Shore Conference Flag Football Tournament Preview: Favorites, Wildcards, Underdogs
In the last edition of the Shore Conference Tournament before the flag football season also includes the state playoffs next year, this is the final chance for 12 teams to make their argument to be the No. 1 team in the Shore in 2026.
In a season in which no team has dramatically separated itself from the pack, it looks to be a free-for-all for the championship. Two teams, Barnegat and Trinity Hall, enter the tournament undefeated, but they both have had close calls during the regular season.
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Here’s a look at the field ahead of the first round getting underway on Tuesday.
THE FAVORITES
Barnegat (9-0)
Barnegat sophomore quarterback Camila Chamorro and the Bengals enter the Shore Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed in their first season as a program. (Photo by Sean Dettlinger)
The Bengals have become an immediate sensation in their first year as a program thanks to sophomore quarterback Camila Chamorro and an army of talented wide receivers. Chamorro has been an instant star, leading the Shore Conference with 2,088 yards passing and ranking second with 26 touchdown passes. She also has 392 yards rushing and two touchdowns on better than 10 yards per carry. Two of her sophomore classmates, Victoria Hoffman and Syrah Holmes, have combined for 58 catches for 995 yards and 15 touchdown catches, 11 of them by Holmes, who is second in the Shore with 579 yards receiving. When teams try to blanket that tandem, freshman Julia Giangregorio has burned them for 15 catches for 317 yards and 4 touchdowns, and freshman Amaya Martin is another threat.
The Bengals lead the Shore in scoring at 31.5 points per game, but they showed in a hard-fought, 14-7 win over Pinelands that they can win with defense as well, which makes sense because they lead the Shore in only allowing 5.8 points per game. Junior Natalya Novitsky leads the Shore with 22 sacks and junior Amaya Afflick has 14, so this team has the speed to get into the backfield and short-circuit drives with negative plays. They played a solid schedule in the South Division, but didn’t see any of the top Monmouth County teams, so they will be eager to show they stack up against anybody.
Trinity Hall (9-0)
The Monarchs have a star sophomore quarterback of their own in Sonia DeRosa, who is right behind Chamorro with 1,819 yards passing and a Shore Conference-best 29 touchdown passes. Trinity Hall is almost exclusively a passing team with a deep group of wideouts led by senior Maddie Rigney, who leads the Shore in catches (55), yards (673) and touchdown catches (12). The Monarchs have six other receivers with at least 100 yards, including freshman Maddie Dougherty, who has 5 touchdown catches. DeRosa is a good athlete who can throw on the run when pressured, so it will be interesting to see how teams try to neutralize her. Their offense is only percentage points behind Barnegat’s in scoring at 31.2 points per game.
DeRosa is one of the Shore’s best two-way players, as she also has a Shore Conference-leading 11 interceptions on defense, two of which she has returned for touchdowns. Dougherty is another two-way standout with 13 sacks and two interceptions.
The main question with Trinity Hall is their strength of schedule. The Central Division was not as strong on paper as the other two Shore divisions, so will they be able to get it done against experienced teams like Rumson-Fair Haven, Keansburg and others? We’re about to find out.
Middletown South (8-1)
While Trinity Hall and Barnegat feature two of the best dropback passers in the Shore, Middletown South has the Shore’s best dual threat quarterback. Senior Cam Czwakiel has 1,445 yards passing and 23 touchdowns while also running for 896 yards and 7 touchdowns, returning two punts for touchdowns and scoring 20 extra points. She is a threat to take off for a 40-yard touchdown run on any play, which is a luxury the top two seeds don’t really have.
She also has one of the Shore’s top receivers in senior Ava Loucopolous, who has 25 catches for 558 yards and 11 touchdowns. They also have a legitimate rushing threat if teams try to key on Czwakiel in senior Kaleigh Kapler, who has 575 yards on the ground as well as 438 receiving and 9 total touchdowns. Many of those same players are also standouts on a defense that only allows 7.3 points per game.
The Eagles are battle-tested and are playing their best at the right time, having recently picked up a lop-sided win over a strong Holmdel team. Their lone loss is to Keansburg, which is the No. 10 seed.
Czwakiel was named the Shore Conference Player of the Year by the coaches in 2025, so with her returning along with Loucopolous and Kapler, the Eagles felt like this was their year to finish the job and win it all after reaching the semifinals last season. If the seeds hold and they end up facing Trinity Hall in the semifinals, you would have to give Middletown South the edge with its experienced senior class.
