Ace of Hearts: Etienne plays through injury to rush for career-high and lead No. 12 Manasquan past Shore

MANASQUAN — The athletic trainer’s room was busy at Manasquan High School this week, and one of its most frequent attendees was star running back Ace Etienne. You wouldn’t know it after watching his performance in Week 3.

Etienne powered Manasquan, ranked No. 12 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, to a 36-21 Shore Conference Class C North victory over previously unbeaten Shore Regional by rushing for a career-high 268 yards and five touchdowns on 30 carries and adding an interception on defense. The Warriors senior was less than 100 percent after tweaking his ankle last week, but neither an injury nor the Blue Devils’ defense could slow him down on Saturday afternoon at Vic Kubu Warrior Field.

“When he’s in, he’s going to give you everything he has,” Manasquan head coach J. Price said. “And he’ll remain stone-faced no matter how well he does. When you have a kid like that, you’re never out of it.”

“Every time I do anything I try to leave it all on the field,” Etienne said. “And it takes a lot of help. I have a great community and great teammates surrounding me. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to do half the things I do.”

Etienne scored on runs of 53, 5, 14, 3 and 59 yards and averaged 8.9 yards per carry against a Shore defense that allowed just 10.5 points per game through its first two games. After finishing his junior year with 1,129 yards, 18 touchdowns, and five 100-yard games, Etienne already has 669 yards and nine touchdowns in four games, with at least 110 yards and a touchdown in each contest.

“We were talking to him before the game and he was getting treatment in Kevin’s office (Manasquan athletic trainer Kevin Hyland), and another coach — I’m not going to say who it was, he’s not even in our program — came in asking what’s wrong,” Price said. “And it was typical Ace, he says, ‘It’s my ankle and this, that, and the other thing,’ and the coach looks at him and says, ‘Why don’t you just rub some toughness on it and go play?’ And I think that kind of pissed him off. He ran hard today.”

Etienne spearheaded a Manasquan ground game that ran for 340 yards on 41 carries (8.3 yards per attempt). Senior Frank Tackett ran for 41 yards and also caught a 37-yard pass — Manasquan’s only completion of the afternoon — that set up one of Etienne’s touchdown runs. On defense, junior linebacker Luke Barry led the way with 10 tackles and two interceptions, including a key pick in the fourth quarter after Shore had cut Manasquan’s lead to 29-21.

Shore junior quarterback Logan Clark completed 19 of 29 passes for 259 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions and also ran for a touchdown. Senior wideout Enzo Cagliostro caught six passes for 115 yards and a touchdown and senior Jack Madalone caught four passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. Junior running back Cole Torres ran for 97 yards on 13 carries. Senior defensive back Reid Spallone intercepted a pass on defense and caught four passes for 49 yards.

Manasquan entered the week ravaged by injuries but gutted out an important division victory after falling to Matawan in Week 2. Multiple key contributors were either out or limited, which pressed several underclassmen into the lineup. Senior Justice Morgan, a transfer from Brick, was eligible to play this week and would have added another key two-way contributor, but missed the game with an illness. It could have gone sideways against a quality opponent in Shore, but Etienne led the way, and the rest of the Warriors followed.

“We had a bunch of linemen who missed Monday to Thursday, they were all sick and had fevers and weren’t even practicing,” Price said. “The kids we got back weren’t practicing until Thursday, which is frustrating, but you just have to teach whoever’s on the field and do the best you can with what you’ve got. We had a lot of sophomores on the field today, so they’re getting good experience. It will only make us better in the long run.”

“We definitely came in with a lot of injuries,” Etienne said. “We did get a couple people back, but we still have a lot of people out. The younger guys had to step up, and they did today.”

Manasquan and Shore traded punts to begin the game before the Warriors’ special teams helped them jump out to a two-touchdown lead. Sophomore Connor Lalli fielded a punt at his own goal line and returned it out to the 47-yard line. On the next play, Etienne found room off the left side for a 53-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead.

After halting Shore at midfield and forcing another punt, Tackett returned the punt into Blue Devils territory at the 43-yard line. Senior quarterback Matt Antonucci then connected with Tackett for a 37-yard gain down to the 5-yard line, and on the next play, Etienne walked in for his second touchdown and a 14-0 advantage.

Shore gained one first down on its next series but had to punt again when Manasquan’s defense made a stop for no gain on third-and-3 from just shy of midfield.

The Warriors then went to work on a 9-play, 75-yard scoring drive to stretch their lead to 21-0. Senior running back Dylan Lu gained 14 yards on first down and Etienne converted a third-and-5 with a great second-effort gain of five yards. A penalty for defensive pass interference moved the ball to the 35 and, after a holding penalty, Tackett gained 22 yards on third-and-20 to move the chains to the Shore 23-yard line.

Etienne gained nine yards on first down, then scored on an acrobatic 14-yard run to give Manasquan a three-score lead with 7:08 left in the first half. He took a hit at the 5-yard line but put his hand down to keep his balance and roll into the end zone.

