, even at the elementaryand middle schools in RedBank, Little Silver andShrewsbury. The reportedattendance at the RBC gamewas 3,872--some of whom werethere because we were playingRBC, and the others because,well, the Bucs are back. “It’s really cool that we can putso many memories into people’sminds, and make peopleremember us,” Naiman adds. RBR English teacher MichaelCanning begins almost everyweekday morning by reading aquote over the loudspeakerbefore classes officially start at7:35 am. Usually, his quotescome from a great historicalfigure, or a famous author. Monday morning’s quote didnot come from Lewis Carroll or Abraham Lincoln. It came from amore familiar face--head football coach Nick Giglio.“We’ve had our defeats. We’ve had bad defeats,” Canning read,the words taken from an interview Giglio did after Friday’s win. “Atthe end of the day, it did not stop us from believing that this wasgoing to happen eventually. I’m very proud of our guys.” This win has been more than just a win to us. This season is morethan just a season. It’s brought us back after a long time of waitingsilently for a win, or a touchdown, or just a spark to light a fire thatwas out for too long. Everyone I’ve talked to this week, from students and teachers atschool, to alumni on Facebook and a man in an RBR shirt standing inline at a luncheonette in Little Silver on Sunday morning, has saidsome variation of the same phrase: “I just can’t believe we won.”

That’s right. We, not they.No Buc left behind.

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RBR’s Upset Victory StretchesBeyond the Football FieldBy Ella Brockway - Shore Sports Network Contributor

A special Thank You toRed Bank Regional &

Red Bank Catholic schools for all the support they gaveSSN in putting together thisspecial gameday program. We would also like to thankall the sponsors who showed

their support.

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By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

We have officially hit the halfway point of the 2015 season, and there have already been plenty oftwists and turns that have thrown preseason predictions out the window.

Division titles, playoff berths and state championships are still to be decided, and there will be some huge matchups in Week Seven after Week Six shook up thetop 10. No. 4 Red Bank’s 24-21 win over No. 8 Red Bank Catholic was the highlight of the weekend, as the Bucs came from behind to beat the Caseys, who wereranked second, for the first time since 2004. No. 6 Brick Memorial handed Jackson Memorial its third straight loss to bounce last year’s No. 1 team out of the rankings.Top-ranked Middletown South took a major step toward its first division title since 2009 with a 42-7 win over Manalapan, and No. 2 St. John Vianney scored 56 pointson Raritan to continue its march toward the Class A Central crown.

The pressure grows each week as critical divisional games are played and necessary playoff power points are on the line. There are several important games comingup this weekend, starting with No. 6 Brick Memorial hosting No. 1 Middletown South. Red Bank Catholic and Manalapan meet with each team coming off a loss andneeding a win to stay in line for a good playoff seed. Raritan and Point Boro square off in a potential Central Jersey Group II playoff preview in a game Raritandesperately needs, while Toms River South and Jackson Memorial battle to keep their playoff chances alive. Lakewood welcomes No. 5 Rumson for a nondivisionalgame that will leave the winner with a nice haul of power points to work for a top two seed in their respective sections.

Here is the latest Shore Sports Network Top 10

1.Middletown South (4-0) Last week: No. 1Senior running back Cole Rogers ran for 185 yards and three touchdowns and seniorquarterback Matt Mosquera ran and threw for a touchdown as the Eagles snapped a five-game losing streak to Manalapan with a 42-7 Class A North win. Middletown South iscurrently the No. 1 team in New Jersey and slotted as the No. 1 seed in North 2, Group IV.The Eagles can all but lock up the top seed with a win Friday night when they travel to No.6 Brick Memorial (5-1).

2. St. John Vianney (6-0). Last week: No. 3Senior quarterback Anthony Brown had a monster game with 312 yards passing and fivetouchdowns, plus 118 yards rushing on eight carries in a 56-26 Class A Central win overRaritan. Senior Mike Stapert caught three of Brown’s touchdown passes and junior runningback Chris Chukwuneke scored three rushing touchdowns. The Lancers will be heavilyfavored leading into the playoffs, and take on Donovan Catholic (3-3) on Friday

3. Brick (6-0). Last week: No. 4The Dragons’ shutout streak came to an end at four games, but their domination continuedin a 37-14 Class A South win over Lacey to remain undefeated. Junior wide receiver Ja’SirTaylor scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and also returned a punt 65 yards for atouchdown, while junior linebacker Dean Helstowski blocked two punts, one of which wentout of the end zone for a safety. Brick hosts winless Colts Neck on Friday as it looks to start7-0 for the first time since 2003.

4. Red Bank (6-0). Last week: No. 8The Bucs stunned Red Bank Catholic 24-21 for the program’s biggest win in the last 10years, and took control of the Class B North race. Senior quarterback Jack Navitsky ran fora 57-yard touchdown to give Red Bank the lead, and the Bucs defense stopped the Caseyson fourth down late in the game to clinch the victory. Senior running back Alim Godsey ranfor 115 yards and a touchdown, senior Sadiq Palmer had 145 total yards and a touchdownand senior Jack O’Connor connected on a 36-yard field goal. The Bucs have a bye this week,and return to action on Oct. 30 versus Holmdel.

5. Rumson-Fair Haven (4-1). Last week: No. 5Junior running back Bryan Hess ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries,junior running back Matt Vecchiarelli ran for and caught a touchdown pass and juniorquarterback Mike O’Connor fired two touchdown passes in a 49-6 Class A Central win overManasquan. Junior linebacker Mike Ruane finished with 13 tackles, one sack and twointerceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Mike Murdock also returned aninterception for a touchdown. The Bulldogs travel to Ocean County, to face Lakewood (5-0) in a nondivisional game.

6. Brick Memorial (5-1). Last week: No. 6The Mustangs’ defensive line of Mike and Anthony Nobile, Chris Hayes and Justin Szubahelped hold Jackson Memorial to 55 yards rushing while recording five sacks, and therunning game took over in the fourth quarter for a 28-7 Class A South win. Seniorquarterback Tim Santiago ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns, senior Elie Lavarin hadthe go-ahead score on a 50-yard run and sophomore Tony Thorpe added a touchdown run.The Mustangs host No. 1 Middletown South in a mammoth nondivisional game Fridaynight.

7. Toms River North (5-1). Last week: No. 7The Mariners won their fourth straight in defeating Toms River East 45-12 in a ClassA South game, keeping pace with first-place Brick leading into their Week Eight game.Before the Mariners can worry about the Dragons, however, they must take care ofbusiness at home against Southern (2-4).

