Weekend Of 11/28 + 11/29

Scanning the High School football scene with Ed Sarluca:

Championship Week: With 5 teams still vying for State Championships, which will be held on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, 38 teams in the shore conference have put the equipment away for the year. I will sum up the 2009 season with a wrap of some of those teams and a look at the 4 games this week that will determine our possible champs.

First let’s look at the championship games:

Friday night will find Manasquan and Matawan hooking up in the CJ Group 2 championship. This has all the makings of a classic. Matawan(10-1) comes in as the #2 team in the shore looking for their 5th title, but first since 1992. Yes it has been a long time since the “Huskies” have been in this situation, but they certainly have the players to get the job done. QB Jarrod Allison, although only a junior, has shown he is the leader of this team. His athletic ability, his poise under fire, and his determination to lead the Huskies to the top has been evident all year. He is ably supported by RB McArthur Underwood, who is a threat to go the distance any time he touches the football. This is an offense that has averaged 33 ½ point a game, and the scary part is; both of the above are both juniors, and will be back next year. Although offense excites the fans, it’s the defense that has impressed me. It is led by defensive coord. and long time assistant coach, Sam Turner. They have playmakers on that side of the ball also. LB Dave Incle, DB Johnny Short, DL Malik Gumbs, and DL Tom Cleary have produced all year and lead a defense that has given up only 10 points a game. They will have to be at their best on Friday night as they face a team in Manasquan that will be looking for a 12th championship, which leads all shore conf. teams in trophies won. The “Big Blue Warriors”(9-2) were knocked off on Turkey Day by rival Wall Twp. by a 31-28 score, but one must look past this game, as it’s always tough to play a game before a championship game. That’s the way they do it in New Jersey, which has been discussed before. My disagreement with the playoff system will have little to do with the outcome of this game, as Squan will have no ill-effects of that loss, when they take the field on Friday at TCNJ at 7PM. Manasquan is led by QB C.J. Davis and the passing attack that they have developed over the course of 2009. He has 3 outstanding big-time receivers in 6’4” Neal Sterling, 6’3” Ryland McTighe, and 6’2” Ryan Casey. All 3 can go up and catch the ball and are dangerous from anywhere on the field. The ground game is led by Zack Ogden, James Stovall and lately, Dan Sullivan. Stovall has been nursing an injury and has not played the last 2 weeks and his return is key to the ground game. Remember, this is a group of runners, which wasn’t counted on at the beginning of the season. They had returning RB Lorenzo Venable (1500 yard and 17 TDs); set to lead the running attack, but Venable quit the team before game 1. When something like that occurs on a team, they can go one of two ways; pack in the season or move on. Well the answer was easy for the above group, as they have not skipped a beat on the ground, and have more than carried the load. Assit. Coach Rich Reed has coordinated the offense to the tune of 24 points per game, while the defense gives up 11pts./game. This is a game which is very close to call. This is the big stage and Manasquan has been here so many times, while Matawan makes infrequent trips to the finals. If Matawan, who at times makes mistakes, can limit those miscues, they will win it, because of their game breaking potential. Do not give Manasquan multiple chances to score, as they will take advantage and run from there. Who has the best defense? I think I’ll go with Matawan, in a very close ball game. We will broadcast this contest on Friday night at 7PM on the Shore Sports Network of 1160am or 1310am or ShoreSportsNetwork.com.

Saturday will have 3 games, all in Central Jersey:
CJ Group 4 has Brick Memorial(7-4) looking for back to back championships against a team in East Brunswick(7-4) that they have already beaten this year, back in week 8, by a 37-34 score. Throw that game out, because it doesn’t mean anything now. The “Mustangs” have found the magic to win in the playoffs this year, as they did last year. They have beaten an undefeated Hunterdon Central team in the first round(21-17), avenged an early season loss to Howell in the semi-finals(31-28) and are playing at a very high level at the right time of the year. Junior QB Mike DiGuilmi has replaced graduated Brian Staub, and has directed the flexbone attack without missing a beat. He is joined in the backfield by 1000yard RB Vinnie Sabba, and Glenn McGinnis. Offensive line coach Bob Merola must get some credit with the much improved line play which has opened the holes for this option attack. With a few underclassmen on that line, and DiGuilmi returning in 2010, it looks like the “Stangs” will continue to be a program that wins. The Mustangs will be looking for their 3rd championship in the last 7 years. The Bears from East Brunswick will provide a formable opponent, as the Marcus Borden led team will go to school after the week 8 loss. Look for a shootout here, with Brick Memorial winning and celebrating their 2nd consecutive championship. This game will also be broadcast from TCNJ on the shore sports network of stations,(1160am or 1310am) or ShoreSportsNetwork.com for fans outside listening area, at 3PM Saturday afternoon.

Middletown South(11-0) looks to win their 10th championship as the travel to TCNJ for an 11am game vs. a very good Monroe team. The story of this one is easy; the shore’s best defense against the offensive minded Monroe Falcons. The Falcons come in at 10-1, scoring 31 ½ points a game. Ironically, their only loss was in week 2 against the above East Brunswick team by a 23-21 score, so they are 2 points from being undefeated. This is a classic match-up of great defense vs. great offense, and you know what they say; offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships! That’s why the Eagles will win their 10th on the strength of a defense that has given up only 45 points on the year, that’s 4pts./game. LB Sean Campbell, DL Nick Bricker, and LB Matt Saulnier lead a suffocating “D” that does not allow you to breathe, let alone score. Although the defense gets the headlines, the offense has done enough to get the Eagles to the championship. Junior QB Scott Meeker has replaced graduated Ryan Mullan and led an offense that also has RB Kyle Bunge to hand the ball to. The loss of Junior playmaker Andrew Suarez to a knee injury early in the year, has allowed others to step up and carry the load. The Eagles score just under 30 pts/game, so they are capable on both sides of the ball. This is a 2 TD game and the Eagles will be celebrating as the Mustangs take the field for their game.

