Face of the Franchise – Shore Regional football

When a Shore Conference football program is mentioned there are certain people that always come to mind. For some, it’s unanimous no matter what era you are from. For others, it’s a fun debate comparing all-time greats from different eras whether they roamed the sidelines as coaches or broke records between the lines.

That got us at the Shore Sports Network wondering: when you think of Shore Conference football, who are the most prominent figures in each program’s history? And if there was a mountain nearby and we knew a sculptor, whose faces should be carved on its side to be forever honored?

With that in mind, we came up with a football feature that will run throughout this summer, and it’s called Face of the Franchise.

We reached out to all 43 football programs in the Shore Conference and in conjunction came up with five nominees for each school. The five names and their accomplishments will be listed and fans will have a chance to cast their votes to select who they feel is the Face of the Franchise for each program. Our SSN football crew of Bob Badders, Kevin Williams, Ed Sarluca and Matt Harmon will also put their heads together to make a selection. The polls will run for one week each.

At the end of the summer when the Face of the Franchise has been determined for all 43 programs, we’ll run one final poll to see who the fans think should go on top of the mountain; five legends to represent the history of Shore Conference football.

SHORE REGIONAL

Mark Costantino

The Blue Devils’ current head coach and the longest-tenured coach in the history of the program, Costantino has led Shore since 1992 and turned the Blue Devils into a Group 1 power with four state titles, including three in the past decade. In his 28 years as Shore’s head coach, Costantino has a career record of 187-104-1 and his teams have won nine Shore Conference division titles and four NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 1 sectional championships. His teams are known for physical defense and a punishing running game out of the Wing-T, which Shore Regional has employed as an offense since 1976. In 2014, the Blue Devils were the Shore’s stingiest defense, allowing a conference-low 61 points (5.1 ppg) and posting six shutouts. They captured their sixth state title in history with a 42-12 win over South Hunterdon. In 2015 they went back-to-back with a 12-0 squad that is arguably the greatest team in program history.

Nick Cammarano

The patriarch of a well-known Shore Regional football family, Cammarano was the Blue Devils’ head coach from 1978-1981 and led the program to its first state title in 1981 when they went 11-0 and won the Central Jersey Group 1 title. Although his tenure as head coach was brief, Cammarano went 31-9 in four seasons with two division titles and one state title to put the program on the map. His sons, Andy and Nick, both played for Shore were assistants under Costantino. Andy is currently the head coach at Spotswood high school with brother Nick and dad also on the staff.

Bob Rolak

Rolak took over for Cammarano in 1982 and built upon the winning foundation with four division titles and Central Jersey Group 1 titles in 1982 and 1988. Shore went 8-2 in 1982 and finished 9-2 in 1988. Rolak posted a 60-31-3 record in his 10 years leading the program.

Pete Vincelli

Vincelli starred as a running back and free safety from 1996-1998, leading the Blue Devils to the 1997 Central Jersey Group 1 title, their first under Costantino and fourth overall. He had a legendary performance in the 1997 state playoffs when he accounted for 378 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns in a win over South Hunterdon with a 73-yard punt return touchdown, two rushing touchdowns and a touchdown reception, plus an 85-yard kickoff return to set up a touchdown. He also had an interception on defense. In the sectional final against Bernards, Vincelli caught a 13-yard touchdown pass with no time left to force overtime where Shore would lock up the state title. He was an All-Shore and All-State selection before playing collegiately at Gettysburg, where he was a two-year captain. He is currently an assistant coach at Shore.

Doug Goldsmith

A dominant two-way player and multi-sport athlete, Goldsmith led the Blue Devils to back-to-back Central Jersey Group 1 titles in 2014 and 2015. Injuries limited Goldsmith to just seven games as a junior but he still ran for 805 yards and eight touchdowns and notched 36 tackles and a sack on defense as Shore allowed a conference-low 5.1 points per game and recorded six shutouts. As a senior, Goldsmith was fantastic in earning first-team All-Shore and All-State honors for a 12-0 Blue Devils squad that won the Central Jersey Group 1 title. As a linebacker he recorded 140 tackles with four sacks on a defense that finished second in the conference by allowing 7.6 points per game, recorded two shutouts and allowed seven points or fewer in 10 of 12 games. Goldsmith also ran for a team-high 1,178 yards and 12 touchdowns in Shore’s Wing-T offense that averaged 36.8 points per game. He authored a sensational performance on Thanksgiving that year when Shore beat Central Jersey Group 2 champion Rumson-Fair Haven with 24 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and recovery and 117 yards rushing. He concluded his career in style by rushing for a career-high 261 yards on 36 carries in a 56-28 wipeout of Palmyra. Also a standout lacrosse player who was a first-team All-Shore selection as a midfielder, Goldsmith played on the University of Albany’s nationally-ranked men’s lacrosse team.

Managing editor Bob Badders can be reached at bob.badders@townsquaremedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bob_Badders. Like Shore Sports Network on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest video highlights.