8. Red Bank Catholic (5-1). Last week: No. 2Senior Dylan Murphy ran for a pair of short touchdowns and senior Mike Balzofiorereturned a fumble 67 yards for a touchdown, but the Caseys were stunned by Red Bank,24-21, for their first loss to the Bucs since 2004. RBC will try to get back on track when ittravels to Manalapan (4-2) for a key nondivisional game Friday night.

9. Ocean (5-1). Last week: No. 9Senior running back Tyler Thompson scored three total touchdowns and junior quarterbackKenny Pickett threw three touchdown passes in the Spartans’ 40-14 Class B North victoryover Long Branch. Senior linebacker Tyler Rossback added an interception return for atouchdown. Joey Aldarelli, Ruquan Dean and Thompson hauled in Pickett’s touchdownpasses. Ocean has a bye this week before returning to action against No. 8 Red Bank Catholicon Oct. 30.

10. Shore (5-0). Last week: not rankedThe Blue Devils move into the rankings for the first time this season after a 45-6 win overMater Dei Prep for their 13th straight win dating back to last season. Seniors Jack Brittonand Devin McLaughlin each ran for two touchdowns, and junior quarterback Matt Pennellthrew two touchdown passes to Connor Rempel. Shore takes on winless South River onSaturday before two crucial division games with Point Beach and Asbury Park.

Dropped Out: No. 10 Jackson Memorial (3-3).

Teams to Watch: Point Boro (6-0), Lakewood (5-0), Middletown North (4-2),Toms River South (4-1)

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On the first cold fall night of theseason, Middletown South showed

no signs of cooling off from its earlyseason success. The Eagles, ranked No. 1in the Shore Sports Network Top 10,entered the game with a record of 5-0 and3-0 in Class A North with three shutouts,scoring 221 points and allowing only 35.The Eagles high-powered offense was once again on a mission fromthe opening kickoff and dismantled Manalapan in front of a packedcrowd at “The Swamp,” 42-7, to snap a five-game losing streak to theBraves dating back to 2010. Senior tailback Cole Rogers led the way forthe Eagles with 196 yard rushing and three touchdowns on just ninecarries. Senior quarterback Matt Mosquera added a rushing and apassing touchdown, and junior running James McCarthy scored on arushing touchdown.

Senior tailback Marcus Salinas scored a rushing touchdown forManalapan.

“This was a great win for us, but we came into this season on a missionthat included more than just beating Manalapan,” Rogers said. “Wehave to get ready for our next opponent and take care of what is in frontof us.”

Manalapan won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, givingthe ball to Middletown South to start the game. The Eagles, on theirsecond possession of the first quarter, wasted no time in scoring when

Mosquera dropped back and found a streaking Tom Coffey down theright sideline for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 7:18 left to play in thequarter.

It was the Middletown South defense that would get into the highlightreel when on third-and-14 from its own 25-yard line, Manalapansophomore quarterback Luke Corcione dropped back on a passing play,but was greeted by McCarthy who sacked Corcione to bring up a fourthand long. On the ensuing punt it was McCarthy again wreaking havocas he broke through the Braves’ line and blocked the punt from CodyWeiner to set the Eagles up with first-and-goal from the 10-yard line.

Mosquera wasted very little time leading the Eagles on a two-playdrive that he capped off with a touchdown run. After a first down sackthat dropped them to the 16-yard line, Mosquera dropped back for apassing play but was flushed out of the pocket where he found somerunning room and the end zone. The Braves would block the extra pointbut still trailed 13-0 with 1:38 left in the first quarter.

Middletown South pushed its lead to 20-0 when on first down fromthe Manalapan 37-yard line, Rogers rushed up the middle and brokethrough the initial line of contact, never looking back as he scored thesecond long Eagles touchdown.

The Eagles weren’t done in the half, as the defense forced the Bravesto punt immediately and gave their offense the ball back at their own 37-yard line with just under two minutes to play. That’s when McCarthywent untouched for 25 yards and the score for a 27-0 halftime lead.

Middletown South would find the end zone again after an eight-playdrive that resulted in Rogers rushing up the middle for a 4-yardtouchdown to start the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion wassuccessful for a 35-0 lead. Senior QB Matt Mosquera

Middletown South Soars ToVictory Over ManalapanBy Eric Braun - Shore Sports Network Contributor


“This is how you answer the bell,” said Middletown South head coach SteveAntonucci. “That was some hard work all week that showed in our execution, butnow we are on to another tough opponent in Brick Memorial.”

Salinas would get Manalapan on the board with a three-yard touchdown runwith 1:23 left in regulation. Middletown South would tack on one more score,however, to make it 42-7 when Rogers scored on a 50-yard run after MaxxImsho recovered Manalapan’s onside kick attempt.

P h o t o s b y :

Robert Samuelswww.robertsamue ls .zenfo l i o .com

Middletown South defense

Senior LB Dylan Rogers

There have been some lean times atRed Bank over the last 10 years,

but on a field that had been swallowedby a joyous celebration ofplayers, coaches, studentsand fans alike, those roughmoments were the distantpast.Red Bank, ranked No. 8 in the Shore SportsNetwork Top 10, pulled off a stunning upset for oneof the program’s biggest victories when it tookdown No. 2 Red Bank Catholic, 24-21, on Fridaynight in a mammoth Class B North game betweenundefeated teams. Senior quarterback JackNavitsky scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 57-yard run midway through the fourth quarter and theBucs defense stopped the Caseys on fourth downwith 1:57 left to play for a win that sent shockwavesthroughout the Shore Red Bank had not defeated Red Bank Catholicsince 2004, and has not had a winning season since2003. During that span, Red Bank Catholic rose tobecome the standard in the Shore Conference,piling up eight-, nine-, and 10-win seasons and, lastseason, winning the NJSIAA Non-Public Group IIItitle. The programs were basically polar oppositesheading into this season. Now Red Bank is the teamon top, and the team without a loss halfway throughthe year.“You can say any word you want to describe it, butit’s huge,” Navitsky said. “I don’t really know howelse to say it.”

The atmosphere before, during and after the game said plenty. The homecrowd was as loud as you’ll hear for a high school game and stormed thefield to celebrate following Navitsky’s final kneel down.“Words can’t describe the emotion we’re feeling right now,” said seniorrunning back Alim Godsey. “We just had to believe, and we did.”