TOP CONTENDERS
Holmdel (8-1)
Holmdel and Ella Roche have a bye into the quarterfinals as the No. 4 seed. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
The Hornets are having their best season in school history and enter averaging 25.5 points per game.
They started 8-0 before a 32-8 loss to Middletown South showed they still have some work to do to climb all the way to the top. They do boast a win over defending champion Rumson-Fair Haven as well as a two-touchdown victory over a surging Keansburg team, so they have played a strong schedule.
Sophomore quarterback Claire Gillespie has thrown for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns after initially splitting time with fellow sophomore Julia Kern before Kern suffered an ankle injury. Gillespie is a strong passer, while Kern is more of a dual threat with 573 yards and 11 touchdowns passing and 100 yards and two touchdowns rushing. The Hornets have seven receivers with at least 100 yards, so it’s a deep group led by freshman Ella Roche, sophomore Quinn Smigelsky and junior Lia Gordon.
Holmdel’s defense only allows 10 points per game and has 17 total interceptions, including a team-high four by senior Maya Houston. A potential 4-5 quarterfinal game against Central would be an intriguing game between two strong teams from the North and South divisions. Have the Hornets made the leap to a top-four team in the Shore? We will get that answer on Thursday.
Rumson-Fair Haven (7-3)
The Bulldogs are the three-time defending Shore Conference Tournament champions, and they are not going out without a fight.
Two of their losses are to Shore opponents, as the other was against state-ranked Wayne Valley. Their losses to Middletown South and Holmdel were one-score games, so a play here and there and we could be talking about the Bulldogs as the favorite to win the whole thing again.
Their defense behind seniors Victoria Santos and Sydney Rettino has been the backbone of the team. The main question is whether they can muster enough offense against high-level opponents to come out with the win. They were held to 8 and 12 points in their two losses. They get a rematch with a division opponent in the opening round, as Keansburg comes to Borden Stadium after battling Rumson in an 8-6 loss to the Bulldogs in the season opener.
A win by Rumson would set up a quarterfinal game against unbeaten Trinity Hall, which is talented but has not played Rumson’s strength of schedule or been in the postseason like the Bulldogs have been the past few years. Plus, the added incentive could be a potential rematch with Middletown South in the semifinals. The Bulldogs were leading the Eagles in their regular-season matchup before Middletown South star Cam Czwakiel broke off a punt return touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles the win.
Central (7-2)
The Golden Eagles enter on a five-game winning streak that includes a victory over last year’s runner-up, Pinelands, in the South Division.
They boast one of the Shore’s top dual threat quarterbacks in junior Keely Gifford, who has 759 yards and 12 touchdowns passing and 596 yards and 8 touchdowns rushing. She is the type of player who can single-handedly take over a game. Her main target is sophomore Olivia Delmonico, who has 445 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns and also has run for 218 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Junior Olubusayo Ajao leads the defense with 13 sacks, and junior Riley Seibel and Gifford have combined for five interceptions. The Golden Eagles opened some eyes with their win over Pinelands, so they look to prove they are a top-four team in the Shore by beating Shore Regional and then Holmdel. That could potentially set up a rematch with Barnegat in the semifinals after the Bengals routed Central 32-7 in the regular season.
Pinelands (7-2)
The Wildcats are similar to Rumson in the sense that a few plays here and there and they would be undefeated and talked about as a favorite to win it all. They have a one-point loss to Central in which they were stopped on an extra-point attempt in the final seconds, and they battled Barnegat in a 14-7 loss in which they were stopped at the 3-yard and the 1-yard line on drives in the fourth quarter.
Their defense is their main strength, as they held Barnegat to their lowest point total of the season in a strong performance. Senior Jayla Kline is one of the state’s top defensive players with 75 tackles, 14 sacks, 10 tackles for a loss and three interceptions. Sophomore Julianna Platti also has had a big year with a team-high 16 sacks to go with 48 tackles.
Senior Heidi Cyphert leads the offense with 1,293 yards passing and 22 touchdown passes, and her main target is senior Bree McCorry (29-377-9). Madison Fontanes and Kayla Harris are two other threats, and Kline is their main running back. It’s all about finishing drives against quality opponents for this team, as the Wildcats have shown they can move the ball but have struggled in the red zone in their losses.
