Purple Passer: Rumson’s Brady Williams Ignites Offense in Win Over Holmdel
HOLMDEL – This is not the Brady Williams of last year.
The Rumson-Fair Haven quarterback has evolved from the power runner of 2025 into a playmaking passer who can take over a game, turning an Achilles’ heel from last season into a strength for the Bulldogs.
The 6-foot-5 junior showed how much he has improved on Thursday night with 298 total yards and five total touchdowns in a 40-28 win over Holmdel at Bob Roggy Memorial Field in Class A North. Senior running back Ryder Izzo, a Yale recruit, also churned out 153 yards rushing and a touchdown on 24 carries for the Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0), who are ranked No. 4 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12(opens in new tab).
Williams finished 17-for-28 for 230 yards and two touchdowns passing, while also running for 68 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries as Rumson put up 457 yards of offense to hold off the No. 6 Hornets (2-1, 0-1). A year ago, he threw for 94 yards in a 33-21 loss to Holmdel.
Rumson junior quarterback Brady Williams put up 298 total yards in a 40-28 win over Holmdel. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
“I just feel like I know the playbook better,” Williams said. “It’s just the trust in my guys that I’ve developed over these past two years.”
“He’s grown so much,” said senior wide receiver Cole Spoonire, who had 5 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown in the win. “He really reads the entire field this year. He can do it with his legs, but he also has an amazing arm. Our passing game, three-step, just quick, complete it, that’s all that matters, get five yards every time, and we’ll score a touchdown eventually.”
Williams, who split time at quarterback with Casey Moore as a sophomore, already has 625 yards passing and seven touchdown passes in three games after throwing for 688 yards and 10 scores all of last season. He has worked diligently with offensive coordinator John Corneliusen to clean up his footwork and harness the strong right arm that has also made him a Division 1 baseball prospect as a pitcher.
“I’ve been working on my mechanics, especially my feet,” Williams said. “I feel like my feet last year were very lazy. I wasn’t throwing towards the receiver, and this year I’m just able to get the ball where I need it to go.”
Rumson senior WR Cole Spoonire had 5 catches for 77 yards and a TD in the win. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
“He’s doing a great job,” Rumson-Fair Haven coach Jeremy Schulte said. “(Corneliusen) is a big reason for that. Those two will sit in the library going over things for hours. I have to sit there and knock on the window to get them to come out so we can do things. (Williams) has just matured tremendously in every aspect.”
The Bulldogs have also dramatically upgraded their receiving corps from a season ago with Spoonire, Moore (3 catches, 25 yards), senior Jason Tucker (3-69) and juniors Bodie Matchett and Michael Capra (6-59) giving them more depth, explosiveness and ability to run after the catch.
They needed the offense to perform, as the defending Central Jersey Group 3 champions were as close as 33-28 with 6:56 left in the game. Sophomore quarterback Tommy Fletcher hit junior wideout Anthony Serini for a nine-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to cut the lead to five. Serini, an SSI first-team All-Shore selection as a sophomore, had a monster game in defeat with 12 catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
Holmdel WR Anthony Serini had a huge night in the loss for the Hornets, which included two TD catches. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
Rumson had an immediate answer after returning the ensuing kickoff to its own 49-yard line. Williams ran for 22 yards and then Izzo dashed down the Rumson sideline for a 29-yard score to push the lead to 40-28 with 6:32 remaining and all but ice the game.
“We knew once they scored, we had to go right back at them,” Spoonire said. “We couldn’t have a letdown in momentum.”
Both offenses lit it up in the first half, which ended with Rumson leading 27-21 at the break.
Rumson never trailed in the game, as Williams led the Bulldogs on a 10-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a nice anticipation throw to wideout Jason Tucker for a 7-0 lead with 3:32 left in the first quarter.
“I saw the safety step up, and then he stepped back, and I fit it behind his helmet,” Williams said.
Holmdel answered with a seven-yard touchdown run by senior Michael Todisco, who had 99 yards rushing in the loss, to tie it 7-7 with four seconds left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs came right back with a five-play, 52-yard drive that culminated in a one-yard keeper by Williams for a 14-7 advantage, and then Holmdel responded with an eight-play, 67-yard march that Todisco capped with an 18-yard touchdown run to tie it at 14 with 6:56 left in the half.
Once again, Williams and Co. had an immediate answer, going on a five-play, 66-yard drive that included a 41-yard strike to Tucker. Williams ran it in from 10 yards out for a 21-14 advantage.
After the defense got a stop on downs, the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 28-14 when Williams lofted a perfect touch pass into the back corner of the end zone that Spoonire snatched for a 10-yard touchdown with only 57 seconds left in the half.
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“I knew it was coming,” Spoonire said. “The perfect ball right in the end zone. I knew I had to get it, and I grabbed it.”
However, Holmdel ended the half with a bang, zipping 69 yards in five plays and scoring when Serini went up over a defender for a sensational, 16-yard touchdown catch that cut the lead to six at halftime.
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The Rumson defense settled in after the break, limiting the Hornets to seven points and picking off Fletcher twice to give the Bulldogs three total interceptions in the game. Izzo and senior defensive backs James Halikias and Lloyd Bush each registered interceptions in the win, and Matchett added a fumble recovery against a team that entered averaging 46.5 points per game. A year after Rumson turned the ball over four times in the loss to Holmdel, the Bulldogs took it away four times from the Hornets.
The victory stamps Rumson-Fair Haven as a top contender to the division title held by longtime rival Red Bank Catholic, the No. 1 team in the SSI Top 12. A year after their one-dimensional offense made games against top opponents a struggle, Williams has Rumson-Fair Haven back to its usual championship aspirations.
“The fact that we’ve grown as a team and gotten our passing game to where it is now, it’s just huge for us,” Williams said.
Next up for the Bulldogs is a Class A North game against No. 12 Wall, which took down No. 7 Manalapan 15-12 in a thriller on Thursday night. Holmdel will try to bounce back when it hosts No. 11 St. John Vianney in a divisional game.
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