Red Bank is now 6-0 with two gamesremaining before the state playoffcutoff. The Bucs need only to defeatLong Branch on Thanksgiving to clinchthe division title outright.Godsey finished with 120 yardsrushing and two touchdowns to lead a260-yard effort on the ground, whilesenior Sadiq Palmer finished with 73yards and a touchdown. One of thereasons Red Bank is unbeaten is abalanced offense, and in coming out andrunning the ball for successimmediately, the Bucs sent a messagethat they were not intimidated in thetrenches. It also allowed them to usetheir full playbook and be equally asthreatening on the ground and throughthe air. The offensive line of seniorsRicky Wild, Colin Young, PhilBonanno, Tyriik Murad, and juniorConor McCarthy, along with senior tightend Sean Naiman, proved their value ina big way.“This is a group that enjoys beinglinemen, and being returning startersthey are also savvy and physicalenough,” said Red Bank head coachNick Giglio. “They are playing withconfidence.”“Just that drive,” Navitsky said,

referring to the opening drive of the gamein which Red Bank drove to the RBC 25-yard line but fell behind 7-0 after a Caseysdefensive touchdown. “We didn't scoreand then it went the other way, but itgave us confidence.“I think I’m going to have to take thoseguys out to dinner or something.”The Bucs’ defense entered as one ofthe top units in the Shore, allowingjust under seven points per game,and were once again up for thetask against the Caseys’ stoutrushing attack. Red Bank limitedRed Bank Catholic to just 172yards of offense, including 125 onthe ground. Senior defensive linemanRighteon Johnson had a key sack late in thegame and was around the ball all game,and senior defensive back KevineJackson had the initial hit on the fourth-down stop.“We are what we are on the(defensive) line, and that’s lean andathletic, and we’re going to do thingsto allow them to make plays,” Gigliosaid. “They came out and made somehuge stops late in the game.”Navitsky finished with 146 total yardsand the game-winning touchdown inrushing for 63 and going 8-of-13 for 83yards. Palmer also caught six passes for 65yards to finish the game with 138 total yardson 16 touches.Senior running back Dylan Murphy scoredon touchdown runs of one and three yards for

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Senior QBJack Navitsky

Red Bank: Talk of the TownBy Bob Badders - Senior Staff Writer

Senior WR Sadiq Palmer

SHORESPORTSNETWORK.COM 1 1

Red Bank Catholic, and senior quarterback Eddie Hahn ran for a team-high70 yards.The initial drive saw Red Bank (6-0, 5-0) move to the Red Bank Catholic (5-1, 4-1) 25-yard line thanks to a 26-yard run by Godsey. A quick swing pass onsecond down from Navitsky to Teddy Mitchell was dropped and picked up byRBC senior defensive back Mike Balzofiore. The play was ruled a backwardpass and Balzofiore sprinted 67 yards for the touchdown, and ColinShaughnessy’s extra point gave the Caseys an early 7-0 lead.One of the questions for Red Bank entering the game was how it wouldrespond to pressure, and coming off what could have been a deflating mistake,the Bucs proved the moment wasn’t too big for them. On the ensuing drive,Red Bank marched 72 yards in 11 plays and tied the game at seven on a 15-yard touchdown run by Godsey, who carried five times for 44 yards on thedrive.The teams traded punts on the next two possessions before Red Bank Catholicstarted a drive at its own 20 early in the second quarter. The Caseys moved tomidfield when they were stopped on third down and forced to punt, but caughta break when the fair catch was muffed and recovered by senior Zack Bair atthe 17-yard line. The 33-yard gain on another Bucs miscue was the openingRBC needed to take the lead, which it did on a 1-yard run by Murphy with4:32 left in the first half.That would not deter Red Bank, however. The Bucs started from their own34-yard line and quickly got into Caseys territoryon consecutive catches by Palmer. He caught a 10-yard pass on second down, then two plays laterfound room over the middle on a 31-yard catch andrun down to the Red Bank Catholic 21-yard line. A10-yard run by Godsey gave the Bucs first-and-goalfrom the 5-yard line, and on third down Palmerlunged across the goal line on a second effort to tiethe score at 14 with 40 seconds left until halftime.“At halftime we didn’t dwell on the negatives,”Giglio said. “We said it’s 14-14 and we’re rightwhere we want to be. We have two quarters left, sogo get what you want. And they did.”Red Bank Catholic would be the one to pull infront for a third time early in the second half whenit began the third quarter with a seven-play, 60-yarddrive to take a 21-14 lead. Hahn was key on thedrive with three carries for 45 yards, and Murphyfinished it off with a 3-yard plunge.After each team punted, Red Bank got the ball at

its own 16 for the start of an important drive that would setup the go-ahead score. The Bucs moved 84 yards over 12plays and secured points on a 36-yard field goal by seniorJack O’Connor, making it 21-17 with 8:44 left in thefourth quarter. Palmer had a 16-yard run on the drive andalso a clutch eight-yard reception on third-and-seven afterthe Bucs were pushed back to a first-and-24.Red Bank's defense then came up with the first of its twofourth-quarter stops to send the Caseys’ offense away afterthree plays. Johnson sacked Hahn on third-and-five for a10-yard loss that had the crowd in a frenzy. That led theone-play drive where Navitsky delivered the winningscore for an epic win. A block in the back penalty on firstdown wiped out a nine-yard run, and a false start made itfirst-and-2 from the 43-yard line.“It was just an iso play to the right and I bounced it backleft,” Navitsky said. “As soon as I saw a little crease I justexploded toward the end zone.”“We’re just trying to move the ball downfield a little onthat play, and Jack is a patient runner,” Giglio said. “Theywere doing a great job on our strong side and he was ableto cut it back against the grain. All 5-foot-7-and-a-half of him snuck through

the hole, he picked up a block and he was offto the end zone.”O’Connor’s extra point made it 24-21 with6:04 left in the game, plenty of time for theCaseys, who also had all three timeoutsremaining, to mount a drive. RBC started thedrive in good position at its own 44-yard line,and quickly moved to the Red Bank 30 on runsby Hahn and senior Mike Wilen. A seven-yardcompletion from Hahn to sophomore MattAnsell brought up third-and-3, and Wilen wasstopped for one-yard gain to bring up fourth-and-two from the 22-yard line. On fourthdown, Hahn kept the ball to the right side andwas met right at the sticks by Jackson, whopushed him back a yard where he wasswarmed by the Bucs defense. At field level heappeared to have gained a first down, but theball was spotted just shy of the 20-yard line.An official measurement revealed Hahn hadbeen stopped just inches short, allowing Red

Bank to take over on downs with 1:57left in the game.From there it was five straight runs byPalmer for 37 yards, including first-down gaining runs of 19 and 9 yards toclinch the win and set off a jubilantcelebration.“It definitely hasn’t hit me yet that wefinally just beat RBC,” Palmer said. “Weall wanted it so bad. We came togetheras a family and got the win.”The unifying line each Red Bank playertalked about Friday night was the truebelief they had what it took to take downa giant like Red Bank Catholic. Whenyou’ve lost 53-0, 49-6 and 47-0 to anopponent the last three years, there’sgoing to need to be some convincingstatements made, however. Red Bankhad zero chance against RBC those lastthree games. This season they are clearly

a better team, but they knew exactly how good they were, and then went outon the field and proved it.“This week at school was great, and our crowd clearly believed we weregoing to win this game, but if I went outaround town people would say ‘Good luck, go get ‘em,' and I would say‘Thank you, we’re going to come out on top,' they would give me a little smirkbasically saying, ‘No you’re not,'” Navitsky said. "We have kids from our own town that go to RBC because they thought ourprogram wasn’t good enough. We believed, and to come out on top like this,

there’s no better feeling. It’s surreal.”

