LaBarca, Breen, Urs lead No. 7 St. John Vianney in shootout win over No. 12 Freehold Township

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — After losing New Jersey’s leading rusher via transfer, it was only natural to wonder what St. John Vianney’s offense would look like early this season.

Over the last two weeks, the Lancers have answered that question emphatically.

St. John Vianney, ranked No. 7 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, was both balanced and explosive on Friday night in a high-octane 49-35 win over No. 12 Freehold Township in a Shore Conference Class B North game between division title hopefuls.

Senior quarterback Zach LaBarca threw for 172 yards and four touchdowns while senior running back Danny Breen rumbled for 184 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries to power an offense that rolled up 484 yards and gained 20 first downs.

Senior wideout Adam Urs caught four passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns, including a 73-yard score, while senior tight end Thomas Foley hauled in the go-ahead touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter and sophomore Khalyd Goodman-Ware caught a key scoring strike in the closing seconds of the first half. Junior running back Corleii Thomas added a touchdown run, and senior left tackle Robert Yakovchuk led an offensive line that paved the way for 312 yards rushing.

“We want to show people what we’re about,” LaBarca said. “We want to win our division.”

St. John Vianney (2-1, 1-0) needed to keep piling up points to hold off a resilient Freehold Township team that entered having won its first two games. The Patriots trailed 21-20 at halftime but fell behind by 15 points after SJV scored on its first two drives of the second half. Junior quarterback Dakota Lasater led Freehold Township’s rally by throwing a 45-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Dennis Quattrache in the third quarter and connecting with junior wide receiver Jake Schultzel for a touchdown and the game-tying 2-point conversion with 3:19 left in the game.

Lasater threw for 183 yards and four touchdowns and Schultzel caught eight passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Quattrache added 61 yards rushing to go along with 54 receiving yards and a touchdown, and junior Mikey Lorenzo caught a 28-yard touchdown pass. Sophomore defensive back Scott Monge started the scoring with an 85-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

After falling behind 6-0 eight plays into the game, St. John Vianney quickly responded and never trailed by more than one point the rest of the game. Freehold Township scored five touchdowns, and four times, St. John Vianney answered with a scoring drive on the next series.

“You have to trust in your teammates,” LaBarca said. “The running game really set up the passing game today.”

The Lancers’ first test came after they forced Freehold Township (2-1, 0-1) to go three-and-out on the game’s opening possession and received great field position at the 25 when the Patriots’ punter inadvertently touched his knee to the ground while securing a low snap. Breen picked up 10 yards and a first down to the 15-yard line, but two plays later, Urs turned the corner on a wide receiver run and, as he was turning upfield, Monge stripped the ball and took off in one motion on his way to an 85-yard fumble return touchdown and a quick 6-0 Freehold Township lead. The extra point try missed.

Urs immediately shook off the miscue and redeemed himself. On the Lancers’ first play from scrimmage following Freehold Township’s defensive touchdown, the senior got behind the secondary and LaBarca hit him in stride for a 73-yard touchdown. Freshman Justin Campesi knocked through the extra point for a 7-6 SJV lead.

“It felt great,” Urs said. “Coach always says to keep your head up, and that’s what I did. Coach said we’re giving it to you first play and that boosted my confidence that he has trust in me. And Zach is always going to find me when I’m open.”

“That really showed that we came here to play,” LaBarca said. “Even though they got the turnover on the first drive, we bounced right back.”

Freehold Township counterpunched with a 7-play, 66-yard drive to take a 13-7 lead and set the pace in a game where the teams combined for 84 points and 726 yards. A 12-yard run by Quattrache on third-and-1 moved the ball across midfield. He gained another first down to the SJV 35, and Lasater hit senior Andrew Dalton for seven yards. On second-and-short, Lorenzo was wide open down the left sideline, and Lasater found him for an easy 28-yard touchdown.

Once again, St. John Vianney had an answer. The Lancers methodically marched inside the Freehold Township 30-yard line, where Urs got behind the defense again and hauled in a 26-yard touchdown pass from LaBarca on 4th-and-9. Campesi split the uprights for a 14-13 St. John Vianney lead.

