Holmdel Flag Football Sets School Record in Win over St. John Vianney to Remain Unbeaten

HOLMDEL — The biggest test for Holmdel’s flag football team during its best start in program history came at the perfect time with a season-defining stretch looming next week. 

The Hornets were tied going into the fourth quarter for the first time all season on Thursday, but they didn’t blink as sophomore quarterback Claire Gillespie tossed a pair of touchdown passes to seal a 27-14 win over host St. John Vianney that kept Holmdel alone in first place in the Shore Conference North Division. 

“We haven’t had a close game like this all year,” Gillespie said. “We were really just trying to prepare for next week against the top two teams in the Shore, and I think today we showed that we’re going to be ready. I think this was a good one to prepare because we knew it wasn’t going to be easy from the beginning.” 

Holmdel (6-0, 6-0) has already set the single-season school record for wins as it gets set to face three-time defending Shore Conference champion Rumson-Fair Haven and a strong Middletown South team next week in games that will decide the North Division title. Before they could get to all that, they had to fend off a tough Lancers team that had won three in a row after a season-opening loss to Rumson. 

They also had to do it without sophomore all-around standout Julia Kern, who had rotated with Gillespie at quarterback. She suffered an ankle injury last week, which meant Gillespie was stepping in as the full-time starter for the first time. 

She responded by erupting for a career-high 220 yards passing and three touchdowns on 15-for-24 passing, including a clutch 17-yard touchdown strike on fourth-and-goal that broke a 14-14 tie in the fourth quarter. 

“We already knew Claire was a winner,” said Holmdel coach Noel Kavanagh, who coaches the Hornets alongside Melissa Menges and also coaches the boys football team in the fall.

“I knew that she was that type of player that she could make some plays. Obviously we miss Julia, she brings a different element, and they’re both really great quarterbacks, but it didn’t surprise me at all what we saw today from Claire.” 

Holmdel jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when junior running back Christianna Ishak scored on a six-yard run to cap a 10-play, 61-yard drive. Gillespie then hit senior Julia Applegate for the extra point. 

St. John Vianney responded on the ensuing drive when quarterback Gabriella Castellanos hit sophomore Ava Lepore with a short pass, and she took off for a 32-yard touchdown. Castellanos then found Naila Davis for the extra point to knot it at 7-7 with 7:46 left in the half. 

The Hornets responded immediately when Gillespie threw back across the field to senior Rachel Yasnowski, who zoomed for a 66-yard touchdown on Holmdel’s first play after St. John Vianney’s game-tying touchdown. Gillespie then ran in the extra point for a 14-7 advantage that the Hornets took into halftime. 

“Claire hits that all the time,” Kavanagh said. “Something she does really well is read the defense, and she can deliver the ball. We were like it’s there, we’ve just got to find the time to do it, and she hit it. Yaz, when she gets the ball, she can go.” 

The Lancers (3-2, 3-2) battled right back when Castellanos scored on a six-yard run to cap an 11-play, 52-yard drive and then found Davis for the extra point to tie it at 14 with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. Holmdel had not given up more than a single touchdown in any game this season before Castellanos found paydirt to send the game into the fourth quarter all tied up. 

“There were a little bit of nerves, but we knew that we could pull away in the end and score in the fourth,” Gillespie said. 

“I think it just shows our intensity, our team spirit and our ability to stick together,” junior wide receiver Lia Gordon said. “I think we just kept our heads high. We know how good we are.” 

Holmdel took the lead for good when Gillespie, who is in her second season of playing flag, made one of the biggest throws of her young career. The Hornets were facing fourth-and-goal from the 17-yard line when Gordon got behind the defense and Gillespie found her for a touchdown with 6:28 left in the game for a 20-14 lead. 

“My teammates trusted me to throw that pass, so I think it was really just the communication between us all,” Gillespie said. 

“It’s all kind of a blur,” Gordon said. “I kind of put my head down, saw the ball coming and made the play.” 

The defense then forced a three-and-out thanks to a flag pull by freshman Ella Roche on third-and-6, which gave the ball right back to the offense. Four plays later, Gillespie found sophomore Sophia Kern for a 27-yard touchdown pass and then ran in the extra point for a 13-point lead with 1:52 remaining. 

Sophomore Emma Jackstadt then iced the win with an interception in the final seconds. 

“We were tested a little bit today, and we saw a lot of resolve,” Kavanagh said. 

Kavanagh engineered the Shore Conference’s highest-scoring offense last fall behind record-setting quarterback Jack Cannon for the Holmdel boys team, which won its first NJSIAA sectional title in program history. This is his first season coaching flag football, but he has made an immediate impact. The Hornets are averaging 28.2 points per game after scoring 19.6 per game last season. 

“I feel like coach ‘Kav’ has given us the ability to manipulate defenses,” Gordon said. “The offense is more complicated, but I feel like our IQs are all good, so we’ve been able to take it all in.” 

“I was like, ‘Is this too much for them?” Kavanagh said. “But they really understand, and every game we can put in a little bit more.” 

Now the question is whether the Hornets can compete with heavyweights like Rumson-Fair Haven and Middletown South. They already have a win over the Keansburg team that beat Middletown South. 

“Really our whole entire season has been leading up to next week, so we’re definitely ready,” Gillespie said. 

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