Asbury Park(10-1) looks to make it 3 in a row in CJ Group 1. Led by RB George Stephens, the Bishops will not have an easy time, as they play a pretty good Highland Park(8-3) team for the second time this year. This game will take place at Kean University at 11am on Saturday morning. The Bishops beat Highland Park 20-12, in week 8, as the Owls ran the ball for 274 yards, but game up short, and they must stop Division 1 RB, Nate Smith. This will not be an easy task for the Bishop defense as Smith is very dangerous anywhere on the field. One thing to look at in this contest is the 3 losses that the Owls have. One was to Asbury Park, one was to Keyport(7-3) and the 3rd was to Monmouth Reg.(4-6). All 3 losses have come against shore conf. teams. That doesn’t bode well for the Owls. Look for Asbury to turn up the “D” on Smith and although they may not contain him on every play, they will do enough to win their 3rd straight and we can start using the word ‘dynasty” when we talk about Asbury Park.
There you have a short capsule look at the 4 championship games. Good luck to all 5 teams as they carry the well wishes of all teams in the shore as they represent the best of 2009.

Odds and ends of Turkey Day weekend:
Wall, upsetting Manasquan, 31-28 before 6000 fans on a beautiful Thanksgiving morning. This is the best argument to continue Thanksgiving Day football. Wall finishes 8-2 and makes my top ten and is surely a team of the future.

Toms River East(10-1) beat Toms River North 14-7 on Friday night in front of a huge crowd at East. Nico Steriti finishes his career as the best player in the shore in 2009. A TD pass from Sr. Charlie Diskin to Junior Vinnie Arminio early in the 4th quarter, was the game winner. No State championship for East, but a great season, in which they tied a school record with 10 wins.

Lacey(8-3) playing Central for the last time on Turkey Day(29-13) completes a great year and returns Cicardo, Molzon and Dabel in 2010. Enough to make them a pre-season top ten team.
Howell(9-2) gets a sluggish 20-9 win over Free. Twp. and wins the American Division championship and completes the career of the shores best QB Jimmy Ryan and Rec. Nick Adamo. The championship was their 2nd in 3 years. This program is feared by all teams that have to play them with their wide open spread offense that averaged 28pts/game.

Point Pleasant Boro(5-5), as I predicted, recovered from a 0-4 start to finish .500 on the year. With many underclassmen back, look out for the Panthers in 2010.

Ocean(8-3) completed a very good season with a 34-14 win over Monmouth Reg. Coach Don Klein has a couple of fine RBs, one of which is Greg Moore to go into 2010 with.

Brick Memorial took care of cross-town rival Brick, 34-21 on Friday night as Vinnie Sabba ran for 205 yards and 3 TDs. This was memorable because it was the first Turkey Day when retired Warren Wolf was not on the sidelines.

Raritan(8-3) will graduate 2 of the best players in the shore in Rec./DB Bennett Jackson(Notre Dame) and RB Jessie Raymond(Monmouth University). They brought excitement to shore fans whenever they played.

Mon Don(6-4) completed their season with an unlikely 6-3 win over Manchester. Not unlikely because they won, but because there were only field goals in the game. This concludes the outstanding senior year of QB Kevin Carter who ran the Griffin flexbone offense to perfection.
Bottom line of 2009:

20 teams finished with winning records.
8 teams finished with .500 records.
15 teams under .500 for the year.
2 winless teams in 2009.

Here’s my Top Ten before the playoff finals:
1-Middletown South(11-0) Have answered all comers and look to complete undefeated season with 10th championship title.
2-Matawan(10-1) The year of the Huskie can be completed with a CJ Group 2 title if they defeat Manasquan on Friday night.
3-Toms River East(10-1) Accomplished all goals but the big one, but none the less, they had an incredible season.
4-Manasquan(9-2) Caught looking ahead on Turkey Day? Maybe so, but they lost to a good football team in Wall. Look to win trophy # 12 on Friday night vs. Matawan.
5-Howell(9-2) The Jimmy Ryan career is over and boy was it a good one! Lost to Sayreville and Brick Memorial.
6-Toms River North(8-2) 2 losses have been to 10-1 East and 10-1 Williamstown. Enough said, it was solid season, but disappointing for this perennial playoff contender.
7-Brick Memorial(7-4) Looking for back to back titles in CJ Group 4. The Mustangs seem to play well when it counts. They have won 4 in a row and averaged 31pts./game. The offense is rolling and the defense has played better of late. They will be a tough out in finals.
8-Asbury Park(10-1) Only loss was to Rumson by 26-18 score. Look for 3rd straight in CJ 1.
9-Lacey(8-3) Solid year and all the key players are back. Top Ten preseason team in 2010.
10-Wall(8-2) The best team in shore that did not make the playoffs. I promised Chris Barnes, in my post game interview, that they would find a spot in my top 10. Well here they are; with Soph. QB Steve Cluley calmly going 9-9 for 152 yards, they beat playoff finalist Manasquan 31-28 before 6000 fans on Thanksgiving morning. With many other underclassmen dotting the roster, watch out for the Knights in 2010.

Just outside looking in: Raritan(8-3) RBC(6-4) Ocean(8-3)Neptune(7-4) Long Branch(7-3) Rumson(9-2) Keyport(7-3)

Join us Thursday night at Boston’s in Toms River at 6pm as we will preview the 4 State games and talk high school football. For 2 hours. Also catch us on the radio or on line as we broadcast two championship games on Friday night(7pm) and Saturday afternoon(3pm). 1160am or 1310am on the radio or on line at shoresportsnetwork.com. will handle the games