Top 10 Tuesday: 11/15/11

Only three more weeks of action before the final All Shore Media Top 10 will be chiseled in stone, and the first week of the playoffs brought shakeups across the rankings.

Wall and Middletown South drop out after surprising quarterfinal losses to Steinert and Northern Burlington, respectively, in Central Jersey Group III. Meanwhile, Matawan and Barnegat join the fray after advancing to the semifinals of their respective state playoff brackets. Also, Southern drops down after a disappointing, 26-7 loss to Triton at home in the South Jersey Group IV playoffs that halted a school-record eight-game winning streak and ended the season for the Rams, who do not have a Thanksgiving game.

This week should bring more answers, as Manasquan and Matawan will square off in a Central Jersey Group II semifinal for their third straight meeting in the state playoffs. Also, unranked Point Beach will take its shot at Asbury Park in a bid to reach its first sectional final since 1982 and also break into the top 10 rankings.

The hardest thing for me to sort out is what to do with Manalapan. The Braves have a loss to Jackson Memorial, which lost to Southern, so I feel like those two teams should be ahead of them. However, Jackson Memorial and Southern both lost in the first round of the state playoffs. We’ll see if the Braves can reach the Central Jersey Group IV final this week, which should be enough ammunition to overcome the head-to-head loss to the Jaguars from the season opener, which is Manalapan’s only loss of the season.

