Calling the ‘Kopf: No. 5 Brick Memorial Rides Colin Schoellkopf to Win Over No. 3 Toms River North

BRICK – Brick Memorial made its intentions clear from the first play of a top-five showdown with Toms River North on Friday night at DiFabio Field. 

The Mustangs handed the ball to senior tailback Colin Schoellkopf on every single play of an eight-play, 65-yard drive that ended with his six-yard touchdown run to start the game. 

“You should’ve seen those holes. I could drive a bus through there,” Schoellkopf said. “Best offensive line in the Shore. We were just going to keep feeding the ball to me.” 

The opening drive set the tone for a career-high 185 yards rushing on a whopping 38 carries for Schoellkopf that powered a 24-14 win by the Mustangs (3-1, 1-1), ranked No. 5 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12(opens in new tab), over the No. 3 Mariners (3-1, 1-1) in Class A South. Brick Memorial, which nearly stunned No. 2 Donovan Catholic in a seven-point loss a week earlier, took the ball and aimed it right at the heart of the Toms River North defense using Schoellkopf. 

“That kid is just a warhorse,” said senior left guard Jaxon Ellis, a returning SSI first-team All-Shore lineman. “Our offensive line that first series, we really imposed our will on them.” 

“If it’s working, we’re just going to keep doing it,” Schoellkopf said. 

Brick Memorial built a 17-7 halftime lead by feeding Schoellkopf 23 times for 149 yards before the break. It came a week after he had 35 carries for 169 yards in the loss to Donovan Catholic. He has 73 carries for 354 yards in the last two weeks after 20 total carries for 92 yards in Brick Memorial’s first two games. 

“I feel like he’s really unknown,” Ellis said. “Coming into the season, no one was really talking about him, but he’s really putting the Shore on notice.” 

“I’m getting used to it,” Schoellkopf said about the dramatically increased workload. “When you have the O-line we have, why not run the ball?” 

Toms River North drove 69 yards in 12 plays to tie the game 7-7 on an 11-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Cole Garrison to senior running back Lucas Elias with 1:50 left in the first quarter. The Mustangs responded with their own scoring drive and then never trailed again. 

They drove 72 yards in nine plays before a 24-yard field goal by senior kicker Jack Marotta gave them the lead for good at 10-7 with 9:38 left in the first half. They extended the lead with an 11-play, 69-yard drive that featured 10 runs by Schoellkopf, including one for 30 yards, before he punched it in from two yards out to make it 17-7 with 54.5 seconds left. 

“Going into this week, on the first day of practice, our O-line coach brings us in and says, ‘This game is either going to be won or lost in the trenches,’” Ellis said. “We just had that mindset, and a really hard week of practice. We knew we had to step up to the level of (Toms River North).” 

Toms River North was without All-Shore senior linebacker Jack Baker, a Duke commit who was on the sidelines on a scooter due to a right leg injury he suffered in a win over Point Boro last week. Regardless, the plan was to attack with the run game no matter who was in the lineup for the Mariners. 

“Obviously, Jack Baker is a great player, but so is 15 (Finn Boland) and their other ‘backers,” Ellis said. “We didn’t really switch up our gameplan when we heard he was out. We just ran up the middle and killed them.” 

Brick Memorial head coach James Mahoney said that in Brick Memorial’s RPO offense, Mustangs’ senior quarterback Tyler Pierce was simply taking what the Mariners were giving them. Toms River North was determined to take away explosive wideouts Shawn Fowler and Jay’von Ellison on the perimeter, so Brick Memorial went right downhill at them. 

“Our option was to run the ball,” Mahoney said. “That’s the option they gave us.” 

After Brick Memorial forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter, Fowler made the most electrifying play of the game when he took the ensuing punt 75 yards to the house for a 24-7 advantage. 

“I was getting yelled at for fair catching,” Fowler said while laughing. “It was just instincts. I saw the first guy in my peripheral (vision), and I knew I could get away and I made a play. That’s what the team needed.” 

Toms River North cut the lead to 24-14 on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Garrison to sophomore Finn Boland with 4:16 left in the third quarter. The Mariners then came up with a stop and had a chance to make it interesting down by 10 with the ball early in the fourth quarter, but a fumble by Elias was recovered by Brick Memorial junior defensive back Nymir Goodwin at Brick Memorial’s 42-yard line. The Mustangs’ held Toms River North to 137 total yards in the win. 

A big part of that was a ball-control offense that ran out the final 11:46 of the game with an 18-play, 55-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions. 

“We’re a really gritty team, and it shows in situations like that,” Schoellkopf said. 

Toms River North will try to bounce back with a divisional game against Jackson (2-2, 0-2), while next up for Brick Memorial is another Top 12 matchup against No. 10 Point Boro in Class A South.  

“We’ve showed we can play with anybody,” Fowler said. “Last year we lost to Donovan on a game-winning field goal, and we bounced back and went on a run. That’s what we’re trying to do this year.” 

Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999. 

Email: scottstump25@gmail.com