Crimson Sky: McKenna throws 3 touchdowns to guide No. 10 Wall past No. 3 Manalapan 25-22

Wall– Wall head coach Ed Gurrieri would be the first person to tell you that his Crimson Knights team’s identity is centered around a physical, rushing attack. So while Wall battled relentlessly in the trenches to the tune of 29 rushing attempts for 99 yards on Friday, it was somewhat unexpected that an electric passing attack led by senior quarterback Brian McKenna proved to be the difference-maker as No. 10 Wall held off a resilient rally from No. 3 Manalapan in a 25-22 win to earn no worse than a tie for the Class B North crown for their first division title since 2019.

“I knew this would be a great game,” said Gurrieri. “I knew they [Manalapan] wouldn’t give up. I watched them come back on Tottenville. This wasn’t going to be easy. They are a great program, they have a lot of pride, and they were going to fight until their last breath. Our saving grace was that we turned them over a bunch of times.”

Wall built a lead early in the game on the back of McKenna. The signal-caller started off the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:15 left in the first quarter. A bad snap on the extra point attempt kept the score 6-0. Manalapan junior quarterback Cameron Desfosse then answered with a 4-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Brayden Claro, tying the game at six.

McKenna was just getting started, as he went on to find senior tight end Justin Davis on touchdown passes of 15 and 28 yards to make the score 19-6 heading into halftime.

After junior defensive back Franny Scaramellino came away with an interception on Manalapan’s first play of the second half, McKenna hooked up with sophomore fullback Jesse Roth on a 36-yard touchdown strike, giving the Crimson Knights a 25-6 lead.

Manalapan refused to give up and immediately went on the offensive. The Braves scored on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by senior running back Ah’sere Woolfolk at the 4:31 mark in the third. Junior tight end Ethan Fogelstrom ran in the two-point conversion, making the score 25-14.

After a Wall punt on its next series, Manalapan took over with 1:12 left in the period.  A 6-minute drive that bridged the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter ended with a 27-yard touchdown strike from Desfosse to junior running back Nicky Palmieri. Fogelstrom again ran in the two-point conversion, cutting the Wall lead to 25-22 with 7:54 left in the game.

Wall gained possession at its own 43, but the Crimson Knights’ seven-play drive stalled when Roth was stuffed on a fourth-and-one from the Manalapan 36. Shortly after, the Braves, with just 3:47 left in the game, were facing a third-and-seven from their 39-yard line. Desfosse threw a screen pass to senior wideout Nick Friscia that Wall senior defensive back Heath Reinhardt blew up for a 13-yard loss.

“I saw the tight end be light on his feet,” said Reinhardt. “He stood straight up, and I knew it was going to be a pass to him right away. I saw him release up, and I just bit on it.”

On fourth-and-20 from the 26, Manalapan went with some trickery, as Palmieri took the handoff from Desfosse, stopped and threw a pass back in the direction of Desfosse, which drew a 15-yard pass interference penalty on Wall. Pass interference in high school is not an automatic first down, so the referees brought the ball to the Manalapan 41, still five yards short of a first down. On fourth-and-5, Desfosse looked like he might have had a lane that would have given the Braves a first down, but he instead lofted a pass intended for Palmieri that was broken up by the Wall defense with 2:08 remaining in the game.

Wall then did its best to run the clock out. After consecutive runs by Cohen, Manalapan used its remaining two timeouts. On third-and-eight with 1:47 left, everyone in the house figured Wall would run the ball to kill more clock. At worst, the Crimson Knights would punt the ball back to Manalapan with just over a minute left and a lot of field to cover.

Instead, Gurrieri made a gutsy call and put the ball in the hands of his senior quarterback. McKenna dropped back to pass and lofted a beautiful ball to the sidelines, where Reinhardt leaped and made a spectacular one-handed catch, getting one foot inbounds at the 9-yard line, securing the victory for the Crimson Knights, who were then able to kneel the ball and run out the clock.

“At the end of the game, you want the ball in the hands of your best players,” Gurrieri said. “I called that play four times before that. Each time, McKenna thought the corner was off too far and audibled out of it. I pulled him [McKenna] aside during the timeout and told him we are running the play, don’t audible out of it. It’s not about the play, it’s about the players, and we gave our best players a chance to make a play.”

Wall (4-2, 3-0) goes on the road next Friday to take on Marlboro at 7 p.m. before its big game at St. John Vianney, where the Crimson Knights will have an opportunity to clinch the division title outright.

“There is no looking past anybody,” said Gurrieri. “We aren’t good enough to do that. We were in a dogfight with Raritan last week. We can’t let that happen. We need to go there and give Marlboro our best shot, then worry about St. John Vianney.”

Manalapan (5-2, 2-1) will be home next Friday to take on Donovan Catholic at 6 p.m. The Braves remain in contention for a share of the division title, but they would need to win against Freehold Township in their final game of the regular season and receive assistance from St. John Vianney to create a three-way tie scenario.

Statistics

Passing:

Wall: McKenna 6-11 124 yards 3 TD’s

Manalapan: Desfosse 9-15 95 yards 2 TD’s

Rushing:

Wall: Cohen 16-64; Boulard 4-17; McKenna 5-11 TD; Reinhardt 2-6; Roth 2-1

Manalapan: Woolfork 14-36 TD; Palmieri 4-18; Melendez 9-42; Coraro 2-7; Fogelstroom 4-36

Receiving:

Wall: Reinhardt 2-35; Davis 2-43 2 TD’s; Roth 1-36 TD; Partusch 1-10

Manalapan: Savage 3-48; Palmieri 2-45 TD; Woolfork 1-5; Claro 1-4 TD; Friscia 1- -17; Corsaro 1-6