Hornet Heartbreak: Holmdel Falls to Cedar Creek in Group 3 Semifinals
HOLMDEL – Even though he and his teammates took the Holmdel fans on a magical ride they will never forget, the end of the best season in Hornets football history still felt premature to senior quarterback Jack Cannon.
Holmdel let a 10-point halftime lead slip away and caught the short end of a questionable spot by the officials on a huge fourth down play late in the game to fall 48-38 to Cedar Creek in Friday night’s Group 3 semifinals at Bob Roggy Memorial Field.
“That’s what hurts the most,” a distraught Cannon said after the game. “We were up 10 in the second half. We just couldn’t finish it off. Even though we won the sectional, first time in history, we knew we had more in us. We had a state championship on the line and couldn’t get it done, and that’s what hurts the most about it. Even though we know we won the sectional, it just doesn’t feel right. We knew we could make it there, we were so close, but we just came up short.”
Holmdel senior quarterback Jack Cannon finished his brilliant career with 350 yards of total offense and five total touchdowns in the loss to Cedar Creek. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
Cedar Creek (11-2), which moves on to face undefeated Old Tappan in the Group 3 final next week, ripped off 27 unanswered points between the end of the second quarter and the start of the fourth quarter to storm to a lead it would not relinquish.
Senior QB/DB Frenchmon Bethea was sensational for the Pirates with 432 total yards of offense and six total touchdowns as well as two interceptions on defense. Cannon finished his record-setting career with 350 total yards, five total touchdowns and a trio of two-point conversions.
“Our kids still played amazing,” Holmdel head coach Noel Kavanagh said. “That team just made a few more plays than us, but I’m proud of these guys. How could you be more proud of a team that has made history, that has done everything right. I’m proud of the way they battled. They battled with a great team. Not a very good team, a great team.”
Holmdel (9-3) had a shot to take the lead when it came up with its only stop of the second half to force a punt while trailing 41-38 with 2:34 left in the game. The Hornets were down to their last breath when they faced a fourth-and-9 from their own 29-yard line. Cannon took off running down the Cedar Creek sideline and appeared to extend the ball past the first-down marker, according to video of the play.
Cedar Creek senior quarterback Frenchmon Bethea rolled up 432 yards of total offense and six touchdowns to power the win. (Photo by Patrick Olivero).
However, where the officials spotted the ball resulted in the Hornets being about a foot short with 1:38 left in the game.
“Not too much I can say about it,” Kavanagh said. “I don’t have a great view from over here, and they have a better view over there. I just hope that they got it right, for our kids’ sake, for everyone’s sake, so we can all sleep at night. But when it’s all said and done, it’s a game of inches, and sometimes that’s what happens.”
“I thought I had it, but the officials didn’t and that’s all that matters,” Cannon said. “You can’t blame the officials for one play in the game when we didn’t play our best again. This is the second week in a row we couldn’t execute on offense. It’s not on the refs, it’s on us. Especially me, I didn’t play my best football.”
Cedar Creek then drove a dagger into Holmdel’s heart when Bethea lobbed up a pass on third-and-5 that seemingly hung in the air for an eternity before falling just over the outstretched arm of a Holmdel defender and into the lap of Pirates senior wide receiver Jahmir Campfield. He took it in for a 32-yard touchdown with 37 seconds left to ice the game and cap a night in which he had four catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
Holmdel Builds a Double-Digit Lead
The Shore Conference’s highest-scoring offense started the game by winning the toss and electing to receive. The Hornets promptly drove 60 yards in seven plays to score on a 37-yard strike from Cannon to sophomore wide receiver Anthony Serini. After Cedar Creek jumped offsides on the PAT attempt, Holmdel decided to go for two and Cannon ran in the conversion for an early 8-0 lead.
The teams traded possessions before Cedar Creek sent an ominous sign that Holmdel was going to have a hard time covering its army of receivers man-to-man. Bethea unloaded a bomb to a streaking Gyan King, and the senior receiver took it to the house for a 57-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 8-7 at the end of the first quarter. King also had 101 yards receiving in the win.
Holmdel responded with a seven-play, 69-yard drive that ended in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Cannon to Serini. Cannon, who is the holder on PATs, then executed a fake extra point when he took the snap, stood up and threw it to Serini for a two-point conversion and a 16-7 lead with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
Cannon finished the night with three rushing touchdowns in the loss. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
The Pirates came right back with another lightning strike when Campfield got a step on a defender and Bethea launched a 49-yard touchdown pass to make it 16-14. Cannon then answered that score with a big play of his own, racing 50 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 23-14 with 7:31 left in the half.
An interception by Serini set up an eight-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Cannon stretching the ball over the goal line for a 1-yard score and a 30-14 advantage with 1:10 remaining.
