Mater Dei Prep is 2-0 for the First Time Since 1986

MIDDLETOWN -- Steve Sciarappa’s message to his team following its game against Cardinal McCarrick was stern, clear and to the point, and it was also unlike any postgame talk he’s had with Mater Dei Prep over the last four seasons.

The Seraphs had just completed a 38-16 wipeout of McCarrick on their home field, moving to 2-0 for the first time since 1986 and registering back-to-back 30-point games for the first time in at least a decade. Consistency in both effort and execution was Sciarappa’s focus. He wants the Seraphs to play up to their expectations, which are radically different these days at the small school in north Middletown despite going 1-9 last season.

The Seraphs believe they are on the verge of turning the corner and becoming a program that can consistently contend in the Shore Conference’s Class B Central division and make a playoff run in Non-Public Group I. This confidence comes from finally having a combination of talent, experience and depth the program has lacked for quite some time.

Players like four-year starting linemen Ron Perez and Matt Eckert, along with senior running back and linebacker Sam Miles and junior quarterback Christian Palmer, have been with the program since their freshman years. Before last season, senior running back Derek Lopez transferred in from Rahway. This season they added another Rahway transfer, senior Jelanie Mitchell, along with junior Tyson White, a St. Anthony transfer. Those three give Mater Dei an explosive group of skill players and the ability to physically match up with teams on their schedule.

On Saturday, White ran for 114 yards on just three carries, scoring on touchdown runs of 65 and 50 yards. Lopez finished with 92 yards and a touchdown, and Mitchell added a touchdown on the ground. Miles ran for over 700 yards last season and Palmer is another option in the run game. There’s ways for Mater Dei to score that they just didn’t have in recent years.

“It feels great knowing we can score in one play now,” Eckert said. “In the past we needed about 20 plays to get into the end zone.”

They also have a promising freshman class, and at Mater Dei that means a chance to get on the field right away. Eddie Lewis, who comes to Middletown from Manhattan every day, is a player the coaches are very high on. Ishmael Glasco starts at cornerback and John Lubintus starts at linebacker. Other freshmen are pushing for playing time, too.

“We’re a 9-to-12 roster, and the majority of the team is underclassmen,” Sciarappa said. “We have only eight seniors, so it’s also a challenge. It’s coaching freshmen, JV and varsity at the same time.”

A reason for the freshmen having an impact also has much to do with St. Mary School, a pre-K through eighth grade school that is on Mater Dei’s campus, starting a football team last season.

“We felt the program took a big turn last year when we brought in the middle school program,” Sciarappa said. “Traditionally we’re strong in soccer and basketball, and football was our down boys sport. Now we have 15 freshmen, half of which were on the St. Mary’s roster. To have every single kid on the roster have played football last year is big.”

Mater Dei made it look easy on Saturday against the Eagles, racing out to a 32-0 halftime lead. White outran the entire Cardinal McCarrick defense on the Seraphs’ first offensive play for a 65-yard score. His next carry went for a 50-yard touchdown. Later in the first half, Vincenzo Mezzacappa fielded a shanked punt from his cornerback spot and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. Mitchell added a 15-yard touchdown that was set up by a 42-yard run by Lopez, who added a touchdown run of his own in the third quarter. The first team defense held Cardinal McCarrick to 10 total yards.

To outsiders, wins over Keansburg and Cardinal McCarrick might not look that impressive. Cardinal McCarrick is severely undermanned with only about five or 10 reserves on the sideline. Keansburg lost 60-0 to Spotswood on Saturday. Mater Dei understands its schedule gets increasingly difficult in the coming weeks, but 2-0 is still 2-0.

“Both of those teams (Keansburg and Cardinal McCarrick) beat us last year, and Cardinal McCarrick has beaten us the last three years,” Sciarappa said. “We didn’t take anything for granted. We were pretty hard on (the players). I was happy about the win, but we want to play up to expectations.”

“Coach has always been like that,” Miles said. “He’s always had expectations up high for us. We come out every game now, and we aren’t going to back down to anyone. We have that confidence.”

The Seraphs have already matched their win total from the previous two seasons combined, and they’re one win away from matching the three games won in 2010 during Sciarappa’s first season. The program went 4-6 in 2006, but hasn’t had a winning season since reaching an NJSIAA sectional final in 1999. The challenge now for Mater Dei is to continue to turn the page.

“We’ve won games that we would always lose in the past,” Eckert said. “Now hopefully we can keep that momentum going and beat the bigger teams.”

“The mentality has definitely changed,” Miles said. “People used to walk around not caring about Mater Dei football. Now people care.”