SSI Football Report: Manalapan’s New QB, Donovan Catholic’s Turnaround, Midd. North’s Star RB and More

Manalapan junior quarterback Cameron Desfosse has been waiting two years for his moment. 

The Braves’ signal-caller is not wasting any time in his first year as a starter after sitting behind Ryan Dougherty as a freshman and sophomore. In his first three games he’s produced a 138.2 passer rating that becomes a perfect 158.3 when isolated to his games against Shore Conference competition. 

He is 28-for-45 for 483 yards, 6 touchdowns and zero interceptions in three games, including 20-for-23 for 368 yards and four touchdowns in wins over Middletown South and Jackson. He’s also run for 101 yards and a touchdown in three games. 

“He’s just a winner. He’s just been so efficient, it’s unbelievable,” Manalapan head coach Dom Lepore said. 

Desfosse went 13-0 in games he started at the sub-varsity level before taking over the reins on varsity this season. 

“There’s a little bit of pressure, but nothing too much,” Desfosse said about taking over the starting job. “I’ve just been trusting in my team and my O-line, and my receivers are doing their job.” 

The Braves are averaging 30.7 points per game in their 2-1 start after finishing 20th in the Shore Conference last year at 23.6 points per game. A big reason is the emergence of Desfosse, who complements the talented veteran backfield of junior Nicky Palmieri (28-193-1) and senior Ah’sere Woolfolk (39-229-4). 

In the passing game, 10 different players have at least one catch through three games. Woolfolk, junior tight end Ethan Fogelstrom and senior Ryan Melendez are each tied with five apiece. 

“Because we’re running the ball so well, the play-action stuff, there’s guys open all over the place,” Lepore said. “You got like seven to 10 guys a game that are touching the ball. Whether they touch it once or 10 times, they just want to win.” 

“Our offense is built around sharing the ball, giving everyone opportunities, and everyone making plays,” Desfosse said. 

They also feature one of the best receiving tight ends in the Shore in Fogelstrom, who has 5 catches for 123 yards and a score.

“He’s always open,” Desfosse said about Fogelstrom. “He’s even more effective running the ball in yards after the catch.” 

Fogelstrom and Desfosse have both received interest from Monmouth, Villanova and other Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) programs in the FCS, according to Lepore. Desfosse has also received Ivy League interest thanks to his sterling grades. 

The Braves also have the rare luxury of two playmaking tight ends. Senior Brayden Claro had an 81-yard touchdown off a sensational catch in a 33-20 win over Jackson last week. 

They begin Class B North play this week with a home game against Freehold Regional District rival Howell (1-2). 

Donovan Catholic Roars Back

Staring at 0-3 with both their starting quarterback (Kahden Davis) and running back (Alex Staten) out of the lineup with injuries, Donovan Catholic made a stand with a 14-0 win over Toms River North in Class A South. 

Senior defensive lineman Kai Pritchard, an Illinois recruit, and junior linebacker Jason Madden combined for five sacks as the Griffins handed the Mariners their second shutout loss of the season. It came one week after Donovan Catholic allowed 48 points in a loss to Holmdel. 

“It was a really good week of practice,” Griffins head coach Dan Curcione said. “We felt like we haven’t scratched the surface with our team yet. We kept pounding into them that we feel like we’re much better than what we’ve been playing. To their credit, they believed us.” 

They did enough offensively to close out the win as freshman Chris McClaren got his first start in place of the injured Davis. He threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to junior wideout Aidan Kelly to make it a two-score game after he made a clutch throw on third down to keep the drive alive. 

“The moment wasn’t too big for him,” Curcione said. “He doesn’t act like a freshman. He’s a pretty confident kid. I thought he played a really good game, particularly given the circumstances.” 

The Griffins (1-2) look to get back to the .500 mark with a win over Jackson (1-2) this week. 

Big Start for Middletown North’s Matt Belenko

After getting his feet wet with 319 yards and 5 touchdowns as a sophomore, Middletown North junior running back Matt Belenko has exploded out of the gate in his first season as the feature back for the Lions.

“I worked very hard in the offseason in the weight room,” Belenko said. “I worked on my cuts and everything to be prepared for the upcoming season.” 

Belenko has 406 yards rushing and five touchdowns in two games on an average of 11 yards per carry for the Lions (2-0) in taking over for the graduated Shane Volante as the team’s primary running back. He gives them a run threat alongside the passing of returning quarterback Owen Robson, who has thrown for 355 yards and a touchdown in two games. Senior wideout Jack Viola is his main target with 12 catches for 146 yards and a score. 

“Coach (Steve) Bush does a great job at keeping a good balance between the run and pass,” Belenko said. 

The Lions are coming off their first outright division title since 1983 and are out to prove that last season was no fluke. The road is much harder this year as the Class B North champs were realigned into the merciless Class A North, which includes No. 1 Red Bank Catholic, No. 2 Holmdel and No. 3 Rumson-Fair Haven. Including the Lions, four of the division’s six teams are ranked in the top five of the Shore Sports Insider Top 12. 

“We want to keep this going,” Belenko said. “We don’t want it to just be a one-year thing.” 

The ultimate chance to make a statement comes this week on the road against No. 1 RBC. The Caseys’ swarming defense has not allowed more than one touchdown in any game thus far. Meanwhile, Middletown North hasn’t been held under 30 points in a game. 

“I’m looking forward to it,” Belenko said. “I’m ready to see how our team can do against a great team like them.” 

