Wall capitalizes on turnovers to roll past Matawan

ABERDEEN — There are moments in every football game where mistakes are made, and the response to those miscues is often the difference between a win or a loss. Wall had plenty of opportunities come its way on Friday night and the Crimson Knights didn’t waste any time cashing in.

Junior linebacker Justin Davis recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass as part of a five-turnover night for Wall, which jumped on Matawan early and rolled to a 34-7 Shore Conference nondivisional victory on Friday night at Barry Rizzo Stadium.

Junior strong safety Jack Murphy also had an interception while sophomore Kai Smith and junior linebacker Thomas Plisky recovered fumbles that led to touchdowns in the first quarter. The Crimson Knights turned four of the five turnovers into 27 points to start 1-0 for the first time since 2020 and earn the program’s first road victory since 2021.

Senior running back Mason Adam helped pace the offense with 80 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 17 carries plus three receptions for 43 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown reception. Sophomore quarterback Francesco Scaramellino completed 9 of 10 passes for 115 yards and a score in his varsity debut and juniors Heath Reinhardt and Dylan Cohen added touchdown runs.

“A lot of guys stepped up today. it was just a great effort out of everyone,” Adam said. “People went down and other kids stepped up.”

“Sometimes you have to learn how to win, I’ve been through it before,” Wall head coach Ed Gurrieri said. “When you do, all of a sudden things start to go your way. We made a lot of those breaks for ourselves and we capitalized on them.”

 

An early momentum swing

Wall won the coin toss and deferred its choice to the second half. That decision paid immediate dividends when Matawan fumbled the opening kickoff and Smith smothered the loose ball at the Huskies’ 21-yard line. One play after running back Joe Vaccaro converted a fourth and one, Adam sliced through the defense for an 11-yard touchdown run and a quick 7-0 Wall lead.

Senior quarterback Am’ir Martinez broke free for a 29-yard gain on the Huskies’ first offensive play, but Matawan would turn the ball over again on the next play when a completed pass was fumbled and Plisky pounced on it at the Matawan 44-yard line. Wall took four plays to move to the 31-yard line where Reinhardt took a jet sweep in for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead. The extra point was blocked by Matawan standout lineman Jayden Elijah.

The trend continued on the game’s fourth series. Martinez ran for 23 yards down to the Wall 37-yard line and the Huskies gained another first down at the Wall 25. But a sack on first down was followed by Davis intercepting a middle screen and returning it to the Matawan 32-yard line. This time, the Huskies dug in and forced a turnover on downs at their own 25. The jolt of momentum was brief, however.

A sack by Davis and consecutive offensive penalties doomed Matawan’s drive and forced a punt from just inside midfield. Wall marched right down the field with a 27-yard pass from Scaramellino to senior wide receiver Derrick Boss and a 25-yard pass to junior wideout Maddox Mizelle down to the 1-yard line where Adam scored his second touchdown of the game for a 20-0 lead.

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On the second play of Matawan’s next drive, the snap was fumbled and Davis recovered for Wall at the Huskies’ 31-yard line. The Crimson Knights needed only one play to get back into the end zone when Scaramellino hit Adam over the middle and he raced untouched across the goal line to extend the lead to 27-0.

“I went out like I was blocking and turned upfield, and it was a great throw,” Adam said. He threaded the needle and no one was in my way to the end zone.”

Matawan got on the board late in the first half on a 2-yard touchdown run by Martinez to cap a nine-play, 75-yard drive and send the game to halftime at 27-7.

Midway through the third quarter, Matawan put together a 13-play drive that advanced all the way to the Wall 2-yard line, but the Huskies committed three false start penalties inside Wall’s 10-yard line before turning the ball over on downs when a pass was dropped in the end zone on fourth down.

In the fourth quarter, Wall put the game on ice when Murphy jumped a route for an interception which he returned to the Matawan 6-yard line. Cohen took it in for a touchdown on the next play to cap the scoring.

 

Scaramellino impresses in debut

There were surely some butterflies, but Wall sophomore quarterback Franny Scaramellino certainly looked the part in his first varsity action after winning the preseason quarterback competition. He completed his first eight passes for 110 yards – all in the first half – and didn’t throw an incompletion until his 10th and final attempt. He had three completions of 25 yards or more plus his first career passing touchdown.

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“I was expecting him to play great and he did better than expected,” Adam said. “He made a lot of great throws.”

“He’s crazy athletic and a confident kid,” Davis said. “He used to be a running back so he can really run. He can do it all.”

If Scaramellino continues to develop and produce more games like Friday night’s, Wall will have great offensive balance with Adam and the running game.

“He made some big plays when he had to,” Gurrieri said. “For his first Friday night under the lights, I thought he did a great job. He’s going to be a good one down the road.”

 

Week 0 strikes again

It wasn’t the cleanest game for either team in several aspects. Matawan turned the ball over five times and was penalized eight times for 50 yards. Wall didn’t turn the ball over but was flagged eight times for 73 yards. Then there were the cramping issues.

It was a humid night on the turf at Bruce McCutcheon Field and both teams had multiple players go down with cramps. It got so bad for Wall in the second half that players who weren’t expected to see the field were tasked with keeping Matawan from getting back into the game.

“We came out and had a great first half and then survived the second half,” Gurrieri said. “I don’t know how we did it. We lost half our team with cramps and we played a lot of sophomores in the second half. But they didn’t score so it worked out for us.”

 

What’s next for both teams?

Wall travels to Colts Neck on Saturday, Sept. 7 for a nondivisional game. The Cougars open with Marlboro on Saturday, Aug. 31. Matawan will host Central Regional, which defeated Hightstown in its season opener.

 

 

Box Score

Wall 34, Matawan 7

 

	Wall	Matawan
First downs	10	17
Rushes-yards	28-119	30-184
Passing	9-10-0	8-13-2
Passing yards	115	77
Fumbles-lost	1-0	4-3
Penalties-yards	8-73	8-50

 

	1	2	3	4	F
Wall (1-0)	13	14	0	7	34
Matawan (0-1)	0	7	0	0	7

 

Scoring Summary

W — Mason Adam 11-yard run (Heath Reinhardt kick)

W — Heath Reinhardt 31-yard run (kick blocked)

W — Mason Adam 1-yard run (Heath Reinhardt kick)

W — Mason Adam 31-yard pass from Francesco Scaramellino (Heath Reinhardt kick)

M — Am’ir Martinez 2-yard run (Mark Fanelli kick)

W — Dylan Cohen 6-yard run (Heath Reinhardt kick)

 

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — W: Mason Adam 17-80, Heath Reinhardt 1-31, Tony Credle 2-8, Joe Vaccaro 1-1, Francesco Scaramellino 7-(-1); M: Am’ir Martinez 13-91, Colin Palumbo 16-90, Welman Crooms 1-3.

PASSING — W: Francesco Scaramellino 9-10-0, 115; M: Am’ir Martinez 8-13-2, 77

RECEIVING — W: Mason Adam 3-43, Derrick Boss 1-27, Maddox Mizelle 1-25, Tony Credle 2-10, Heath Reinhardt 2-10; M: Kasey Bodin 3-34, Eric Martinez 3-20, Colin Palumbo 1-12, Welman Crooms 2-7.

INTERCEPTIONS — W: Justin Davis 1-28, Jack Murphy 1-35