Turkey Rewind

The annual Turkey Day weekend is in the books. No fewer than 5 of our 6 Divisions had teams clinch Championships over the 4 day weekend.

Those clinching outright titles were Manalapan in A-North, RBC in A-Central, Long Branch gets a piece of the title with Neptune in B-North, Point Pleasant Beach in B-Central, and Mon. Don. in B-South. Lacey had already clinched the A-South title earlier. 6 of the above 7 teams will be playing this weekend in the semi-final round of the NJ State Playoffs. Mon. Don. was knocked out in the first round last week by RBC.

Also playing this weekend will be Southern, Colts Neck, Middletown South, Shore, and Asbury Park. 11schools for a chance to win a State Title. We'll be at Point Beach Friday night  at 7pm for their game with Florence HS on 105.7 The Hawk.

4 schools will be playing in head to head match-ups, so we will have at least 2 in the finals, the following weekend at various sites in the State. Shore and Asbury in CJ 1 and Middletown South vs. Colts Neck in CJ 4 are the all shore games. Three of those schools, South(9), Asbury(6) and Shore(5)have won 20 State Titles. Pretty impressive. Colts Neck will be looking for # 1.

Lakewood's 7-0 win against TR South was truly impressive and concludes a tremendous season for L J Clark and the Piners. Lakewood finishes 7-3 for their best season in quite some time. Tyrice Beverette concludes his career at Lakewood by rushing for 117 yds. and the lone TD to win it for the Piners. This was the 93rd meeting of these 2 schools. This game remains the longest continuous rivalry in the Shore. Lakewood's Freshman class in 2008 was 0-10 and they only had 5 wins in the last 2 years(2010 and 2011, before the 7 wins this year. A great story.

Mon. Don. wins the B-South title, their first in 19 years. Another great story. Their 56-19 victory over Manchester was keyed by a 206 yard, 3 TD, performance by RB Grant Klimek. Other names which made this season so successful were Division 1 Brad Henson, who is heading to Virginia U. Vinny Grasso ran the show for the Champs from the QB spot, and guys like Kevin Ortiz, Ryan Azzolini, Mason Jones, Connor Hanifin and Tommy Farrell all had great years for the Griffs. Congrats to Dan Duddy and the Griffins.

Long Branch wins 13-0 to move to 9-1. The Green Wave are rolling and have RB Dwight Clark back. They are playing solid defense at the right time of the year. Keep an eye on them in CJ-3. They play at #2 seed Nottingham Friday night.

Southern is also rolling along at a championship pace. They thumped Central 35-0 and have won 5 in a row and now face Eastern on the road on Friday night in SJ 5. Southern is 8-2 on the year with their 2 loses coming at the hands of TRN by 3points and Lacey by 2 points. The Rams are poised to get to finals and look for their first ever State Championship.

RBC beat Rumson 28-12 on Thursday morning. Now they look to take the next step in the States. They travel to St. Joe Montvale for a semi-final game in Non-Public 3. The Casey's have been here before and need to produce on this level. They have taken care of the Shore for three years running, winning 3 straight B-North titles and 5 in the last 6 years. Now they must do it State wide. Pressure, no, just play their game, make minimal mistakes, and we'll see them in finals.

Congrats to Jackson, who rule the town, as they continue to dominate their cross town rivals, Jackson Liberty(31-0). They are unbeaten against them forever(actually 5 years). Jackson finished 3-7 and Jax. Liberty 6-4. By the way thats Liberty's first winning season ever. A small consolation after the loss.

SJ Vianney(6-4) complete a winning season by upsetting Matawan on Sat afternoon, 19-14. Both teams finish at 6-4 on the year.

Point Beach won the biggest game of the weekend, as they won the B-Central title with their 19-7 victory over Shore. This was the first of what is expected to be 2 games against each other, as long as both take care of business this coming weekend.

Beach is home to Florence, and Shore entertains Asbury Park. Win and we will see them in the finals at a neutral site. Hopefully that site will be Rutgers. It would be great for these two great programs to meet there, with a Championship on the line. We will broadcast the Florence/Beach game on Friday night at 7 pm.

Top Ten Week 12:

1- RBC(10-0) Coasted against Rumson. St. Joe Montvale up next on Sat. afternoon. It's about time to take the next step for this great program. It might as well be Saturday.

2- Manalapan(10-0) 51-0 over Marlboro sets them up for Hut. Central at home on Fri. night. This team is on a mission and I don't think can be stopped as they look for their first ever Championship.

3-Lacey(10-0) With the return of QB Tom Kelly, the Lions will be at full strength for Kingsway on Sat. afternoon at home. After that a team loaded with Division 1 talent Timber Creek may be their finals opponent.

4-Colts Neck(9-1) Beat Howell 48-7 on Turkey Day eve. They have a re-match with Middletown South, who they beat just a few weeks ago. They have them at home on Sat. afternoon.

5-Point Beach(10-0) One of 4 undefeated teams left in Shore. Beat Shore on Turkey Day. Tough semi's with Florence HS. We will be covering that one on 105.7 The Hawk  Friday night at 7pm.

6-Long Branch(9-1) Watch out for the Wave in the last 2 rounds. Joscil Jackson and DwightClark are back, and that makes them tougher than ever. At #2 seed Nottingham on Friday night.

7-Southern(8-2) routed Central 35-0, now must travel to a tough Eastern team in semi's, with Group favorite Williamstown the probable opponent if they make finals.

8-Neptune(8-2) Beat Asbury Park 33-6 on Turkey Day. Get a very good and favorite Allentown(10-0) team, who are in uncharted territory, having never won a title. Neptune has been here before and that fact will help them in this one. Look for Patterson to throw, throw, and throw some more.

9- Middletown South(7-3) Although they have lost 3 times, they are playoff tested and always play their best at this time of year. Will have another shot at Colts Neck on the road in semi's.

10- Shore(8-2) Loss to Beach in round 1 of what may be 2 games, if both get to finals. Another rematch game in the Shore, with Asbury Park, who they beat 34-7 way back in week 2.

Just outside top ten: Lakewood(7-3), Rumson(7-3)

Join us Thursday night at Water St. Grill for our High School Football Show which starts at 7pm and goes till 8:30. Can't make it down, we are on 105.7 FM or the ShoreSportsNetwork.com. Next radio game Friday at Point Beach as Florence invades in semi-finals of CJ Group 1.