Josh Moeller leads new-look aerial attack, defense dominates as Shore remains unbeaten

WEST LONG BRANCH – Shore Regional senior tight end Braden Miller broke into a wide grin on Friday night when talking about the offense the unbeaten Blue Devils have installed under new coach Don Klein this season.

“It’s safe to say I’m having a ton of fun in Coach Klein’s new offense,” he said. “I absolutely love it.”

Miller is not alone in that opinion, as the new-look Blue Devils showcased the type of aerial attack on Friday night that has never been seen in Shore Regional history and continued to dominate on defense in a 32-0 win over New Egypt (4-1, 4-1) in a matchup of unbeatens in Class D North at Feeney Field.

The Blue Devils (5-0, 4-0) also registered their fourth straight shutout to take over sole possession of first place in the division race while racking up 427 yards of offense. They are now 5-0 for the first time since going undefeated in 2015 and have outscored their divisional opponents 156-0.

Josh Moeller’s career night

Senior quarterback Josh Moeller was 19-for-24 for a school-record 261 yards passing. He tossed two touchdowns, both to Miller, at a program that employed the run-heavy Wing-T for decades under now-retired Hall of Fame coach Mark Costantino.

Moeller threw for 511 yards all last season before Klein — a former Shore Regional quarterback himself — brought a more pro-style attack to his alma mater after coaching for 17 seasons at Ocean. Moeller already has 665 yards passing and seven touchdowns with no interceptions in five games.

“I definitely knew there was going to be more throwing coming my way and more of a responsibility on my shoulders to lead the team this season,” Moeller said. “I didn’t think it was going to be this much throwing in a game, but I definitely knew it was going to be a fun offense to play in.”

Moeller had only attempted 28 passes all season coming into Friday night because the Blue Devils didn’t need to go to the air much when they were blowing out their first four opponents. The scrappy Warriors forced Shore to be more dynamic in the passing game, and Moeller responded by spreading it around to seven different receivers, led by 7 catches for 55 yards by senior wideout Braeden Farmer and 4 catches for 74 yards by junior wideout Jack Madalone.

“It’s a credit to them. I really thought the transition would’ve been a lot more difficult than it was,” Klein said about installing the offense. “Josh actually started on defense last year. When I got the job I said, ‘Josh, we’re going to ask so much of you at quarterback, your defensive days are over.’ There’s so much learning that has to be done that if he had to play defense also, it would stunt that growth.”

Blue Devils’ defense continues to dominate

It also helps curb any anxiety over the learning curve on offense when the defense shuts down one opponent after another. Shore has only allowed one touchdown all season under coordinator Erik Mammano for the lowest total of any team in the Shore Conference. The Blue Devils held New Egypt to 93 total yards on Friday night to hand the Warriors their first loss since becoming a member of the Shore Conference this season.

“Mainly we were focused on stopping the run,” senior linebacker Tommy Schroeder said. “In the second half, I was proud of how we came together to play. We’ve been in the Shore Conference forever. They were a new team, and they were saying all this stuff that the Shore Conference isn’t all that. We really showed them what the Shore Conference is all about.”

“I know if we put up 14 points, we’re probably going to win the game,” Moeller said. “The defense is just that good. I know a shutout is most likely coming. It’s just nice being able to rely on them.”

It took a half for Shore to kick it into gear as the Blue Devils only led 6-0 at the break on a 9-yard touchdown catch by Miller on a drag route on third-and-goal in the second quarter.

 

Josh Moeller hits TE Braden Miller for a 9-yd TD on 3rd and goal, PAT no good, and Shore has broken the ice up 6-0 on New Egypt with 4:03 in the half pic.twitter.com/DT7diexCGb

— Scott Stump (@Scott_Stump) October 4, 2024

“I thought in the first half we didn’t operate as clean as I would’ve liked, but in the second half we did a nice job,” Klein said. “I thought our lack of experience in bigger-type games showed up a little bit. We were kind of frantic a little bit in certain elements. In the second half, I just said, ‘Settle in and play our game.’”

Shore dominates the second half

The Blue Devils made it 13-0 with an 11-play, 82-yard drive that culminated in a 3-yard touchdown catch by Miller with 4:03 left in the third quarter. The big play came when Moeller bought time by rolling away from the rush and finding senior wideout Charlie McQuillan over the middle for a 52-yard catch and run. Moeller also converted a fourth-and-9 by finding Schroeder for a 15-yard gain.

 

Make it 2 TD catches for Braden Miller after Josh Moeller hits him for a 3-yd TD for a 13-0 Shore lead with 4:03 left in the 3rd Q pic.twitter.com/ZVfpbOhdgq

— Scott Stump (@Scott_Stump) October 5, 2024

“He’s not a guy who’s going to go out and run for 150 (yards) like some of the guys I had at Ocean, but he’s athletic and he can buy second chances in the pocket, which he did four or five times tonight,” Klein said about Moeller. “He’s a really good athlete, and he’s really picking things up.”

Shore then began to grind away at New Egypt’s defense with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with senior running back Brendan O’Brien scoring on a 4-yard run for a 19-0 lead. O’Brien finished with 100 yards and two scores on 18 carries as the Blue Devils amassed 166 yards on the ground.

The defense held New Egypt to minus-2 total yards in the second half until a late drive after the game was long decided. The Warriors did not complete a pass on nine attempts in the second half.

“We knew that their QB wasn’t really comfortable throwing and we shut down that run pretty quickly, and he had to throw the deep balls,” Schroeder said. “I’m comfortable in my secondary to shut that off.”

O’Brien added a 24-yard touchdown burst and junior Enzo Cagliostro put the finishing touches on the win with a 55-yard punt return touchdown for the final margin.

What’s next for both teams? 

Shore can now clinch no worse than a tie for its second division title in the last three seasons by beating Neptune on the road next week. New Egypt will look to regroup with a nonconference game against Buena.

While the Blue Devils are pushing for a division title, they’re also eying a deep run in the Group I playoffs, where they are gunning for a No. 1 seed.

“We beat up on the smaller teams, but when it comes to big games like this, it really shows that we can show up and show out,” Schroeder said. “We’re really looking forward to South Group I and even further.”

 

Box score

Shore 32, New Egypt 0

 

.                                          S                   N

First downs                    20                 5

Rushes-yards               36-166       20-69

Passing                         19-24-0         2-16-0

Passing yards                261                24

Fumbles-lost                 1-0                0-0

Penalties                    5-45                2-20

New Egypt (4-1, 4-1)   0  0  0  0 – 0

Shore (5-0, 4-0)          0  6   7  19 – 32

Scoring summary

Miller 9-yard pass from Moeller (kick failed).

Miller 3-yard pass from Moeller (Mazzacco kick).

O’Brien 4-yard run (kick failed).

O’Brien 24-yard run (kick failed).

Cagliostro 55-yard punt return (Mazzacco kick).

Individual statistics

Rushing – S: O’Brien 18-100, Torres 12-91, Moeller 5-(-20), Mazzacco 1-(-5). N: Novatkowski 5-13, Burgos 7-32, Nelson 2-5, Arce 6-19.

Passing – S: Moeller 19-24-0 256. N: Kowaleski 2-15-0 24, Marabuto 0-1-0 0.

Receiving – S: Schroeder 2-23, Miller 2-12, Farmer 7-55, Madalone 4-74, Cagliostro 1-7, McQuillan 1-52, Sasso 2-35. N: Ferris 2-24.

Interceptions – None.

Scott Stump is an award-winning reporter, newsletter writer and editor who first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point.  

Email: [email protected]