First-year Barnegat flag football program looks like an immediate Shore contender in strong start
The Barnegat girls flag football team has sent an immediate message that it’s more than just happy to be here as a first-year program.
The Bengals are out to show they are a legitimate contender in the Shore Conference against teams that have been in existence much longer.
“People are going to know that Barnegat is here to compete,” sophomore WR/DB Julia Giangregorio said.
“Even though we’re new, we’ve got some really good athletes in our school,” sophomore quarterback Camila Chamorro said.
Barnegat sophomore quarterback Camila Chamorro has accounted for 11 touchdowns in two games for the first-year program. (Photo by Sean Dettlinger)
In the first game in program history, they rolled to a 32-7 win over a Central program that has a returning All-Shore star in Keely Gifford and had started this spring with a 48-0 win over Manchester. The Bengals followed that with a 45-13 rout of Manasquan on Thursday.
“Going into the (Central game), I didn’t know what to expect,” said head coach Andrew Petruzzi, who is the running backs coach and director of football operations for the boys football team in the fall. “But I got some players, I’m not going to lie to you.”
Petruzzi said Barnegat has five players who play travel flag, including Chamorro, who said she has been playing flag for eight years. In his first year of coaching girls, Petruzzi is trying to meld the players experienced in flag with those still learning the game in order to create a cohesive whole.
“Half know how to play the game, the other half doesn’t, so we’ve been doing a lot of teaching and instructing,” he said. “But we know we’ve got a quarterback and three receivers.”
Chamorro has lit it up to start her Shore Conference career, turning the Bengals into a potential threat to defending champion Pinelands in the Shore Conference South Division.
“She has a great arm and can get us the ball anywhere on the field,” Giangregorio said.
In the win over Central, she exploded for 261 yards passing and five touchdowns on 18-for-26 passing.
Sophomore Julia Giangregorio has starred on both sides of the ball in Barnegat’s 2-0 start. (Photo by Sean Dettlinger)
“I really was just trying to get everybody the ball,” Chamorro said. “I was a little bit nervous at first because it was my first high school game, but once that first ball was snapped, all the nervousness went away.”
She followed with 167 yards passing and six touchdowns on a 40-degree day in the win over Manasquan.
It helps that she has a deep group of receivers, headlined by Giangregorio and sophomore Syrah Holmes. The 6-foot Holmes had six catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Central, and Giangregorio added three catches for 66 yards and two scores.
“(Holmes) is unstoppable,” Petruzzi said. “They can’t cover her one-on-one. (Holmes and Giangregorio) are a deep threat on every play.”
Sophomore WR/DB Syrah Holmes had 109 yards receiving in the first game in Barnegat history. (Photo by Sean Dettlinger)
“(Holmes) is just an amazing athlete,” Chamorro said. “She can catch any ball you throw, and she runs really good routes. She also has a really positive attitude, she’s always having fun out there.”
The receiving corps has depth, as senior Jayneese Viera and sophomore Victoria Hoffman combined for 7 catches for 74 yards in the win over Manasquan.
The young core also excels on the other side of the ball. Giangregorio had five flag pulls in the win over Central and Chamorro had four. Giangregorio and Holmes also each had interception returns for touchdowns on defense in the win over Manasquan. Freshman Mayckelin Portillo Lopez led the team with seven flag pulls against Central, and junior Ashley Alvarez added six.
Senior Jayneese Viera is another playmaker in Barnegat’s group of wide receivers. (Photo by Sean Dettlinger)
Petruzzi had a feeling the Bengals had some promise when they beat St. John Vianney 26-0 in a preseason scrimmage. Now that they’ve shown great potential through their first two regular-season games, he’s looking to keep them focused with bigger challenges ahead.
“We’re adapting to the new rules and taking it day by day,” he said. “I think we’re better than people think, but I’m trying to temper things a little bit right now.”
“We want to show that we’re not just a new team — we’re a team that can give good competition to everyone,” Chamorro said.
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
