The Shore Daily, 2/2/15
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Like everyone else, I'm still reeling from that Seahawks' playcall.
Hearing Pete Carroll's explanation doesn't clear up anything. Just an utter brain meltdown by him and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, whose Wikipedia page was updated in fine fashion. The streets of Seattle probably look like the set of "The Walking Dead'' this morning, with people lurching around in a daze, moaning in agony.
On the bright side, former Wall and Rutgers standout Tim Wright, a second-year tight end for the Patriots, got himself a Super Bowl ring. It was serendipity for Wright, who started the year on the worst team in the NFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and got traded to the best team in the NFL during the season. He didn't have any catches in the postseason, but did have six touchdown grabs during the regular season, helping to bridge the gap while Rob Gronkowski got fully healthy again to pillage defenses.
Wright is the first Shore Conference graduate to win a Super Bowl ring since Marlboro's Dan Klecko and Freehold Boro's Darrell Reid, who were both defensive linemen on the Colts team that beat the Bears in 2007 to cap the 2006 season. Klecko also won two rings with the Patriots when they won back-to-back Super Bowls in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Before Klecko, Colts Neck head coach Darian Barnes, a former Toms River North star, was a fullback on the Tampa Bay team that won the title in the 2002 season.
There have been others who have achieved the feat, including former Matawan star defensive lineman Jim Jeffcoat, who won two rings with the Dallas Cowboys in 1992 and 1993, and former Ocean star linebacker Phil Villapiano, who was a member of the Oakland Raiders team that won Super Bowl XI in 1977.
In other local football news with National Signing Day only two days away, Red Bank Catholic senior WR/DB Nick Lubischer committed to a preferred walk-on spot at the University of New Hampshire on Monday. He is the latest commit out of RBC's senior class, which helped the Caseys win their first state title since 1976 in the fall.
Speaking of senior classes chocked full of college-bound players, Manalapan fullback/defensive lineman Ben Sieczkowski made it five scholarship players for the Central Jersey Group V champions when he committed to Wagner on Sunday. That one is probably near and dear to the heart of coach Ed Gurrieri and his staff, as many of them have Staten Island roots, so Wagner is in their backyard.
Sieczkowski was a second-team All-Shore selection by Shore Sports Network who made 88 tackles (56 solo) with 11 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries for a defense that allowed 12.5 points per game in winning the program’s first sectional title. He had 14 tackles with two for a loss and a sack when the Braves shut down an explosive South Brunswick offense to win 21-7 in the Central Jersey Group V final. He also had four rushing touchdowns as a short-yardage back.
More on Monday:
- Looks like there will be a good opportunity for Shore Regional linebacker/long-snapper James Bedell to play his way into a scholarship at UConn, where coach Bob Diaco looks to expand the role of preferred walk-ons.
- Chris Partridge parlayed the Paramus Catholic job into a job on Jim Harbaugh's staff at Michigan. I'm going to guess that hiring Partridge also doesn't hurt in making sure his former star at Paramus Catholic, Jabrill Peppers, decides to stay put after a dismal season by the Wolverines.
- The recruiting class being put together by RBC grad Al Golden at Miami, which includes Caseys linebacker Jamie Gordinier, took a hit when one of its headliners and one of the top 15 running backs in the country de-committed after a trip to rival Florida State.
- The Jets are currently at 125-1 odds to win next year's Super Bowl. That seems low.
On tap for tonight: This is a big basketball week as we hit the final two weeks before the Shore Conference Tournament gets going, which means division titles will soon be decided.
The big one in tonight's action is at Pine Belt Arena, where Toms River South travels across Route 37 to Toms River North in a game for sole possession of first place in Class A South with only a handful of divisional games remaining. Toms River South star Tymere Berry is fresh off an official football visit to the University of Maine this weekend and has been on fire the last two weeks.
Lakewood also heads to Central in a bid to make it 34 straight wins in Class B South, where the last team to beat the Piners was Central in 2013. Point Beach looks to extend the Shore's longest current divisional winning streak to 39 games when it faces Keyport in Class B Central.
I'll end with two halfcourt bombs by college students this weekend that won them a bunch of dough. One is a student from Temple who bagged $10,000 and promptly went nuts, and another was a Virginia student who won $18,000 on College GameDay.
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