SSI Football Report: A 355-Yard Debut, Happy Gilmore and RFH’s Surprise Weapon

Freehold Township junior Dakota Lasater couldn’t wait to get his hands on the reins of the Patriots’ offense as the team’s new quarterback this season. 

“It’s like a quarterback paradise going into the Air Raid,” he said. “I love it.” 

He didn’t waste any time getting started in head coach Cory Davies’ prolific passing offense by erupting for 355 yards passing and four touchdowns while also running for the winning touchdown in a 35-28 win over Neptune in his first varsity start at quarterback. 

“Going into the game I was obviously nervous, but I had confidence in my team,” Lasater said. “My offensive line was giving me time, and once I got that first throw out of the way, I got into the flow.”

Lasater was familiar with the offense after playing some receiver last year and learning from Nick Cardone, the school’s all-time leading passer. 

“He was a big role model to me,” Lasater said. “I was always asking him questions, and he would give me a lot of advice. It’s definitely a lot of pressure after we had such a good quarterback the last few years, but it’s something that I don’t want to overthink. I just go and be myself and make plays.” 

Lasater also showed great poise for his first varsity start. He threw what looked like a killer interception at the Neptune goal line in the fourth quarter for his second pick of the game. However, Patriots sophomore Scott Monge got the ball right back at the Neptune 19-yard line with one of his two interceptions in the win. Lasater then scored on a quarterback sneak with 36 seconds left in the game to win it. 

“Scott Monge got a huge interception after I made that terrible mistake, and my teammates told me to go out and win the game,” Lasater said. “They believed in me.” 

Junior wideout George Burdge, who stepped in for injured returning starter Nick Scicchi, caught a pair of touchdowns and ‘X’ receiver Jake Schultzel had 10 catches and a touchdown. 

Freehold Township, which plays Colts Neck (0-1) this week, needed every bit of Lasater’s sparkling debut to match his counterpart. Neptune junior quarterback Caleb Brown-Mason exploded for a career-high 238 yards rushing and two touchdowns and also threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns in a monster performance. 

Gulls Take to the Air 

A Point Beach team that revolved around the ground game and all-time leading rusher Liam Brosnan last year is showing that things are much different a season later. 

The Garnet Gulls beat South River 37-6 in the season opener behind 266 yards from senior Matthew Rossi on 10-for-13 passing. It marked the most passing yards in a game by a Point Beach quarterback since Paul Struncius in 1984. 

That was so long ago that Struncius’ son, Sean, has already gone through the Point Beach program. He was an All-Shore two-way lineman for the Garnet Gulls team that finished 10-2 and won the program’s only sectional title in 2013. 

Rossi threw three touchdown passes, ran for a score, threw for a 2-point conversion and ran for a 2-point conversion in the win. His main target was junior Danny Cavanaugh, who had 119 yards receiving and two touchdowns on only three catches. 

Now that Brosnan eclipsed all the school rushing records before graduating, Point Beach appears to be going after the school passing records. The Garnet Gulls face a strong test on Friday with a game against Group 1 rival Asbury Park in the season opener for the Blue Bishops. 

Where Did He Come From? 

When Rumson-Fair Haven senior wide receiver Brandon McDonald reeled in a 42-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Casey Moore in the second quarter of the Bulldogs’ 34-0 win over Point Boro, it marked a milestone in a surprising journey. 

McDonald started high school at Christian Brothers Academy, which as any Shore follower knows, does not have a football team. He transferred to Rumson as a sophomore and decided to give football a shot despite having never played the sport. 

He was so raw the coaches considered him mainly a developmental backup. He didn’t have a single catch last season while stuck behind a group of All-Shore receivers, but immediately has become an important part of Rumson’s all-new receiving corps this fall. 

His 42-yard TD was his first varsity catch, and he flashed the type of game-changing speed that can get behind a defense for deep throws. He gives the Bulldogs a home run threat if teams cheat towards the line of scrimmage to stop All-Shore running back Kellen Murray. 

“Brandon McDonald is a kid that came to us sophomore year from CBA, and we weren’t sure if he could be a football player,” Rumson head coach Jeremy Schulte said. “That kid has worked his butt off to get on the field, and I was so happy for him to have a good game. He had never played football. The way he stepped up (against Point Boro), I’m not surprised because I’ve seen how he works, but I’m really happy for that kid.” 

RBC’s “Happy Gilmore” 

Longtime Red Bank Catholic assistant Tony Flego was coaching the freshmen on a separate field in the preseason when he walked over to head coach Mike Lange on the varsity field. 