This week’s All Shore Media Top 10

1. Red Bank Catholic (9-0) – Last week: No. 1. Senior tailback John DiStefano ran for a career-high 275 yards and four touchdowns to power a 42-6 rout of sixth-seeded Pope John XXIII for the Caseys’ first state playoff win since 1998. Third-seeded RBC now travels to second-seeded Delbarton on Saturday for a heavyweight showdown of undefeated teams in the Non-Public Group III semifinals. RBC is trying to reach its first state final since 1980 and win its first state title since 1976. Also, with one more win, RBC can set the school record for victories with 10. It won’t be easy, as they have Delbarton and then a highly-anticipated showdown against No. 2 Rumson on the day after Thanksgiving with the potential of both teams being undefeated.
2. Rumson-Fair Haven (9-0) – Last week: No. 3. A team that I had at No. 2 for much of the season before jumping Southern over it has now returned. I should have never doubted. The top-seeded Bulldogs rolled 29-0 over eighth-seeded Rahway as they began the defense of their Central Jersey Group II title. They now welcome fifth-seeded Delaware Valley on Friday night for a semifinal game. Looming in the distance is a monster Thanksgiving game a week later against No. 1 Red Bank Catholic, whom Rumson has not beaten since 2001. In an eye-opening stat, Rumson’s defense has only allowed 12 total points in the second half of games this year, and the win over Rahway marked the Bulldogs’ third shutout of the season.
3. Neptune (8-1) – Last week: No. 4. The Scarlet Fliers break into the top three by holding off fourth-seeded Allentown, 40-33 in overtime, to advance to the Central Jersey Group III semifinals. Senior quarterback Jaheem Woods threw three touchdowns passes, including the game-winner to David Gutzmore in overtime, and also ran for a score. Neptune now heads to top-seeded Northern Burlington Friday night for a semifinal game in a bid to reach its first state final since 1999. Also looming next week is an anticipated Thanksgiving showdown with Central Jersey Group I top seed Asbury Park.
4. Southern (8-2) – Last week No. 2. The Rams drop two spots after a disappointing 26-7 loss to fifth-seeded Triton in South Jersey Group IV in Southern’s first home playoff game ended the Rams’ season. They do not have a Thanksgiving game, so their body of work is complete. They won Class A South for their first outright division title in school history and first division title of any kind since 1972. They also had a school-record eight-game winning streak, and their only other loss was to No. 1 Red Bank Catholic. However, winning A South isn’t looking like the best accomplishment in the world considering no team even made it out of the first round of the playoffs, and the other three teams in the division all lost their consolation games. We’ll see how their resume holds up once all the smoke clears.
5. Jackson Memorial (7-2) – Last week: No. 5. The Jaguars lost a hard-fought, 21-13 home game to fifth-seeded Sayreville, the defending Central Jersey Group IV champions, in the quarterfinals to end their playoff hopes. The main thing keeping them here is a 12-7 win over Manalapan in the season opener, but Manalapan is in the same state bracket as the Jaguars, so if the Braves perform better in that area, it could overcome the head-to-head loss to Jackson. It is a little tricky because Manalapan is on the other side of the bracket, so it may not face Sayreville and sort it out that way by facing a common opponent. The Jaguars still have one game left, as they face crosstown rival Jackson Liberty at home on Nov. 23 to cap their season. They have never lost to the Lions.
6. Manalapan (8-1) – Last week: No. 6. The second-seeded Braves beat Brick Memorial, 28-21, for their second win over the Mustangs in three weeks and their second straight trip to the Central Jersey Group IV semifinals. They will welcome sixth-seeded West Windsor South on Friday night in a bid to reach their first final since 2003 and the second in school history. Senior tailback John Sieczkowski had another explosion for 331 yards rushing and three touchdowns in the win over Brick Memorial and could possibly make Shore Conference history by giving Manalapan back-to-back 2,000-yard rushers after current Wagner freshman Josh Firkser did it last year.
7. Manasquan (9-0) – Last week: No. 7. The Warriors rolled to a 34-7 win over seventh-seeded Red Bank in the Central Jersey Group II quarterfinals thanks to 210 yards passing and two touchdowns by senior quarterback Tyler Saito. Now they face their first real test of the season when No. 8 Matawan comes to town on Saturday for a CJ II semifinal game. Matawan has beaten the Warriors in the playoffs each of the last two years, so Manasquan is looking to reverse that trend. They are looking for their third CJ II final berth in the last four seasons with the win, and then face Wall in a Thanksgiving game that will decide the Class C Central title for the second straight year after Manasquan beat the Crimson Knights last year. The Warriors also enter Saturday with a 23-game winning streak on their home field.
8. Matawan (7-2) – Last week: Unranked. The Huskies have won five straight, including an impressive 28-14 win over previously unbeaten Carteret on the road in the Central Jersey Group II quarterfinals. Senior Larry Alston had 103 yards rushing, three touchdowns, a sack and an interception to lead the way. The Huskies now travel to Manasquan for the latest installment of an exciting rivalry in the CJ II semifinals. Matawan has beaten the Warriors two straight years in the playoffs, and will try to end a 23-game home winning streak by Manasquan. A victory would put the Huskies into the state finals for the third straight year, which would be a first in their storied history. Matawan jumps ahead of Asbury Park because it has more quality wins, namely Barnegat and Carteret.
9. Asbury Park (8-1) – Last week: No. 10. The Blue Bishops rolled 32-7 over Middlesex to advance to the Central Jersey Group I semifinals and win their 10^th straight playoff game. Senior Amir Conover scored three touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Robert Barksdale threw three touchdowns to lead the way against Middlesex. Fifth-seeded Point Beach, which Asbury Park beat 24-8 in the regular season, comes to Asbury Park Stadium Saturday for a CJ I semifinal. If the Blue Bishops take care of business there, they then can look forward to a big showdown with No. 3 Neptune on Thanksgiving that is their last real chance to shake up the rankings.
10. Barnegat (6-3) – Last week: Unranked. The Bengals won a wild, 35-31 game over sixth-seeded Point Boro to get a victory in their first home state playoff game. Senior quarterback Mark McCoy threw for a career-high 360 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a touchdown to help the Bengals advance to the South Jersey Group II semifinals for the second straight year. They will travel to second-seeded West Deptford, which beat them 56-7 in last year’s playoffs, for a semifinal game Friday night in a bid to advance to their first state final in school history.

Teams to watch:

Point Beach (7-2): The Garnet Gulls have their most wins since 1997 and are coming off a 32-14 win over New Egypt for their first state playoff victory since 1982. Their best and only chance to break into the top 10 comes this week with a road game against top-seeded Asbury Park in Central Jersey Group I.

Wall (7-2): A team that was in the top five all season has plummeted with two straight losses, including a 19-7 setback in Central Jersey Group III against a Steinert team that had never won a state playoff game. The only chance to salvage a once-promising season is to beat Manasquan on Thanksgiving to win the Class C Central title.