Week Two: What to Watch For

With Week Two of Shore Conference football coming up as teams try to separate themselves from the pack, here are some things to watch.

Will Middletown South maintain the upper hand on Neptune?

The No. 9 Eagles (1-1) are 8-0 against the No. 7 Scarlet Fliers (1-0) since Neptune beat them 58-13 in the 1998 Central Jersey Group III championship game. The last time the two teams met was in 2009 in a 16-0 win by Middletown South. Neptune hosts the Eagles in a nondivisional clash on Friday night that looks to have important power-point implications as well as being the only game this weekend to feature two top 10 teams.

Middletown South just saw a team with game-breaking speed in a 36-24 loss to Syracuse recruit Dontae Strickland and South Brunswick, and now they will have to deal with a Neptune offense led by senior running back Jaree Parrish, senior quarterback Ralph McLean and a group of tall playmakers at wide receiver that just put 30 points on Ocean. The Eagles counter with junior quarterback Matt Mosquera and the 1-2 punch of Cole Rogers and James McCarthy in the backfield.

This is the type of game where All-Shore reputations are forged, and both teams also featuring athletic defenses that will look to stop the run first, so the battle up front is crucial. This is also a game about the relative strength of divisions between Class A North (Middletown South) and Class B North (Neptune). It also could potentially be the first of two meetings between these teams, as both look like challengers to defending champion Brick's supremacy in Central Jersey Group IV.

How will Rumson-Fair Haven look? 

The Bulldogs are the only team in the Shore Conference that has not played yet after having the annoying first-week bye, and they open up on the road against a Matawan team that has to win or risk being out of the Class A Central race before it's barely started.

This will be the first look in 2014 at senior tailback Charlie Volker, a Princeton recruit who led the Shore Conference in rushing with more than 2,000 yards last year. Matawan-Rumson has been a great rivalry for the past 6-7 years, twice with state titles on the line. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 3 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10, so we'll see what kind of opening statement they make against the Huskies.

What will we learn about Class A South?

It's looking like the hierarchy of the division is Brick, Toms River South and Jackson Memorial. This weekend will show if any other teams can interrupt that three-way race and if Toms River North will be in it as a darkhorse. Toms River South (1-0) hosts rival Toms River East (0-1), while Jackson Memorial (1-0) heads to Lacey (0-1). Toms River North (1-0), fresh off a win over Lacey, hosts Brick Memorial (0-1), and Brick (1-0) goes down to Exit 63 to face Southern (1-0).

The Toms River South-Toms River East clash is the Jersey Mike's Game of the Week, which you can listen to live on 1160/1310 a.m. or listen to the streaming audio right here on ShoreSportsNetwork.com.

Toms River South, Brick and Jackson Memorial are all favored to win, so this is an opportunity for those underdogs to open some eyes. Meanwhile, Toms River North can show it's back on the path to contention after a 1-9 season with a 2-0 start. Brick Memorial is coming off a 42-0 loss to Brick, so the Mustangs are out to show that they can still be part of the race despite a lop-sided loss in the opener. All in all, this weekend should tell us a little bit more about the Class A South race before the top three start meeting one another on the field later in the season.

Can Monmouth go into Manasquan and get a win?

The Falcons (1-0) are coming off a 39-37 comeback victory over Holmdel and have an offense led by senior quarterback Jimmy Green that has plenty of weapons. I would hazard to guess that Monmouth has never won at Vic Kubu Warrior Field, so a victory here would really open some eyes in Class A Central.

Manasquan lost 41-34 to Raritan last week but showed some character in rallying from a 27-0 hole to tie the game. The deep passing game and the power running game were working, so it's more about cleaning up the defensive issues after getting lit up by Raritan. It's hard to imagine the Warriors dropping this game on their home field, but they will have to pick it up defensively because Monmouth has the firepower to win a shootout.

How with the small-school Shore teams do vs. the GMC?

This is a big week of crossover games between the Group I programs from Class B Central and their counterparts from the Greater Middlesex Conference. Shore hosts Spotswood, Keansburg hosts Highland Park, Keyport heads to South River, Asbury Park welcomes Metuchen, Mater Dei Prep travels to Dunellen, and Point Beach travels to Middlesex.

These games usually give a glimpse of whether any GMC teams can be legitimate challengers to the Shore Conference in Central Jersey Group I, where a Shore team has won the bracket in six of the last seven years, including Point Beach last season. Only perennial contender Florence, which is in Burlington County, has broken up the Shore's recent dominance.

As far as the tidbits from these games, Spotswood coach Andy Cammarano is a Shore Regional graduate who was the captain of the 1995 team under Mark Costantino and also was an assistant under Costantino from 1997-2006, so the Chargers will be back in his old stomping grounds. Cammarano's brother, Nick, also played and coached at Shore, and his father, Nick Cammarano Sr., was the head coach for the Blue Devils from 1978-81, which included an 11-0 season in 1981, so it's a homecoming for the Cammarano family on Friday night.

South River lost the centerpiece of its team, 1,000-yard rusher Doug Ryan, to a broken leg in a preseason scrimmage and got shut out by Metuchen last week. Keyport is coming off a loss to Shore and looking to get new head coach John Paczkowski his first win in succeeding Hall of Famer Mike Ciccotelli.

Asbury Park battled Point Beach in a 15-12 loss and welcomes a Metuchen team that beat South River 9-0 in its opener as it tries to get its first win under new coach Bill Hill. The Blue Bishops have been dealt a tough blow with the loss of senior running back/linebacker TyQuis Davis, an All-Division selection who was second in the Shore in sacks last year. He is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Mater Dei Prep is looking to continue to have the upper hand against the GMC after the Seraphs went 4-0 in their crossover games last year, including a 49-35 shootout win over Dunellen. Point Beach is hoping to get senior running back Mike Frauenheim healthy after a hand injury put him out against Asbury Park. The Garnet Gulls' defense also looks to keep attacking after ringing up eight sacks last week.

A few other quick hits on Week Two games:

*Manchester will be looking to give new head coach Bill Furlong his first win with the Hawks when it hosts Jackson Liberty in Class B South.

*The Manalapan-Freehold Township game has been moved to Freehold Township at 6:30 p.m. on Friday because of renovations to Manalapan's track around the football field.

*St. Joseph-Metuchen and Red Bank Catholic will square off for the first time in history. St. Joe's, known for its powerhouse boys basketball program featuring the likes of Kentucky recruit Karl Towns, began its varsity football program in 2011.

*St. John Vianney is looking for its first 2-0 start in more than a decade when it travels to Holmdel.

*Pt. Boro can surpass its win total from all of last season with a victory over Donovan Catholic to go to 2-0.

*Red Bank Regional is looking for its first 2-0 start since the 1990s with a win at Colts Neck, which would also double the Bucs' win total from last year. Meanwhile, Colts Neck will try to get new coach Peter Shaw his first win with the Cougars.

*Freehold Boro is looking to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2008, when it went 11-1 and won the program's first state title.

*Long Branch will be looking for revenge in its home opener. Carteret beat the Green Wave, 13-3, in the first round of last year's Central Jersey Group III playoffs.