by:

Bob Badderswww.shoresportsnetwork.com

P h o t o s b y :Mark Brown

www.b51photography.com

Navitsky & Head Coach Nick Giglio

Senior kicker Jack O’Connor

With the season halfwaycomplete, the divisional

races are in the final pushand battling for playoffpositioning becomesparamount each week. Nodivision within the Shore Conference has

been decided yet, with one or two

marquee showdowns still remaining to

decide who wins the championship. The

Shore Conference will once

again be well represented in

the NJSIAA playoffs with

multiple title contenders after

crowning a record six

champions last season.

We’ll take a look at bothscenarios in our midseasonreport, starting with thedivision title races.

Class ANorth

MiddletownSouth isobviously theteam to beat, asthe Eagles arenot only the No.1 team in theShore, but the No.1 team in all ofNew Jersey. After a42-7 wipeout of five-timedefending champion Manalapan, theEagles a (6-0, 4-0) are in the driver’sseat with two division gamesremaining.

Middletown South has a legitimatechance to go 12-0, but has a tough one inWeek Seven against No. 6 Brick Memorial (5-1).After a bye, Middletown South comes back withgames at Freehold (4-2, 3-1) before the start of theplayoffs and home to Middletown North (4-2, 3-1) onThanksgiving in a game that will likely decide the divisioncrown.

Middletown North has one loss in thedivision and has to play FreeholdTownship (3-3, 2-3) before theThanksgiving Day game withMiddletown South. Freehold also has onedivisional loss, but would have to beatboth Middletown South and Manalapan(4-2, 2-2) just to get a share of thechampionship.

Along with Manalapan and FreeholdTownship, Howell (2-4, 1-3) andMarlboro (0-6, 0-5) are out ofcontention with two or more divisionlosses.

Class A central

No. 2 St. John Vianney(6-0, 4-0) has essentially wrapped up thedivision title for the second straight season,which would be the first time the Lancershave won consecutive titles. A season-opening 30-21 victory over Matawan (3-3, 2-3), a 13-6 win over No. 5 Rumson-Fair Haven(4-1, 3-1) in Week 4 and a 56-26 victory overRaritan (3-2, 2-1) in Week Six were theheavy liftingfor theLancers. St.John Vianney

needs to defeatMonmouth Regional (3-3, 1-3) and Manasquan (3-3,2-2) in its final tworegular-season gamesto secure thechampionship.

Rumson hasgames withRaritan andHolmdel (0-5, 0-4) andwould need towin both andhave St. JohnVianney getupset to claim ashare of the title.Raritan is in thesame scenario inthat it would need

to win out with games againstRumson, Monmouth and Holmdel,and have St. John Vianney lose.

Class A South

No. 3 Brick is the loneundefeated team in thedivision at 6-0 and 5-0 in ASouth, and the Dragons’one remaining divisiongame against No. 7Toms River North(5-1, 4-1) on Oct.30 figures to be thedefacto division titlegame.

Brick has beenspectacular in outscoring its opponents157-20, and needs to defeat TomsRiver North and Toms River South (4-1, 3-1) in its last two regular seasongames to clinch its 27th division championship.

Toms River North has to defeat Southern (2-4, 1-3) and Brick in consecutive games to claim a

share of the titlewith Brick, andpossibly BrickMemorial. Shouldthe Mariners win, theMustangs could makeit a tri-championshipwith wins over TomsRiver South andSouthern in WeeksEight and Nine.

Toms River Southalso has one loss, butwould need to run thegauntlet of JacksonMemorial (3-3, 2-3), BrickMemorial and Brick to winany part of the divisionchampionship.

Jackson, which won the2013 title, Southern andwinless Toms River East andLacey, both 0-6 and 0-5 in ASouth, are out of contention.

By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

12 VOLUME -V I I / I S SUE - 1 9 / 1 0 / 20 / 1 5

SJV QB Anthony BrownRBR

Midd North QB Donald Glenn

Midd South QB Matt Mosquera

Class B North

No. 4 Red Bank’s epic 24-21 win over No.8 Red Bank Catholic in Week Six set theBucs (6-0, 5-0) up to win their 12thdivision title and first since winningthe the Class C title in 1977. RedBank needs only to defeat LongBranch (2-4, 1-3) on Thanksgiving toclinch the title outright.

A Long Branch win would giveeither Red Bank Catholic (5-1, 4-1) or No. 9 Ocean (5-1, 3-1) a co-championship with Red Bank.Ocean has a bye in Week Sevenbefore traveling to Red BankCatholic on Oct. 30, so thewinner of that game will berooting hard for Long Branchto pull off the upset.

Long Branch, Neptune(1-4, 1-3), Wall (1-5, 1-3)and Colts Neck (0-6, 0-4)are out of contention.

Class b central

On the surface it looks like Class BCentral is going to come down tothe wire, and while ittheoretically could, No. 10Shore is the heavy favorite.

The Blue Devils (5-0, 3-0)have bludgeoned everyone intheir path after six weeks,holding opponents to 5.8points per game and scoring34.6. Two teams - Asbury Parkand Point Beach - hold onedivisional loss, however, andShore still has to play both.The Blue Devils still havesome work to do if they wantto win the program’s 17thdivision title and seventhunder head coach MarkCostantino.

Asbury Park (4-1, 2-1) haswon four straight underfirst-year head coach Tim Fosque

after opening the seasonwith a 13-6 overtime lossto Point Beach. The BlueBishops have Keansburg(1-5, 0-3) on Oct. 30 andShore on Nov. 6. so theopportunity is there forthem to take home a shareof the title. The Bishopshave won nine divisiontitles, the last coming in2008.

Point Beach has wonthree in a row after losingtwo straight to Middlesexand Keyport (3-3, 1-2).The Garnet Gulls playHighland Park in Week

Seven before closing out the regular season at home againstShore on Oct. 30 and Mater Dei Prep (3-3, 1-2) on Nov. 6.Winning both games would give Point Beach its first titlesince 2012 and sixth overall.

Class B South

Instead of being the wild west with teams taking turnsbeating each other and chaos ensuing, Class B South is asclear-cut as any division in the Shore this season.

