Injuries Are Part of the Game
As we grind towards the playoffs, the injury bug has bitten quite a few teams around the shore.
Some of the major ones are:
RB AJ Opre (Barnegat)- It remains to be seen if Rec. Manny Bowen can adequately replace AJ at the very important RB position. Come November and for a few December, the running game becomes very important as the weather begins to turn. Tyler McGuiness also will get some carries for the unbeaten Bengals.
QB Carmine Sclafani (Brick)- Sclafani was hurt in the shoulder area during the 3rd quarter of Bricks 28-21 win over his ex-school TR North. This injury, although classified as day to day, could be devastating to the Dragons who are looking at a top seed in the CJ Group 4 picture. If the injury is more severe than a mere strain, Junior Joe Phillips will take over the QB spot until Carmine returns. Brick has games with Lacey and Jackson coming up in A-South, where they currently are tied for 1st place with Jackson.
QB/Rec Joe Hans(Brick Mem)- Han’s has been out 3 weeks with a “hammy” and his return will only help the Mustangs in their late season run to the playoffs. QB Rob Triano has been a very good replacement for Han’s and has led the Stangs to 4 wins in a row. Does Han’s return to QB or go back to Receiver when he’s ready to play? Nice options for HC Walt Currie to have. Currie will sure to be asked those questions when he joins us live at Water Street Grill for our Thursday night Football show this week. With him will be Mike Basile-one of the leaders of the 5-2 Mustangs.
Week 7 action:
Manalapan(6-0) left little doubt who the best public school in the Shore is. They beat previously undefeated Colts Neck(5-1) in convincing fashion. To say this was statement win would be to understate it. RB Tyler Leonetti ran for 166 yards and a TD and Rutgers bound Saeed Blacknall had 6 catches for 3 TDs. The Braves now have their foot in the door towards a 4th consecutive A-North title.
The final was 48-18 and was never in doubt. CN had come in having given up only 1 TD in their first 5 games-4 of them being shutouts. It looks like the Braves will either get the 1or 2 seed in CJ-5 and that is important, as it comes with 2 home games and then a probable trip to Rutgers on Sunday Dec. 8th for the finals. The Braves will be a heavy favorite to win it all this year. They are focused and determined to put that 1st State Title in the trophy case.
Ocean(6-0) took care of Long Branch with a 21-6 victory on Friday night. One more B-North win will give the “Big Red” at least a piece of the Tttle, which they haven’t won since 2006. Again it was a punishing defense, which Ocean has been playing all year. Danny Loizos leads a group that becomes very important down the road. The Ocean offense is good enough to score and win, but it’s the defense that will win them another State Title. HC Don Klein has them focused on that final prize.
The TR South Indians beat cross-town rival TR East 35-0, in our game of the week, on Friday night. QB Tymere Berry is the top QB, in my opinion, in a very tough A-South division that has Brick’s Carmine Sclafani, Lacey’s Tom Kelly, Brick Memorial’s Rob Triano, and Southern’s Connor Sheehan in it at the QB spot.
With playmakers like RB Otis Kearney, RB Khaleel Green, Rec. Russell Messler, and Rec. Darius Hart to have at Berry’s disposal, the Indians have multiple weapons to go to. The scary part of the Indians may lie on the other side of the football, where they are beginning to play defense. If that holds up the Indians are a legit threat in the playoffs in SJ Group 4. Lacey also plays in that bracket and the Lions have already beaten the Indians.
The Lions are going through some problems in the middle of their season, but expect Lou Vircillo to get it straightened out on defense. The Lions have lost 2 straight, and are come off an embarrassing loss at the hands of Jackson. A game which they scored 44 points—but gave up 62 points and 501 yards rushing on defense. Wow, that’s enough to keep you up at night. Lacey must recover quickly, as they entertain A-South leader Brick on Sat. afternoon.
Rumson’s Charlie Volker is quickly becoming the top RB in the Shore. He rushed for 243 yards and 4 TDs in Rumson’s 42-7 defeat of Mon. Don. Last week Volker rushed for 246 yards and 3 TDs. His exploits have him over 1000 yards on the season already, after 7 games. Defensively the Bulldogs allowed only 114 yards on the day and are another team who will win with defense in late November and early December.
Brick Memorial(5-2) have won 4 straight and gotten themselves back into the A-South race and CJ Group 5 playoff picture. They handled a tough Southern football team on both side of the ball, holding the Ram offense to -14 yards rushing, and only 7 points on way to their 12-7 win. The Mustang offense gained over 300 yards rushing and controlled the football against the 3-3 Rams. RB Mike Basile had his best all-around game, running for 136 yards and was a demon on defense.
QB Rob Triano, running the flex bone very effectively, ran for 106 yards and a TD. The Memorial defense, which has played very effectively through-out the year, except for the Jackson game, played their best game of the year against a good team. LB Jake Lombardo was all over the field for the Mustangs and the Rams had no answer up front.
The Rams are not out of the SJ Group 5 picture and should get themselves into the top 8 with a win in the next 2 weeks. Memorial may have to win another big game Friday night at TR South in order to make the playoff top 8 in a very tough CJ Group 5.