Young Falcons Learning to Fly 

There was a point in the final five games last season where Monmouth Regional was starting 10 sophomores and seven freshmen after getting wiped out by graduation. 

“They were a little outmatched,” Falcons head coach Dan Wendel said. “For us, it was how we closed out the season. The weight room was a huge thing for us, especially with some of these freshmen because a lot of kids don’t lift until they get to high school.” 

Monmouth avoided a winless season by beating Keyport in its final game, and the Falcons have now already surpassed last year with a 2-1 start. With all 11 starters back on defense and eight of 11 on offense, the lumps they took last season are starting to pay dividends. 

They stumbled in a 21-13 loss in the opener to Barnegat despite jumping out to an early lead, but they rebounded with wins over Pinelands and Keyport. 

“(The Barnegat loss) made the kids a little more hungry because it showed that if we do what we’re supposed to do, we have a good chance to make something happen,” Wendel said. “A year ago, we were getting blown out in games. We weren’t even in games at halftime.” 

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Corwin has 563 yards passing and six touchdowns in three games after throwing for 718 yards and four touchdowns all of last year when he was tossed in the deep end as a freshman. His main target is senior Jaylin Reeves, who has 10 catches for 314 yards and three scores. 

Reeves erupted for a career-high 282 yards receiving and three touchdowns in a 41-14 win over Keyport last week. It’s the second-most in school history behind the record of 306 set in 1998 by Rashad Jackson. 

“He became one of Ryan’s big primary targets at the end of last year,” Wendel said. “They found their groove those last three games, and it’s continued so far this year. Teams have been doubling him and trying to contain him as much as possible, but when you get him in open space, he’s a hard kid to take down.” 

Next up for the Falcons is a Class D South game against Point Beach (2-1), which has boasted an impressive aerial attack of its own so far. A win could go a long way toward deciding the division title. Monmouth’s last division crown came in 2021. 

Pinelands Shuts Out a Lakewood Team Averaging 43 PPG

For the second straight year, Pinelands has had the answer for a Lakewood offense off to a hot start. 

The Piners hadn’t punted a single time or been held under 40 points in their first two games this fall before Pinelands blanked them 29-0 for its first win of the season. Last season, Lakewood was averaging 38 points through its first three games before a 42-16 loss to Pinelands.

Head coach John Tierney credited a game plan created by defensive coordinator Joe Adelizzi Jr. for the latest victory. 

“We were basically just trying to spill everything to the outside because they run so much power and they’re really good at it, and then they come back with counter,” Tierney said. “We wanted to make them go outside and do what they didn’t want to do and have to go to their third or fourth option.”

On Lakewood’s first play from scrimmage in the game, defensive lineman Jacob Haywood got a hit for a 7-yard loss to set the tone. Senior linebacker Will Hollingsworth had 15 tackles, junior linebacker Owen Taylor added 14 and sophomore Paul Veneri had 10 to head up the defensive effort. Sophomore RJ Clark also had an interception in the win. 

An offense that lost 10 starters to graduation also found its footing after scoring 21 total points in the first two games. Clark had 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead the way. 

“With having to replace that many guys, it takes a game or two to get some experience under your belt,” Tierney said. “It’s started to click for the offense.” 

The Wildcats take on New Egypt (0-2) this week in a nondivisional game. 

Notes from Around the Shore

—This is the week that senior transfers get eligible after having to sit 22 days due to the NJSIAA transfer rule. Several teams will be bolstered by additions, including Manasquan with senior WR/RB/DB Justice Morgan (Brick), and RBC with 300-pound two-way lineman Caden Sternlieb (St. Thomas Aquinas) and linebacker Javier Guzman (Long Branch). The non-seniors who transferred for a second time in their careers will get eligible next week after sitting 30 days. 

—Andrew Bilodeau is best known as one of the top boys basketball coaches in New Jersey at Manasquan. He has put on the headset this year as Brick’s offensive coordinator in a 3-0 start for the Green Dragons. You can read that feature here. 

—St. John Vianney senior Danny Breen was already known as one of the Shore’s top returning linebackers, but he has also become a force as a running back this year. He has a team-high 405 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns on 8.3 yards per carry in three games for the Lancers. 

—Following Holmdel’s seismic 33-21 upset of Rumson-Fair Haven, head coach Noel Kavanagh made sure to credit Hornets strength and conditioning coach Scott Wetzel as a key ingredient. Holmdel essentially wanted its own version of Rumson’s not-so-secret weapon – longtime strength and conditioning coach Rob Orrok. The former Point Boro star’s work with the the Bulldogs in the offseason has been instrumental in Rumson’s rise to becoming a perennial Group 2 power, and the Hornets have tried to emulate that with Wetzel. 

“This preparation started long ago in the weight room,” Kavanagh said. “Coach Scott Wetzel does an unbelievable job with training these kids, and he’s been doing that since November of last year, and he hasn’t stopped. I’m just really grateful to have him because (Rumson’s) strength program is unreal, and in order to compete with that, you need to have something, and he’s doing a great job.” 

—Former Manasquan star Cole Kozlowski has become an impact player in his first season at the FBS level at Central Florida. The senior linebacker starred for three seasons at Colgate before hitting the transfer portal before this season. Kozlowski leads the team with 11 tackles through two games. The Knights take on Bill Belichick and the University of North Carolina on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on Fox. 

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