Two teams remain undefeated with Point Boro (6-0, 5-0)and Lakewood (5-0, 5-0) on collision course to decide thechampionship on Nov. 7 in Point Pleasant. The Panthers areoff to their best start since 2007 and the Piners are enjoyingtheir best first half since 2002. Both teams have one divisionalgame remaining as Point Boro meets Jackson Liberty (3-3, 3-2) on Oct. 30 and Lakewood takes on Barnegat (1-5, 1-4) onOct. 31.

Every other team in thedivision has multiplelosses with Central (4-3, 3-2), Donovan Catholic (3-3,3-2) and Jackson Libertytied, followed by Barnegatand Manchester andPinelands, which are bothwinless.

Playoffs

Even more importantthan winning a divisiontitle is putting a team in therecord books by takinghome a statechampionship. Where ateam is seeded can oftenplay a huge role, so teams

will be jockeying for position over the next two weeks and

hoping to pick up major power point hauls to put them overthe top.

The Shore Conference is usually exclusively confined to theCentral and South Jersey sections, but occasionally a fewteams are classified in a North section. That is the case thisyear as Middletown South, Middletown North and LongBranch will compete in the North 2, Group IV playoff bracket.

That’s where we will start in taking a look at the playoffpicture heading down the stretch. The power pointscalculation method is on the NJSIAA website (njsiaa.org) forthose interested in how these numbers are arrived at. A team’sfirst eight games are eligible to be used as criteria for makingthe playoffs with the seven best results used to tabulate thefinal point totals for each team. The top eight teams in eachsection qualify.

North 2, Group IV

Through Week Six (Oct. 16/17), Middletown Southcurrently occupies the top spot with 99 power points, 11 aheadof defending sectional champion Phillipsburg (5-1). Thosetwo have a solid lead on the field with Middletown North thirdwith 66 points. Long Branch is near the bottom with 35 points.

Middletown South has a game against Brick Memorial (5-1) next and a game at Freehold (4-2) on Nov. 7, so if they winboth the Eagles should remain the No. 1 seed and host thequarterfinal and semifinal games.

Middletown North can pick up around 20 power points if itcan defeat North Brunswick (1-5) and Freehold Township (3-3), both Group V teams, before the cutoff. There is a biglogjam behind Middletown North with Colonia, Woodbridge,Sayreville, Summit, North Hunterdon and Millburn separatedby 12 points. The Lions have a decent chance at getting ahome game in the first round.

Long Branch would need to win its next two games againstMatawan and Neptune to get to 4-4, but will likely be on theoutside looking in.

Central Jersey Group V

What has been a bracket filled with Shore Conference teamsover the last four years has just three area teams in it thisseason with Marlboro, Freehold Township and defendingchampion Manalapan.

The Braves (4-2) are currently tied for fourth with OldBridge with 65 points, eight behind Trenton and 19 ahead ofFreehold Township. The Patriots have 46 points and arecurrently sixth, but will have to win their final two games -both against teams in the same bracket - to get in. It will be atall order, however, with undefeated New Brunswick (6-0) inWeek Seven and Edison (2-3) on Week Eight. A win over theunbeaten Zebras could be worth 25 power points, and Edisonis right behind Freehold Township with 41 points. The Patriotshave one playoff appearance in program history.

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Ocean QB Kenny Pickett

QB Jack Navitsky

SHORESPORTSNETWORK.COM

Rumson QB Mike O’Connor

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Manalapan could be in trouble if it falls to Red BankCatholic in Week Seven and the teams behind the Braves winout. A win over the Caseys would lock up a playoff berth forManalapan, which also has a game at Freehold in Week Eightbefore the cutoff.Marlboro is winless and out of playoff contention.

Central Jersey Group IVIt will be an inter-town battle for the top spot in this second

with Brick Memorial (5-1) currently leading Brick (6-0) byfive power points for the No. 1 seed. Despite having one loss and it being to Brick, the Mustangs

can likely secure the top seed with a win over MiddletownSouth (6-0) in Week Seven. Brick Memorial also has a gameagainst Toms River South (4-1) before the cutoff. A win overthe unbeaten Eagles, who are No. 1 in the Shore and in NewJersey, would give Brick Memorial truck load of powerpoints, and a win over a Toms River South team that willhave at least four wins would probably be enough.This is where Brick Memorial’s two games outside their

division schedule being Old Bridge and Middletown Southpays off. Even if Brick defeats Toms River North (5-1) onOct. 30, a win over a winless Colts Neck team from the weekearlier would not provide many power points. If BrickMemorial loses to Middletown South and Brick wins both itsgams, the Dragons would grab the top seed. Ironically, just getting a top two seed is all that matters

since the championship games are played at a neutral site.Freehold is currently third with 67 points and plays

winless Toms River East in Week Seven. The Colonialsclose out their regular season at Manalapan, and couldvery well need a win there to qualify. Sitting behindFreehold are Allentown, Steinert, Burlington Townshipand defending champion Jackson Memorial, who are allwithin 12 points. The Colonials could be sweating it outon the the night of the cutoff. Jackson Memorial needs to win its final two games against

Toms River South and Toms River East, and get someresidual points from its wins early in the season to feel solidabout getting into the playoffs. Jackson Liberty has 36 points and would need to win its

final two games against Lacey (0-5) and Point Boro (6-0) tohave any chance at qualifying.

Central Jersey Group IIIWith six Shore Conference teams in the section and four

legitimate title contenders, including defending championMatawan, Central Jersey Group III could very well be an all-Shore championship.Red Bank is in the top spot with 89 points after its 24-21

win over Red Bank Catholic in Week Six, and holds andeight-point lead on Ocean. Hopewell Valley is in third with75 points, five ahead of fourth-place Rumson, which hasplayed one fewer game. After an 0-3 start, Matawan has wonthree straight and is currently fifth. Wall and MonmouthRegional are near the bottom, but not out of it. Wall has 34points and Monmouth has 32, leaving them 10 and 12 pointsbehind Rahway for the eighth and final playoff spot. Red Bank won’t get many power points from its next two

games, as it faces winless Holmdel and winless Manchesterbefore the cutoff. Even if they enter the playoffs 8-0, the Bucscould actually not get a top two seed if Ocean can defeat RedBank Catholic and Colts Neck, and Rumson tops Lakewood,Raritan and Holmdel in its final three games before thecutoff. There are plenty of juicy scenarios here between Red

Bank, Rumson, Ocean and Matawan as they could allpotentially reach the semifinals. There could also be afirst-round matchup. Wall and Monmouth certainly havetough roads to qualify. The Crimson Knights are prettymuch out of contention with games against Neptune andColts Neck, which have combined for one win, not able toprovide the necessary power points. Monmouth has theteams right in front of it necessary to make a big leap upthe standings, but would have to shock St. John Vianneyand upset Raritan to do so.