In the head turner of the weekend, Jackson beat Lacey 62-44. The “D” coordinators took this week off for both teams. Jackson rolled to 501 yards on the ground as Ken Bradley scored 5 TDs and ran for 127 yards and he wasn’t the team leader. Khani Glover ran for 300 yards and 3 TDs in this defensive nightmare for both head coaches.
Lacey’s Tom Kelly threw for 341 yards and 4 TDs and ran another one in on the ground. Lacey has given up 192 points on the year in their 7 games. That’s 27 ½ points a game. Numbers like that will not get the Lions to the finish line in SJ Group 4. Jackson meanwhile is tied for 1st place in the A-South and has a game with Southern(3-3) this week and Brick on Nov 8th. That Brick game may just decide the A-South race. Lacey gets Brick this week and then Brick Memorial the following week.
Top Ten Week 8:
1-Red Bank Catholic (6-0) Used their bye week to heel any minor bruises that the Casey’s had. Headed to bottom of the schedule with Mid South(this week) and Rumson(Nov.21st) looming as the two teams which may give them some trouble. The Casey’s are looking for their 6th division title in the last 7 years.
2-Manalapan(6-0) The Braves left little doubt that they are the best public school in the Shore as they just about wrapped up their 4th title in a row with a convincing 48-18 victory over previously unbeaten Colts Neck(5-1). It was the running game led by Tyler Leonetti and the ability of Saeed Blacknall to score from anywhere on the field who led the Braves this week. Leonetti ran for 166 yards and a TD, while Blacknall scored 3 times via passes from Dan Anerella. The Braves have no faults in their game. Even the kicking game, in which Mike Caggiano handles, has the ability to kick that big field goal to win a close game, if needed. The Braves will be on display in Ocean County this week in a non-conference game against winless TR North. If you have nothing better to do, make your way to North to see a good football team.
3-Barnegat (6-0) The Bengals scored early and often in a 40-0 win over winless Point Boro. Playing without star RB A.J. Opre(torn ACL) they used Manny Bowen in the backfield to run over the Panthers. Bowen had 80 yards on the ground and scored twice, and also scored through the air on a Cinjun Erskine 5 yard pass. The big question for the Bengals is whether Bowen can handle the every week hits that a RB takes. Soph RB Paul Wickwire also ran for 101 yards on just 5 carries. Expect LB Tyler McGuiness to also get some carries. The Bengals can wrap up the B-South crown with a win at Lakewood this week.
4-Ocean (6-0) The Big Red beat Long Branch 21-6 on Friday night and is 1 win away from at least a share of the B-North title. They used their stingy defense and 2 TDs from Cole Mehr to put LB into the runner up roll in B-North. The Big Red have championships on their mind and I don’t think there’s any team around who can stop them.
5-Rumson (6-0) The “Dogs” are rolling along unbeaten under 1st year HC Brian Batchler. An easy 42-7 victory over Mon Don was a statement game for RB Charlie Volker who topped the 200 yard mark with 243 yards and 4 TDs. Volker is on a good run having rushed for 489 yards and 7 TDs in the last 2 weeks. After Monmouth Reg this week, the Bulldogs have a home contest with Manasquan(6-1) in 2 weeks, and then some playoff games before they get RBC.
6-Manasquan (6-1) The Big Blue rested RB Joe Murphy and used James McAlary for 188 yards and a TD in their easy 37-0 win over Holmdel. Squan will use their bye week this week to get everyone ready for a big one in 2 weeks with Rumson who is unbeaten.
7-Colts Neck (5-0) The Cougars drop to the 7 spot after their loss to Manalapan. Anthony Gargiulo continues to lead them on both side of the ball. Gargiulo scored through the air on a 49 yard pass and also on defense with a 38 yard int return. The Cougars play Freehold Twp. this week and then another big game with Mid South in 2 weeks.
8-Middletown South (4-2) The Eagles won big this week against winless Marlboro(0-6). The final was 52-18 as Jeremy Concepcion ran for 139 yards and 3 TDs for the Eagles. They now gear up for the top team in the Shore-RBC as they travel to Count Basie field Friday night.
9-Brick (5-2) The Dragons won their game at TR North this week, but may have lost their QB Carmine Sclafani for the next few weeks. Sclafani suffered a sprained shoulder in the 3rd quarter of the Dragon 28-21 win. The injury is week to week, according to HC Rob Dahl. Sclafani led the Dragons over North with 138 yards rushing and a TD and also threw a TD pass to Ja’Sir Taylor. The Dragons are tied with Jackson for the A-South lead and a healthy Sclafani is needed down the stretch of their schedule.
10-Toms River Sout h(4-2) The Indians shutout cross-town rival TR East 35-0 in our game of the week. It was QB Tymere Berry who led the spread offense for the streaking Indians. The one part of the Indian game where there was room for improvement was the defense. They have now gone 6 quarters without giving up a point, having shutdown Jackson in the 2nd half 2 weeks ago and pitching a shutout this week against the Raiders. Big A-South game on the road this week at Brick Memorial.
Join us this week on Thursday night at the Water Street Grill for our Investors Bank High School Football Show. Joining us this week live, will be Brick Memorial HC Walt Currie and his 2 way star Mike Basile.
This week’s game of the week takes us to Southern for the Ram/ Jackson game-- Friday night on 105.7 FM or on the internet on Shoresportsnetwork.com.
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