“He’s like, ‘You gotta come see this,’” Lange said. 

Freshman Simon Picinich, who grew up playing soccer in Howell and arrived at the first practice in soccer cleats and shorts, was booming kicks. 

“The legend of Happy Gilmore was born,” Lange joked. 

Picinich went from a freshman curiosity to the Caseys’ starting placekicker, punter and kickoff specialist in a matter of about two weeks. RBC’s returning kicker, senior Blake Caruso, had been sitting out the preseason with an injury, so Picinich began kicking with the varsity. 

At one practice, he hit a 55-yard field goal with room to spare to send his veteran teammates into a frenzy. They nicknamed him Happy Gilmore because of his booming kicks in the mold of Adam Sandler’s 500-yard drives in the movies about the fictional golfer. 

Just days before the season opener, Caruso, who was SSI’s first-team All-Shore kicker last year, abruptly transferred to Donovan Catholic. That meant inserting Picinich in the season opener against three-time defending Group 5 champion Toms River North. 

“We had time to evaluate him and kept sprinkling him in to where we felt comfortable enough that he could handle it,” Lange said. 

Picinich went 3-for-3 on extra points, and two of his punts were fumbled by Toms River North and recovered by RBC in the Caseys’ 21-0 win. He wasn’t even the most high-profile freshman in the game, as RBC’s budding star tandem of quarterback Rahmir Rivera and tailback Gabe Kemp seized the headlines with their performances. 

“I think he has a chance to be a Power 4 kicker,” Lange said.

TRN’s Cole Garrison Does His Justin Jefferson/Odell Beckham Imitation

Toms River North junior Cole Garrison had an early entry for catch of the year with this one-handed grab in a 21-0 loss to Red Bank Catholic. Great shot by our photographer Doug Phillips.

Notes From Around the Shore 

—In case you missed it, the heartwarming gesture Toms River East head coach Kyle Sandberg made to Manchester coach Tommy Farrell in the season opener is one Farrell said he “will never forget.” The Raiders showed their sympathy to Farrell and his wife, who lost their baby girl at 21 weeks due to pregnancy complications. Read the story here. 

—There could be a pair of special guests at Red Bank Catholic’s showdown at Count Basie Field against Delaware power Middletown on Friday. The duo known as A.J. and Big Justice and/or The Costco Guys, who have nearly 3 million TikTok followers and are known for bringing the boom to everyone from Jimmy Fallon to Gordon Ramsay, may be in attendance. A.J. is 1994 RBC graduate Andrew Befumo, who was a lineman on the RBC football team in high school. Big Justice is his son, Eric.

—This is shaping up to be the Year of the Freshman in the Shore, as the Class of 2029 looks like it will be special. Another freshman to keep an eye on is Ocean’s Brayln Thompson, the younger brother of Ocean’s all-time leading rusher, Tyler Thompson. He ran for 93 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in his first varsity game to complement an 83-yard, 2-touchdown rushing effort by senior Josh Calixte in a 27-7 win over Long Branch. 

—A Shore Conference great has come back home to coach. Former Manalapan star Saeed Blacknall, 29, who had 155 yards receiving and two touchdowns to help Penn State win the Big Ten Championship game in 2016, is now an assistant at Donovan Catholic. He also played for the Las Vegas Raiders and was signed by the Dolphins, Cardinals and Steelers in a brief NFL career. He coaches the wide receivers for the Griffins. “He’s been a great addition,” head coach Dan Curcione said. “He has a bright future in coaching if he wants it.” 

—Manalapan has become known for its stellar special teams over the years, from returners to kickers. But the Braves may have outdone themselves in a one-point loss to Tottenville of Staten Island. They recovered three straight onside kicks (!) before their comeback fell just short. 

—Unlike in the NFL, in high school a defense cannot return a turnover on a 2-point conversion attempt for two points of its own. That’s probably a rule Middletown South wishes was not in existence after losing a heartbreaker in the opener. Cherokee scored to go ahead 27-26 in the fourth quarter, and the Chiefs elected to go for two to make it a three-point game. On the attempt, Middletown South junior linebacker Justin Rosato tipped the pass to himself and was gone the other way for what looked like it would’ve been an easy score, but the officials correctly blew it dead. If the Eagles had those two points by the defense, it would’ve put them ahead and potentially won the game. 

—The last time Manasquan senior running back Ace Etienne was on a football field, he suffered a broken leg. In his first game back, he rolled up 130 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a win over Toms River South. Read about his journey here. 

Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point. 

Email: scottstump25@gmail.com