Each team punted on its next possession before the offenses got back on track to close the first half with two touchdowns in the final minute. After St. John Vianney punted from its own 31-yard line, a personal foul penalty set up Freehold Township at the Lancers’ 34. The drive nearly fizzled, but Lasater was able to pick up a first down on 4th-and-1 by just a few inches. On the next play, Schultzel caught a 24-yard touchdown pass and kicked the extra point to give Freehold Township a 20-14 lead with 48 seconds left in the first half.

That was plenty of time for LaBarca.

A penalty for a helmet-to-helmet hit by Freehold Township moved the ball just shy of midfield, and on the next play, LaBarca scrambled for a 14-yard gain to the Patriots’ 38-yard line. On third down, he fired a 30-yard touchdown pass to Goodman-Ware to give Vianney a 21-20 lead with two seconds left in the half.

Breen had a few strong runs in the first half but really turned it on over the final two quarters with 146 of his 184 yards. He broke free for 26 yards on the first play of the third quarter, then bulldozed his way to a 25-yard run that gave SJV first-and-goal at the 5-yard line. On third-and-goal, Breen muscled his way across the goal line to extend the Lancers’ lead to 28-20.

“I know when he runs the ball it’s going to take a lot of people to bring him down,” LaBarca said. “He’s a great running back. People didn’t really believe in him, but I know his toughness and his potential.”

Freehold Township went three-and-out on the next series, and a 25-yard punt return by Urs set up St. John Vianney to take a two-score lead. Breen had three carries for 28 yards to move the ball to the 21-yard line, and on second down, Thomas turned the corner around right end and glided into the end zone on a 19-yard touchdown run that pushed St. John Vianney’s lead to 35-20 with 2:57 left in the third quarter.

Freehold Township delivered a response in just three plays to begin its rally. Quattrache ran for 15 yards on first down to move the ball to the SJV 45, then a holding penalty on the Lancers put the ball at their 45-yard line. On first down, Lasater scrambled and found Quattrache wide open out of the backfield for a 45-yard touchdown that cut Vianney’s lead to 35-27 with 1:55 left in the third quarter.

As is the norm with head coach Cory Davies’ teams, the Patriots had a trick up their sleeve. Freehold Township attempted and recovered the ensuing onside kick when senior James Russo slid to cover the kickoff and give the Patriots the ball right back at midfield. However, St. John Vianney’s defense rose up and forced a three-and-out. SJV now had the ball at the start of the fourth quarter with a chance to re-establish a two-score lead.

A 27-yard run by Urs moved the ball to the Freehold Township 45, and two tough runs by Breen gave the Lancers a first down at the 31-yard line. Thomas gained seven yards on second down to bring up a third-and-1, but he was stopped for no gain on third down, and Breen was halted for no gain by junior linebacker Noah Bracho on fourth-and-1 to force a turnover on downs. A personal foul penalty against St. John Vianney gave Freehold Township the ball at the 40-yard line.

Quattrache ran for 15 yards on first down, and a defensive holding penalty later in the drive put the ball at the SJV 30-yard line. A fumble on first down could’ve spelled disaster for Freehold Township, but junior lineman Hayden Muh was there to pounce on it and retain possession. Lasater swung a pass to Quattrache for nine yards on second down before an incompletion brought up fourth-and-2 from the 9-yard line. Lasater took the shotgun snap and lofted a ball to the back-left corner of the end zone, where Schultzel made a great contested catch for a touchdown. The pair then hooked up again for the 2-point conversion that tied the game at 35 with 3:19 remaining.

It took St. John Vianney just four plays to retake the lead.

A squib kick helped SJV secure great field position at the Freehold Township 49-yard line, and LaBarca scrambled for 22 yards on first down. After a short gain by Breen and an incomplete pass, LaBarca and Foley connected on the go-ahead touchdown pass. A delayed release from the line of scrimmage helped Foley find open space, and LaBarca hit him at the 10-yard line. The 6-foot-5 senior took it the rest of the way to give St. John Vianney a 42-35 lead with 2:03 to play.