Central Jersey Group IITwo-time defending champion Rumson-Fair Haven

moving up to Group III has left Central Jersey Group II wideopen, and two of the Shore Conference’s three teams in thebracket have their eyes on taking the crown.Point Boro (6-0) is one of four undefeated teams in the

section and is in third place with 71 points. Raritan (3-2) isright behind the Panthers with 63 points, while Holmdel is atthe bottom with an 0-5 record.Delaware Valley leads with 82 points and Jersey City’s

Lincoln is at 73 points. Along with Point Boro, all three teamsare 6-0. The Panthers and Rockets actually play each other in Week

Seven in a huge game for playoff seeding and a possiblepostseason preview. A win by Point Boro followed by aPanthers victory over Jackson Liberty would have them incontention for the top seed, but Delaware Valley has a gamewith a 6-0 Cranford team where a win almost certainly givethe Terriers, a sectional finalist last season, the No. 1 seed.Lincoln has games against Snyder (3-3) and Hudson Catholic(6-0) before the cutoff.Raritan has lost two straight to Red Bank and St. John

Vianney after starting 3-0, and it doesn’t get any easier forthe Rockets with games against Point Boro, Rumson andMonmouth before the cutoff. Raritan will have to win twoout of three games to keep its playoff spot because there areeight teams behind the Rockets capable of moving into thetop eight.

Central Jersey Group IAll five public schools in the Shore Conference’s Class B

Central division reside in Central Jersey Group I, and the topthree spots are all occupied by conference teams. Asbury Park currently holds the No. 1 seed with 74 points,

followed by Shore at 62 and Point Beach at 59. Keyport issixth with 47 while Keansburg is near the bottom with 20points and a 1-5 record. The top seed will be decided between those three teams

over the next three weeks as Shore takes on both Asbury Parkand Point Beach in divisional games. Shore has looked likethe class of the division so far with a 5-0 record and is thedefending champion. The Blue Devils will take the No. 1seed if they win their next three games against South River,Point Beach and Asbury Park.The Blue Bishops would hold on to the top spot if they win

their next two games against Keansburg and Shore. Point

Beach could also move up with a win over Shore and anotheragainst Mater Dei Prep to close its regular season. All threeare basically guaranteed to qualify.Keyport could get in and even grab a top four seed if it can

defeat both Spotswood and Mater Dei Prep. Spotswood is aGroup II team, so that would give the Red Raiders an extrapoint instead of the usual one residual point for beating aGroup I team.

South Jersey Group VToms River North, Howell and Southern are in this section,

which is often one of the most difficult in the state. TheMariners are currently fourth with 72 points, eight behindCherokee for the top spot and just four behind Williamstownand Lenape, which are tied for second.The Mariners could make a run at the top seed with wins

over Southern and an undefeated Brick team in the nexttwo weeks. Two wins wouldn’t even guarantee a move intothe top two, however, since Cherokee, Williamstown andLenape each have chances to get big power points over thenext three weeks.Southern needs to beat Toms River North in Week Seven

and Lacey in Week Eight to have a chance to qualify. A winover the Mariners would give the Rams around 29 powerpoints.Howell has to defeat Monroe (2-4) to stay alive for a

playoff spot, but the outlook is bleak since a win there andone over a winless Marlboro team would garner just 27total power points.

South Jersey Group IVCentral and Toms River South are the two Shore

Conference teams to watch here, as winless Lacey and TomsRiver East are out of contention.The Golden Eagles are currently tied for second, but no one

is going to catch undefeated Hammonton, which has 79points. There are eight teams bunched together and separatedby just 17 points behind Hammonton, with Central andWinslow Township sitting at 57. Timber Creek has 55 andToms River South has 54, followed by Shawnee, Bridgetonand Highland. This is a very tough bracket for the Shore with playoff

stalwarts like Hammonton, Timber Creek and Shawnee alltitle contenders. Central will make the playoffs if it beatsDonovan Catholic in Week Eight, but the Eagles could slidedown the standings since they are the only team in the bracketwith seven games played already, and the rest of the field hasa game in-hand. Toms River South could fall completely out of the playoff

picture or make a serious run at the top seed if it winsits next three games against Jackson Memorial (3-3),Brick Memorial (5-1) and Brick Township (6-0). Two winswould get the Indians into the playoffs, while one wouldleave them on the bubble. A 4-4 Toms River South teamlikely misses the playoffs.

South Jersey Group IIThere are five Shore Conference teams in this section, butjust two have a shot at the playoffs. Delsea is leading the section by a large margin with 85

points to 67 for Lakewood. The undefeated Piners are fivepoints ahead of Pemberton and six ahead of Camden andWoodrow Wilson, so they will have to fight to remain in thetop four. The good news for Lakewood is that it has a chanceat a top two seed if it can win its final three games against

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MidseasonContinued from page 13


Rumson (4-1), Barnegat (1-4) and Point Boro (6-0). Delseafaces an undefeated Hammonton team before the cutoff,so if the Crusaders lose there it would open the door forLakewood if it wins out.Manasquan is currently seventh with 45 points, five

ahead of Oakcrest and four behind Seneca. The ninth-placeteam is Sterling with 31 points, so the Warriors can't resteasy, especially with games against Matawan (3-3) and St.John Vianney (6-0) coming up.

Barnegat, Manchester and Pinelands are all out of playoffcontention.

Non-Public Group IIISt. John Vianney, Red Bank Catholic and Donovan

Catholic all reside in this section, and all three shouldqualify for the playoffs.The Lancers are currently the top seed with a 6-0 record

and 87 points, 10 ahead of Pope John and 17 ahead of RedBank Catholic. Donovan Catholic is currently seventh andjust one point ahead of Bishop Eustace, but has a 23-pointlead on Bishop Ahr, which is in ninth.With games against Donovan Catholic and Monmouth

remaining, St. John Vianney will most likely enter theplayoffs undefeated and as a top two seed. Pope John hasalready played seven games, so Red Bank Catholic couldjump them, and possibly St. John Vianney, with a winsover Manalapan (4-2) and Ocean (5-1) before the cutoff.Delbarton and Camden Catholic are right behind RBC with68 and 67 points, respectively, and DePaul plays a brutalschedule and will be a dangerous team to contend with. Red Bank Catholic is the defending champion in the

section, while St. John Vianney has not won a state title

since 1980. The Lancers reached the semifinals last seasonand finished 10-1.

Non-Public Group IIMater Dei Prep is the only Shore Conference team in the

section and currently sits in ninth place, four points behindHoly Spirit. Wins over Metuchen (5-1) and Keyport (3-3)would probably cement a playoff spot for the Seraphs.

