Central Jersey Group 3 Football Final Preview: Holmdel vs. Seneca
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP 3 CHAMPIONSHIP
WHO: (3) Seneca (9-2) at (1) Holmdel (8-2)
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Bob Roggy Memorial Field at Holmdel High School, 36 Crawfords Corner Rd, Holmdel
HOLMDEL’S ROAD TO THE FINAL: Defeated Cinnaminson 43-10; defeated Neptune 65-42.
SENECA’S ROAD TO THE FINAL: Defeated Ewing 41-7; defeated Matawan 28-7.
HOLMDEL’S BEST WINS: 48-35 over Donovan Catholic; 33-21 over Rumson-Fair Haven; 49-38 over Middletown North; 65-42 over Neptune.
SENECA’S BEST WINS: 32-6 over Pleasantville; 27-14 over Paul VI; 28-7 over Matawan.
PLAYOFF HISTORY: Holmdel is playing in its first sectional final since 1991 and its second in school history. The Hornets reached the semifinals last season before losing to eventual champion Mainland…Seneca is playing in its fourth straight sectional final and fifth overall. The Golden Eagles have also never won a sectional title.
ANALYSIS
This should be one of the most exciting finals of the weekend considering the stakes for each team, the quarterbacks involved and the atmosphere at Holmdel.
Holmdel and Seneca are both gunning for their first state sectional titles in school history. This is Holmdel’s best chance in 34 years, while Seneca has lost three straight state finals and is trying to finally get over the hump. It feels like now or never for Holmdel, whereas Seneca might be right back in this spot again next season.
Holmdel’s Jack Cannon already has every school record, all that’s missing for him and the Hornets is their first state sectional title. (Photo by Tom Smith/tspimages.com)
It all starts with Holmdel senior quarterback Jack Cannon, who has made the school record book his autobiography and powered the Hornets to become the Shore Conference’s high-scoring offense at 43.8 points per game.
The Dartmouth recruit has 2,362 yards and 26 touchdowns passing, and 1,407 yards and 28 touchdowns rushing. He has 109 total career touchdowns, one of the highest totals in the history of the Shore Conference.
Cannon is coming off a school-record nine total touchdowns in a 65-42 semifinal win over Neptune, which also marked the most points Holmdel has ever scored in a game. Cannon threw six touchdown passes and ran for three more.
No team has stopped him all season. Not No. 1 Red Bank Catholic, not No. 2 Brick Memorial, not No. 4 Donovan Catholic – nobody. Holmdel’s lowest point total of the season was 28 against RBC, and no other team has held them below 33 points.
While Cannon essentially is the Hornets’ running game in their spread offense, he has a deep group of receivers led by senior James Murphy, who has 32 catches for 760 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is coming off a three-touchdown performance in the win over Neptune and is one of Holmdel’s home run hitters at 23.8 yards per catch.
Sophomore wide receiver Anthony Serini is one of the top playmakers in Holmdel’s deep receiving group. (Photo by Tom Smith/tspimages.com)
Sophomore Anthony Serini is another deep threat who has 39 catches for 698 yards and seven touchdowns, and junior Michael Todisco is a third big-play threat at 31 catches for 468 yards and four touchdowns. Tight end Carmine Aliperti is also a weapon, as he had two touchdown catches against Neptune.
Their offensive line is quick and disciplined and knows how to give Cannon room to improvise when he is outside the pocket. Head coach Noel Kavanagh calls the plays and is practically mind-melded to Cannon, so they can ramp up the tempo in an instant if they want to put defenses on their heels.
Seneca’s defense only allows 11.5 points per game and has not given up more than 21 points to any team all season, so something will have to give one way or another.
Junior linebacker Robert Livingston leads them with 75 tackles, five for a loss, and senior defensive lineman Pat Degnan has 10 tackles for a loss and two sacks. Junior Christian Alexander leads the team with five sacks. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound Degnan is verbally committed to Villanova.
The Golden Eagles’ defense gets a good amount of penetration into opposing backfields, averaging 4.4 hits for a loss per game, but the danger with running too far upfield at Cannon is that it creates a running lane that he will zoom through. Teams have to stay disciplined to keep him in front of them.
Junior Anthony Tirico, an FCS prospect who is mainly known as their star quarterback, also leads the team with three interceptions in the secondary, so he and Cannon will almost be going head to head in that respect.
Offensively, Tirico is Cannon’s counterpart in that he is a prolific dual threat quarterback for a team that averages 27.7 points per game. He has 1,454 yards and 16 touchdowns passing, and 1,493 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing. He is a three-year starter who will be playing in his third straight state final after lighting up Matawan for 230 yards rushing and all four of the team’s touchdowns in the semifinals.
The Golden Eagles have two other backs, senior Brody Phillips and junior Chase Horner, who have combined for 879 yards rushing and six touchdowns, so it’s not just Tirico running the ball. Horner also went over 100 yards in the win over Matawan. There are three main receivers on Seneca – junior Nate Sauerwald (24-450-6), junior Gabe Atz (20-314-3) and senior Kingston Williams (19-369-3).
They have the ability to control the clock and limit possessions for Cannon and Co. with the run game in their multiple spread attack, which rolled up 353 yards on the ground in the semifinal win over Matawan.
Senior linebacker Peter Berardi and the Holmdel defense are looking to bounce back after giving up 42 points in the semifinals. (Photo by Tom Smith/tspimages.com)
The question for Holmdel’s defense is whether playing with fire will finally catch up to the Hornets. They allow 27.7 points per game, which is not what you usually see from a defense in a state final. Part of it is that the offense can score in an instant, so the defense barely sits down before it’s back on the field, and the other part is several key guys play on both sides of the ball.
They allowed 42 points to Neptune in the semifinals and 55 in a loss to Brick Memorial in the regular season. If Tirico and Co. are scoring at will, that puts a lot of pressure on the Holmdel offense to be perfect. It can’t get to the point where they just aren’t getting any stops.
Creating turnovers is absolutely huge for Holmdel in this game because it could allow them to get enough separation on the scoreboard to then trade touchdowns if need be.
Junior linebacker Peter Berardi is a playmaker with 106 tackles, seven for a loss, and five sacks. He made multiple big plays in the win over Neptune despite the crazy score. His brother, junior Joseph Berardi, has 10.5 tackles for a loss. Freshman defensive back Tyler Carri has 55 tackles and has held up in coverage against some top receivers in his rookie season. Todisco is one of the Shore’s top ballhawks with five interceptions, although four of them came in Holmdel’s first three games.
As for special teams, Cannon is the team’s punter for the rare occasions when they actually punt, and senior Brandon Mueller is 48-for-56 on extra points. Seneca has a solid kicker in senior Tyler Hood, who has field goal range out to 37 yards and is 37-for-41 on extra points.
Holmdel has played the harder schedule between the rugged Class A North and nondivisional games against Donovan Catholic and Brick Memorial. Seneca hasn’t been challenged at that level and was 7-7 at halftime with Matawan in the semifinals before dominating the second half, but the Golden Eagles are a good program. Holmdel will need to play its best.
The pick: Holmdel, 42-31.
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