“I put all my trust into our linemen and even the wide receivers blocking on the edge,” Etienne said. “I know I can. They always deliver, and that’s how I make the big plays.”

A 44-yard kick return by Cagliostro set up Shore to get on the board and cut Manasquan’s lead to 21-7. A 24-yard reception by Spallone moved the ball to the Manasquan 20-yard line and a 12-yard catch by Madalone brought up first-and-goal from the 8-yard line. Torres ran to the 1-yard line on first down and Clark finished the drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 5:08 on the clock in the second quarter.

The score remained 21-7 in Manasquan’s favor until Shore came out of the halftime break with a 70-yard scoring drive to begin the third quarter. Torres had an 18-yard run and Clark connected with sophomore Mickael Fleming over the middle for 20 yards down to the Manasquan 25-yard line. A facemask penalty on Manasquan on third down extended the drive, and two plays later, Clark hit Madalone on a quick slant for a 7-yard touchdown that trimmed Manasquan’s edge to 21-14.

Manasquan’s response was a 14-play, 71-yard drive that featured only running plays. In fact, the Warriors did not attempt a pass in the second half.

Etienne carried 12 times for 65 yards on the drive and capped the series with a 3-yard touchdown run. The extra point was missed, but a penalty on Shore gave the Warriors another try. A second penalty on the Blue Devils moved the ball to the 1-yard line, so Manasquan went for two and converted on a quarterback sneak by Antonucci for a 29-14 lead.

Etienne intercepted Clark on the next series, but Shore was able to force a three-and-out to get the ball back trailing by two scores with 7:16 left in the fourth quarter. On the first play, Clark found Cagliostro wide open streaking down the middle of the field for a 56-yard touchdown. John Mazzacco added the P.A.T. to get the Blue Devils within nine points with 7:05 remaining.

Etienne was off the field for the next series, and Manasquan could not gain a first down and had to punt it back to Shore. The Blue Devils were at midfield with 7:09 on the clock and a chance to tie the game, but Barry pulled down an interception on first down to let the air out of Shore’s balloon. Two plays later, Etienne bounced it outside after he looked to be stopped near the line of scrimmage and turned it into a 59-yard touchdown that made it 36-21 with 3:28 to play.

Barry’s second interception on the third play of Shore’s next possession effectively ended the game. From there, a few more handoffs were all Manasquan needed to run out the clock and finish off a critical division victory.

“You always want one of these in your back pocket so you can point back to it and say we gutted this out,” Price said.

“This one was very important to us, especially for the seniors,” Etienne said. “We don’t want to lose on our home field.”

If Manasquan can get healthy it will be a difficult team to deal with the rest of the season. In addition to the injured or sick players who missed Saturday’s game, the Warriors are set to welcome junior quarterback Kyle Dow, who transferred from Donovan Catholic but had to sit out the first four games per the NJSIAA’s transfer rule.

“We do have some guys coming back,” Price said. “If I can come in on Monday and know who is playing what position for the first time in three weeks, I’ll be happy.”

The one constant has been Etienne, and as long as No. 14 is lined up in the Manasquan backfield, the Warriors will be just fine.

“You always have a chance when Ace is on the field,” Price said.

 

Box Score

No. 12 Manasquan 36, Shore 21

	Shore	Manasquan
First downs	12	14
Rushes-yards	20-100	41-340
Passing	19-29-3	1-6-1
Passing yards	259	37
Fumbles-lost	1-0	0-0
Penalties-yards	4-30	5-45

 

	1	2	3	4	F
Shore (2-1, 1-1)	0	7	7	7	21
Manasquan (3-1, 1-1)	14	7	0	15	36

 

Scoring Summary

M — Ace Etienne 53-yard run (Joey Dettlinger kick)

M — Ace Etienne 5-yard run (Joey Dettlinger kick)

M — Ace Etienne 14-yard run (Joey Dettlinger kick)

S — Logan Clark 1-yard run (John Mazzacco kick)

S — Jack Madalone 7-yard pass from Logan Clark (John Mazzacco kick)

M — Ace Etienne 3-yard run (Matt Antonucci run)

S — Enzo Cagliostro 56-yard pass from Logan Clark (John Mazzacco kick)

M — Ace Etienne 59-yard run (Joey Dettlinger kick)

 

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — S: Cole Torres 13-97, Enzo Cagliostro 2-6, John Mazzacco 5-1, Logan Clark 2-(-4); M: Ace Etienne 30-268, Frank Tackett 4-41, Matt Antonucci 4-17, Dylan Lu 3-14.

PASSING — S: Logan Clark 19-29-3 259; M: Matt Antonucci 1-6-1 37.

RECEIVING — S: Enzo Cagliostro 6-115, Reid Spallone 4-49, Jack Madalone 4-37, Mickael Fleming 3-28, Cole Torres 1-18, John Mazzacco 1-12; M: Frank Tackett 1-41.

INTERCEPTIONS — M: Luke Barry 2-10, Ace Etienne 1-4; S: Reid Spallone 1-0.