Photos by:Mark Brown


Ray Rich Photographywww.rayrichphotography.smugmug.com

Bill Normilewww.billnormile.zenfolio.com

Doug Bostwickwww.SportShotsWLB.com

VOLUME -V I I / I S SUE - 1 9 / 1 0 / 20 / 1 516

The players on the Shore Regional boys soccer team havespent their varsity careers trying to prove they belong in the

conversation with the best teams in the Shore Conference andnow that the rest of the conference has acknowledged their play,there is only one more thing to prove.

The Blue Devils were tabbed as the No. 1 seed in this week’s ShoreConference Tournament Monday night thanks to a 16-0 start to theseason. The No. 1 seed is an example of how far the perception ofShore from the perspective of the rest of the conference has come,but the only way to ensure that this newfound respect for the BlueDevils doesn’t waver is for Shore to live up to the billing.

In two of the past three seasons, Shore entered the conferencetournament with no more than two losses, but never didbetter than the No. 5 seed they earned last season. Witha perfect division record and wins over Class B Northchampion Ocean and Class B Central championRumson-Fair Haven, the Blue Devils were a near-unanimous choice as the top seed in thetournament this time around.

"It's flattering to be considered the numberone team in the Shore, but it's not ourultimate goal," Blue Devils senior J.T.Kessler said. "We want to be able to go deepinto the tournament and have a chance towin a championship and regardless ofwhat our seeding is, we like we'll havean opportunity to do that."

Last year, the Blue Devils reached theSCT quarterfinals where they lost to Wall on theroad, 2-1. They went on to win the NJSIAACentral Jersey Group I championship andwith its top two scorers back in Kessler andDante Montesinos back from a yearago, Shore entered with highexpectations that it has been ableto meet at every pass.

As the No. 1 seed, Shore hasa bye to Saturday’s round of

16 and will hostthe winner ofThursday’s matchbetween No. 17Long Branch and

No. 16 Manasquan. Should Shore reach the quarterfinals again this year, its likely opponent would beNo. 8 Rumson-Fair Haven or No. 9 Middletown North. Shore defeated Rumson, 5-2, on Saturday anddefeated Middletown North during the early part of last season.

Respect for Class A North Although a Class A North team did not come away with the top seed in the tournament, the five A

North teams that qualified for the tournament all cracked the top 11 seeds. Christian Brothers Academy(No. 2) and Freehold Township (No. 3) both earned seeds in the top three, while Manalapan came inat No. 7, Middletown North at No. 9 and Marlboro No. 11.

Since 2006, a Class A North team has won the conference tournament in eight out of nine seasons,with five different teams from the division capturing an SCT crown. Last year, Freehold Township wonthe tournament as the No. 11 seed, defeating division rivals CBA (No. 6), Marlboro (No. 19) andManalapan (No. 2) along the way.

CBA is seeded higher this season than it has been since it won the tournament in 2011, part of a 21-

0 season, the second of two straight SCTchampionships and third of three straightappearances in the championship game. TheColts have failed to reach the quarterfinals ineach of the past three seasons, losing in theround of 16 in each of the past two after failingto qualify in 2012 for the first time in programhistory. The Colts will have a sentimental chipon their collective shoulder as they try to rallyaround coach Dan Keane, who is in his 38th andfinal season at the helm.

If its last two games are any indication,Freehold Township is rounding into form at theright time for the second straight year. ThePatriots tied unbeaten Pennington 2-2 onSaturday and turned in a dominant 3-0 win overManalapan on Monday. Senior Jake Kennisrecently returned from a 10-game absence dueto a concussion and has helped revitalize theformation now that he is back in his spot in thecenter of the defense.

Middletown North is the other hot A Northteam. The Lions enter the tournament on a five-game winning streak, which includes a 2-0 win

A Shore Thing: Unbeaten Shore will try to live up toits No. 1 seed in the upcoming Shore Conference TournamentMatt Manley – Senior Staff Writer

Senior Nicholas Meyer

Junior Steve Johnson

Shore Thing Continued on page 18

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over Holmdel, a 6-0 win overMarlboro and a 2-0 win overManalapan. After beginning theseason 1-3, Middletown North is8-3 over its last 11 and seniorAnthony Chiaino and juniorsElliot De La Rosa and RyanHarmon have helped spark thegoal-scoring.

Manalapan is an A North teamheaded in the opposite direction,which is a surprise consideringjust last Wednesday, the Bravestook down CBA on the road, 1-0. The Braves, however,followed up the win over CBAwith a tie against Freehold Boroand losses to Middletown Northand Freehold Township.Manalapan won the SCT in 2013and captured the Central JerseyGroup IV championship last yearafter scuffling at the end of theregular season, so it’s still tooearly to count out the Braves.

If not for running into eventualchampion Freehold Township inthe quarterfinals, Marlboro mighthave been last year’s Cinderella

team in the SCT. The Mustangs upset both No. 14 Red Bank and No. 3 Toms River North in their firsttwo games before falling at Freehold Township. Marlboro is coming off an up-and-down week duringwhich it lost 6-0 to Middletown North and followed up by tying CBA, 0-0.

Wall-Ocean Part III? Class B North rivals Ocean and

Wall traded 1-0 wins this season, withWall winning the first meeting atOcean and Ocean taking the secondmeeting at Wall, which clinched theSpartans the Class B North divisiontitle. In both games, the winner scoredthe lone goal of the game in the sixthminute and sat on the lead. Ocean alsowon the most recent meeting withsenior midfielder and MonmouthUniversity recruit Wadneson Alexisout of the lineup.

Wall has allowed only two goals allseason – one on an own goal againstLong Branch and the other a 40-yardshot by Ocean’s Luis Araya that tookan unusual bounce over the head ofWall goalkeeper Nolan Cloney inOcean’s win on Friday. The CrimsonKnights will have to beat eitherJackson Memorial or MonmouthRegional in order to get a rubbermatch with their rivals, while Oceanwill host either Donovan Catholic orCentral Regional on Saturday.

Shore Thing Continued from page 16

Manalapan's Ayush Mittal Wall’s Chris Fay


This Year’s Vianney: The CandidatesOne noteworthy name missing from this year’s SCT field is St. John

Vianney, which rolled all to the way to the semifinals last year as the No.26 seed – the highest seed to ever reach the tournament semifinals. It’shighly unlikely that history will repeat itself – especially with only 27teams in this year’s field compared to the 30 that made it last year – butthere are some possible sleepers in the field.

Staying in the Class A Central division in which Vianney resides, No.16 Manasquan, No. 18 Holmdel, No. 21 Monmouth and No. 22 Matawanare all teams that could make some noise if they can survive the firstround. Holmdel is the one among that group that has proven it can beat atop team and in order to get to the semifinals, that’s exactly what will haveto happen. If the Hornets survive a trip to Toms River North on Thursday,No. 2 CBA awaits in the round of 16.