WILDCARDS
Colts Neck (8-2)
Colts Neck and Victoria Beninato enter the SCT on an eight-game winning streak. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
The Cougars, who are a first-year program, enter on an eight-game winning streak, and they may be the most unorthodox team in the field.
While everyone else’s offense is based primarily on passing or a dual threat quarterback, Colts Neck comes right at teams with their run game. It’s no surprise given that their head coach is Matt Ahearn, who coaches the football team in the fall and uses a power running game as the Cougars’ signature. Opponents not used to shedding blocks and dealing with misdirection can struggle with this team.
Freshman Daryn Heal leads the Shore Conference with 1,016 yards rushing and 11 rushing touchdowns, and junior Liv Brown has 697 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns. They have run for 2,128 yards as a team on 9.6 yards per carry.
Freshman quarterback Ashley Tiedemann also has 237 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns to go with 845 yards passing and 6 touchdown passes. Heal is also a major threat in the passing game with 30 catches for 465 yards and 3 touchdowns, so she has been one of the breakout stars in the Shore this year in her first season.
However, while Colts Neck can present a challenge for teams that haven’t seen them, their first-round opponent is Red Bank Catholic, which beat them 30-26 in their season opener. The Cougars are out to show they are a different team than the one that lost to RBC and Trinity Hall in their first two games in the history of their program, and this is their shot.
Keansburg (6-3)
The tiny Group I Titans have shown they can hold their own with anybody, as they handed Middletown South their only loss of the season and battled Rumson-Fair Haven in an 8-6 loss in the season opener. Their other losses are a one-point setback against Middletown North and a 20-6 loss to No. 4 seed Holmdel.
Their defense has four shutouts, so they can keep games low-scoring and close them out in the fourth quarter. Senior Princess Graves is one of the Shore’s most explosive two-way players and senior Gabriella Flanzbaum and junior Gianna Bettinger are also standouts who can swing a game against a top opponent.
They get a rematch with Rumson-Fair Haven in the first round, and a win over the three-time defending SCT champion Bulldogs would be a landmark victory in Keansburg’s program history. The Titans have won six in a row after an 0-3 start, so they enter the first round playing their best ball of the season.
It feels like it could really go two ways for Keansburg. They could fall in the first round against a big-name opponent, or they could potentially be the story of the tournament. Are they the team that lost to non-SCT qualifier Middletown North or the team that stunned Middletown South? We’ll see shortly.
UNDERDOGS
Red Bank Catholic (6-2)
The Caseys tied for second place in the Central Division and boast a 30-26 win over Colts Neck from the season opener. They get a rematch with the Cougars, who have won eight straight, in the first round.
Their losses are to Trinity Hall and Manalapan, so the results have been mixed, but they are coming off a solid 32-6 win over Neptune. Sophomore running back Lexi Sinatra and quarterback Lilia O’Neal lead a team that has scored at least 20 points in all of its wins. A second win over Colts Neck would set up a quarterfinal against undefeated Barnegat.
New Egypt (6-3)
Madison Adam and New Egypt will try to avenge a regular-season loss to Pinelands in the SCT first round.
The Group 1 Warriors are the proverbial “beat the teams they were supposed to beat, lost to the teams they were supposed to lose to” squad this year. Their losses are to Pinelands, Central and undefeated Barnegat in the South Division, and they don’t have any wins over teams in the SCT field.
They were shut out by Central and Barnegat, but they played Pinelands tough in a 19-12 loss. They get a rematch against the Wildcats in the first round, where quarterback Madison Adam and the Warriors will try to reverse the results and set up a matchup with Middletown South in the quarterfinals.
Shore (5-4)
The Blue Devils grabbed the last seed in the tournament after tying for fourth in the Central Division with Neptune and getting the spot thanks to a head-to-head win over the Scarlet Fliers.
Junior quarterback Grace Ascolese is having a strong season with 1,277 yards passing and 17 touchdowns along with 401 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns, so she is the engine of the offense. Junior Dixie Smith has been one of the conference’s top receivers with 32 catches for 502 yards and 9 touchdowns, and freshman Sydney Tilton has added 403 yards and six touchdowns.
Shore’s most impressive performance of the season may have come in a loss, as they pushed unbeaten Trinity Hall in a 16-7 game last week. They will try to ride that confidence into a road matchup against a strong Central team in the first round.
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