“The past few drives we were only running the ball and didn’t really have any passing attempts in the second half,” LaBarca said. “We put in our two running back personnel, which is run-heavy, and we haven’t run that play all year. We had (Urs) on the post and Thomas Foley on the wheel. I saw it back shoulder, and he took it for a touchdown.”

Freehold Township started the next drive at its own 35 and moved to midfield on two runs by Lasater. A sack by Foley on second down pushed the Patriots back two yards, and a pass intended for Schultzel on third down was broken up when Urs delivered a hit. Lasater’s fourth down pass fell incomplete and gave the ball back to Vianney with 50 seconds left. Freehold Township had all three timeouts remaining and a chance to get the ball back with a stop, but on third down, Breen sealed the victory when he broke free for a 43-yard touchdown and a 49-35 lead.

When star running back Abdul Turay transferred to St. Peter’s Prep following a sophomore season in which he set a St. John Vianney single-season record and led the state with 2,517 yards rushing and 37 touchdowns, the obvious questions started to be asked. After a 14-12 loss to Seton Hall Prep in Week 0, the Lancers have scored 83 points in two games under first-year head coach Greg Penta and are averaging 31.7 points per game.

Breen has 404 yards in three games and is averaging just under 10 yards per carry. Thomas, who played at Jackson Liberty his first two seasons, is averaging 8.3 yards per carry and has scored four touchdowns. LaBarca entered the season as one of the Shore’s top quarterbacks and has played as such with six touchdowns to only one interception.

The Lancers recognize the impact Turay had, but they have been eager to prove their success last season when they reached the Non-Public B semifinals was about more than one player.

“It is incredibly encouraging,” Urs said of the Lancers’ offense. “A lot of people after last year thought we were a one-person team, and this is just us proving we have all the weapons. You might stop one person, but we have three or four other guys to go to.”

 

Box Score

No. 7 St. John Vianney 49, No. 12 Freehold Township 35

 

	St. John Vianney	Freehold Township
First downs	20	14
Rushes-yards	42-312	17-58
Passing	8-15-0	16-25-0
Passing yards	172	183
Fumbles-lost	1-1	1-0
Penalties-yards	7-65	4-45

 

	1	2	3	4	F
St. John Vianney (2-1, 1-0)	7	14	14	14	49
Freehold Township (2-1, 0-1)	13	7	7	8	35

 

Scoring Summary

FT — Scott Monge 85-yard fumble return (kick failed)

SJV — Adam Urs 73-yard pass from Zach LaBarca (Justin Campesi kick)

FT — Mikey Lorenzo 28-yard pass from Dakota Lasater (Jake Schultzel kick)

SJV — Adam Urs 26-yard pass from Zach LaBarca (Justin Campesi kick)

FT — Jake Schultzel 24-yard pass from Dakota Lasater (Jake Schultzel kick)

SJV — Khalyd Goodman-Ware 30-yard pass from Zach LaBarca (Justin Campesi kick)

SJV —  Danny Breen 1-yard run (Justin Campesi kick)

SJV — Corleii Thomas 19-yard run (Justin Campesi kick)

FT — Dennis Quattrache 45-yard pass from Dakota Lasater (Jake Schultzel kick)

FT — Jake Schultzel 9-yard pass from Dakota Lasater (Jake Schultzel pass from Dakota Lasater)

SJV — Thomas Foley 24-yard pass from Zach LaBarca (Justin Campesi kick)

SJV — Danny Breen 43-yard run (Justin Campesi kick)

 

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — SJV: Danny Breen 21-184, Corleii Thomas 12-48, Zach LaBarca 4-36, Adam Urs 2-27, Lucas Farah 3-17; FT: Dennis Quattrache 10-61, Dakota Lasater 7-(-3).

PASSING — SJV: Zach LaBarca 18-15-0 172; FT: Dakota Lasater 16-25-0 183.

RECEIVING — SJV: Adam Urs 4-107, Khalyd Goodman-Ware 2-33, Thomas Foley 1-24, Noah Fitzpatrick 1-; FT: Jake Schultzel 8-62, Dennis Quattrache 2-54, Mikey Lorenzo 2-36, Andrew Dalton 4-31.