However, Cedar Creek came up with a huge momentum-shifting drive to end the half. The Pirates went 69 yards in just five plays and scored on a four-yard touchdown pass from Bethea to senior wide receiver Ryan Staton with just one second left in the second quarter.
Even though Holmdel blocked the extra point, the touchdown was clutch because Cedar Creek was set to receive the kickoff to start the second half, allowing the Pirates to potentially string together two scores without Holmdel’s offense getting the ball. Bethea finished with 269 yards and four touchdowns passing along with 163 yards and two touchdowns rushing.
Cedar Creek Roars Back
The Pirates had the visiting crowd roaring when Bethea busted off a 60-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the third quarter to close the gap to 30-27.
Cedar Creek then forced a rare three-and-out by the Holmdel offense, which was held to eight points, 94 total yards and three first downs in the second half. The Pirates were running the ball at will, ultimately taking a 34-30 lead on a seven-yard touchdown run by Bethea that capped a 10-play, 74-yard drive. Cedar Creek finished with 249 yards rushing as part of a 518-yard night.
“We were in really good spots, and they just made a few athletic plays, and that’s why they’re here,” Kavanagh said. “I was happy with our defense with the things we were doing. We made some mistakes, of course, and that’s why they have points on the board, but all said and done I’m not disappointed with the way we played on defense.”
With Holmdel trying to retake the lead, Bethea made a sensational, one-handed interception along the sideline to get the ball right back with 11:50 left in the game. Cedar Creek’s secondary blanketed Holmdel’s talented receiving group for much of the night. Cannon frequently scrambled for up to seven or eight seconds but could not find anyone open downfield.
“I tried to force the ball a couple times,” Cannon said. “It wasn’t the right decision, and I just threw interceptions. I will look back on those forever. I’ll remember the bad over the good. It’s just part of losing.”
The Pirates made it a two-score lead when senior running back Aamir Dunbar found the end zone on a one-yard run for a 41-30 advantage with 6:42 left in the game. Bethea kept the drive alive when he found Campfield for a six-yard gain on fourth-and-4 from the Holmdel 8-yard line.
The Hornets weren’t going out without a fight, as they drove 62 yards in seven plays, highlighted by a 39-yard pass from Cannon to junior running back Matt Scheinman. Cannon scored on a nine-yard run and then found senior tight end Carmine Aliperti for a two-point conversion pass to make it 41-38 with 3:51 remaining.
Holmdel’s defense then rose to the occasion by getting its only stop of the second half to get the ball back, leading to the crushing sequence when Cannon’s fourth-down run was just short.
A Season to Remember
The loss brought an end to a season in which the Hornets won their first state sectional title in the program’s 53-year history.
It also ended the high school journey of Cannon, who will head to Dartmouth next fall after one of the greatest careers of any quarterback in Shore Conference history. He finished this season with 4,420 total yards and 63 total touchdowns.
“It was incredible,” Kavanagh said. “What a pleasure to coach. What a pleasure for all these fans to watch. A legend. A living legend here at Holmdel. He has done everything he could possibly do. It was a beautiful thing to watch, to be a part of. I’m just so glad I was able to help Jack, and Jack was able to help our team. It was a great career.”
Box Score
Cedar Creek 48, Holmdel 38
| H | C | |
| First downs | 15 | 22 |
| Rushes-yards | 27-182 | 37-249 |
| Passing | 15-27-2 | 14-24-1 |
| Passing yards | 197 | 269 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-26 | 5-25 |
| Cedar Creek (11-2) | 7 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 48 |
| Holmdel (9-3) | 8 | 22 | 0 | 8 | 38 |
Scoring Summary
H: Serini 37-yard pass from Cannon (Cannon run).
C: King 57-yard pass from Bethea (Sandoval kick).
H: Serini 13-yard pass from Cannon (Serini pass from Cannon)
C: Campfield 49-yard pass from Bethea (Sandoval kick).
H: Cannon 50-yard run (Mueller kick).
H: Cannon 1-yard run (Mueller kick).
C: Staton 4-yard pass from Bethea (kick blocked).
C: Bethea 60-yard run (Sandoval kick).
C: Bethea 7-yard run (Sandoval kick).
C: Dunbar 1-yard run (Sandoval kick).
H: Cannon 9-yard run (Aliperti pass from Cannon).
C: Campfield 32-yard pass from Bethea (Sandoval kick).
Individual Statistics
RUSHING — H: Cannon 24-153, Scheinman 2-21, Todisco 1-8. C: Dunbar 15-67, Bethea 17-163, Campfield 5-19.
PASSING — H: Cannon 15-27-2 197. C: Bethea 14-24-1 269.
RECEIVING — H: Murphy 5-27, Serini 3-55, Todisco 3-56, Aliperti 2-13, Scheinman 2-46. C: Staton 4-60, King 5-101, Tribett 1-7, Campfield 4-101.
INTERCEPTIONS — H: Serini 1-15. C: Bethea 2-3.
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