Part of Vianney’s run to the semifinals was a manageable draw, whichis working against Holmdel more than it is for the other three A Centralteams. Manasquan will play a mercurial Long Branch team at home onThursday and will travel to play top-seeded Shore if it can get by theGreen Wave. Shore has earned the No. 1 seed, but Manasquan will beplaying with nothing to lose against a team feeling a little more pressurethan usual coming into this particular tournament. If Manasquan can pulloff one upset, either No. 8 Rumson or No. 9 Middletown North wouldlikely be the team standing in between the Warriors and a semifinalappearance.

Monmouth and Matawan have flown under the radar, but either couldbe a first-round upset candidate. Both will play solid first round opponents(Monmouth vs. Jackson Memorial and Matawan vs. Marlboro), but if anupset happens, either could have a shot in the round of 16. Monmouthwould play a Wall team that is hard to score on but has also had some

trouble scoring lately, while Matawan would travel to play a hot TomsRiver South team that has also played some close games and also lost toHolmdel, 3-0, early in the season.

Although their seeds are not in the 20’s, the second-tier Class A Southteams could be in for a surprise run, particularly Jackson Memorial. TomsRiver North is a dangerous team, but the Mariners would have to beatHolmdel, CBA and likely Manalapan or Lacey in order to reach thesemifinals. The Jaguars, meanwhile would play No. 5 Wall in the roundof 16, which might be a good matchup for Jackson Memorial consideringWall has typically played low-scoring games.

One more team to watch as a potential Cinderella with a manageabledraw is Long Branch, which won three straight games to get into thetournament. The Green Wave will have to beat a tough Manasquan teamfirst, but a game at Shore would be an interesting matchup consideringthe talent Long Branch boasts. If the Green Wave can gain someconfidence, Shore could have its hands full in the round of 16 and if LongBranch can beat Shore, it can also reach the semifinals.

Doug Bostwickwww.SportShotsWLB.com

Ph o t o s b y :

Larry Murphysportsp ixn j .smugmug.com

Ocean’s Jordan Ornowski

Shore Conference Tournament SeedsMatt Manley – Senior Staff Writer

1. Shore2. CBA3. Freehold Twp.4. Ocean5. Wall

6. Toms River South7. Manalapan8. Rumson-Fair Haven9. Middletown North10. Lacey

11. Marlboro12. Jackson Memorial13. Donovan Catholic14. Point Boro15. Toms River North

16. Manasquan17. Long Branch18. Holmdel19. Colts Neck20. Central

21. Monmouth22. Matawan23. Neptune24. St. Rose25. Ranney

26. Pinelands27. Point Beach

SCHEDULE OPENING ROUNDThursday, Oct. 22(27) Point Beach at (6) Toms River South

(26) Pinelands at (7) Manalapan

(25) Ranney at (8) Rumson-Fair Haven

(24) St. Rose at (9) Middletown North

(23) Neptune at (10) Lacey

(22) Matawan at (11) Marlboro

(21) Monmouth at (12) Jackson Memorial

(20) Central at (13) Donovan Catholic

(19) Colts Neck at (14) Point Boro

(18) Holmdel at (15) Toms River North

(17) Long Branch at (16) Manasquan

ROUND OF 16Saturday, Oct. 24

(17) Long Branch/(16) Manasquan winner at (1) Shore

(18) Holmdel/(15) Toms River North winner at (2) CBA

(19) Colts Neck/(14) Point Boro winner at (3) Freehold Twp.

(20) Central/(13) Donovan Catholic winner at (4) Ocean

(21) Monmouth/(12) Jackson Memorial winner at (5) Wall

(22) Matawan/(11) Marlboro winner vs. (27) Point Beach/(6) Toms River South winner

(23) Neptune/(10) Lacey winner vs. (26) Pinelands/(7) Manalapan winner

(24) St. Rose/(9) Middletown North winner vs. (25) Ranney/(8) Rumson-Fair Haven winner

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Every week this season, Shore Conference football fans will get theirchance to vote for the SSN Football Player of the Week on our website,

with nearly 65,000 votes already cast in the first five weeks.

Five players so far have earned the honor of SSNs Shore Conference Player of theWeek after brilliant performances.

Week-5 10 /9 / 15Pt. Beach junior wide receiver

Connor KellsThe Week Five recipient is Point Beach junior wide receiver Connor Kells, wwho caught a pair of touchdowns and

also returned a punt for a touchdown in the Garnet Gulls’ 43-20 victory over Dunellen to improve to 3-2. Kells caughttouchdown passes of 40 and 15 yards, and also had a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown. Kells has emerged as a big-play threat for Point Beach, hauling in 15 passes for 342 yards and five touchdowns this season.

Point Beach’s fans made their presence felt, taking Kells from the middle of the pack to the top of the list with37.86 percent of the vote. He pulled away from Point Boro running back Nate Husak and Mater Dei Prepquarterback Kyle Devaney over the final 36 hours of voting.

P h o t o b y :Ray Rich Photography www.rayrichphotography.smugmug.com


P h o t o b y :Mark Brown


Week-1 9/11/15Jackson Mem. Jr. RBMike Gawlik

Week-0 9/4 / 15Pinelands Jr. RBJustin Kirkpatrick

Week-3 9/25/15Freehold So. RBAshante Worthy

Week-2 9/ 18 / 15Manalapan Sr. RBMarcus Salinas

FOR SSN ADVERTISING INFORMATIONContact: Steven Meyer 732-233-4460 [email protected]

The Week Four recipient is Raritan senior running back DerekErnst, who ran for 219 yards and three touchdowns in theRockets’ 34-0 victory over Freehold to improve to 3-0. Ernst hada 79-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, a 2-yard runtouchdown run in the second quarter and a 31-yard scoring run inthe third quarter. After rushing for 1,505 yards and 24touchdowns last season, Ernst has picked up right where he leftoff with 467 yards rushing in three games with an average of8.5 yards per carry.

Raritan’s fans voted hard for Ernst, who beat out 16other players and edged Middletown North’s DwightWilkerson with 32.54 percent of the vote.

Week-4 10/2/15Raritan senior running back

Derek Ernst

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Fri Oct. 23 Middletown South at Brick Memorial (7pm)

Fri Oct. 30 TR North at Brick (7pm)

Fri Nov. 6 Jackson Memorial at Red Bank Cath. (7pm)

Thr Nov. 26 Manasquan at Wall (11am)

NJSIAA Playoffs TBDSchedule is subject to change

All games to be broadcast on News Talk Radio and streamed liveat www.shoresportsnetwork.com


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shore sports network journal midseason football report

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