fifth down

Well, this is it. We are down to the final week before the state playoffs kick off, and there looks to be a good amount of drama as always. One difference this year is that so many teams have scrapped their Thanksgiving games (which I totally agree with, by the way) that many teams are playing their ninth games of the season this week...

In a season where Shore Conference running backs and quarterbacks could produce more than ten 1,000-yard rushers, one running back has stood alone in maintaining a pace that could put him in the record books. During his first and only season as the team's starting tailback, Long Branch senior Dahmiere Willis has rushed for 1,800 yards and 19 touchdowns in seven games for an average of 257 yards ru

With every team in the Shore Conference having played at least five games, this is the midway point for the majority of the teams other than the select few who will make it to the NJSIAA sectional finals on that first weekend in December. With half the season in the books, here is a look around Shore Conference football at some of the high points, top performances and storylines thus far, as well

*Ace Outdoor Equipment Player of the Week* *SSN Players of the Week* *Top 10 rankings* When junior Nick Maciejewski's game-winning extra point sailed through the uprights to complete previously winless Wall's stunning, 28-27 double-overtime win over previously unbeaten Brick on Friday night, the question was immediate...

*Players of the Week* *Top 10* For 30 long days, senior Matt Castronuova has waited to make his debut for Jackson Memorial, and the time is now here on Friday night in a big Class A South game against Toms River North. Castronuova transferred from cross-town rival Jackson Liberty to the Jaguars in the preseason and had to sit out for 30 days due to the NJSIAA transfer rule...

*Team of the Week* *Top 10* *SSN Players of the Week* When Toms River North trailed rival Toms River South by four points late in the game in the latest edition of "The Civil War,'' rivalry, it was one of those moments for a young team that can't be simulated in practice...

*Sport Clips Player of the Week* *SSN Players of the Week* *Top 10 rankings* Two teams have made their one-win seasons of a year ago seem like distant memories before Week Three even gets underway. Red Bank Regional and Point Boro are each off to 2-0 starts after winning a combined two games last year, making each of them darkhorses in their respective divisional races...

*Sports Clips Player of the Week* Two Shore Conference teams that entered the preseason with their offenses generating the majority of the attention showed that their defenses have what it takes to be championship units during dominating wins in Week One...

Note: The Fifth Down will appear weekly, looking back at the previous weekend of Shore Conference football action with news and notes from around the Shore. *Updated 9/9/14, 8 a.m. Week Zero in Shore Conference football only featured five games, but there was plenty to learn from some intriguing openers...