Miracle at Manalapan: Fumble Recovery at Goal Line helps No. 5 Donovan Catholic survive No. 9 Manalapan 23-22

MANALAPAN –With Donovan Catholic clinging to a 23-22 lead over Manalapan, a hush came over the entire Donovan Catholic side of the field.

Manalapan had third-and-goal from the one-yard line with 1:10 remaining in the game. The Griffins’ backs were against the wall as either one more yard or a short field goal on the following down was likely to beat them.

Needing a miracle, the Griffins’ defense surged off the ball and Manalapan junior quarterback Cameron Desfosse fumbled the snap, which led to Donovan Catholic junior defensive lineman Jason Madden emerging with the loose ball, allowing the Griffins, ranked No. 5 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, to come away with a huge nondivisional victory over the No. 9 Braves.

“Winning on the road is not easy,” said Donovan Catholic head coach Dan Curcione. “We made a play. We kept fighting. We gave them a few (turnovers) throughout the night.  It wasn’t a pretty game on our end, but it was nice that we got one to end it.”

The game started slowly, with both teams fumbling on their opening drives. On the Griffins’ second possession, an 11-play, five-minute drive that stalled at the Braves’ 19-yard line, Donovan Catholic senior kicker Blake Caruso booted a 36-yard field goal to put the Griffins up 3-0.

The Braves got the ball with 4:26 left in the opening quarter. On the third play of the drive, a third-and-nine from their own 24, Desfosse connected with a wide-open senior wide receiver DJ Corsaro on a beautiful 76-yard touchdown. Desfosse ran in the 2-point conversion, giving Manalapan an 8-3 lead.

The Griffins then struck right back. After a 37-yard run by junior quarterback Kahden Davis got the ball to the Manalapan 3-yard line, junior running back Diondre Foendoe ran untouched into the end zone, putting Donovan Catholic back in front 10-8.

The Griffins extended their lead to 17-8 with 3:28 left in the first half on a 75-yard missile from Davis to junior wide receiver Aidan Kelly, who evaded a tackler before reaching paydirt.

The Braves were not done. On their first play after the kickoff, Desfosse found senior wideout Ryan Melendez for a 67-yard touchdown pass that bounced off the hands of a Griffin defensive back and into the waiting arms of Melendez.

The 2-point try was no good, and Manalapan now trailed the Griffins’ 17-14 with 3:14 left in the half.

After a Donovan Catholic punt, the Braves got the ball back with 1:47 left in the half. A 52-yard pass from Desfosse to Melendez moved the ball from the Manalapan 46-yard line to the Griffins’ 2. Junior tight end Ethan Fogelstrom then plunged in from two yards out and also ran in the 2-point conversion, giving the Braves a 22-17 lead at halftime.

“Coach told us in the locker room that we were shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Donovan Catholic senior tackle Kai Pritchard, an Illinois commit. “We did a great job of stopping the run, but gave up two big pass plays toward the end of the half. We just had to get ourselves settled and lock in. I am proud of our guys, the way they settled down in the second half.”

After an uneventful third quarter that saw the Griffins drive inside the Manalapan 30-yard line on two drives in a row only to turn the ball over on downs each time, the tension in the air was thick as both teams headed to the fourth quarter.

A three-minute Manalapan drive resulted in a punt that gave Donovan Catholic the ball at its own 20-yard line. On second-and-six from their own 24, Davis found sophomore wide receiver TJ Hunter open at the 35. Hunter broke a tackle, then spun away from two more tacklers and raced down the Donovan sideline for a 76-yard touchdown. A failed 2-point conversion left the Griffins with a 23-22 lead with 8:13 left in the game.

“Kahden made the right read,” said Curcione. “He’s a very talented kid, and TJ made an exceptional play, breaking a tackle and getting to the end zone.”

Manalapan went six plays before its drive stalled on its own 42, and the Braves had to punt the ball back to Donovan Catholic with 5:39 left.

The Griffins gained two first downs on the drive, a 26-yard run by Davis on a third-and-9, and a pass interference penalty on a long pass to Kelly. The pass interference penalty put the ball at the Braves’ 31-yard line. On the next play, Manalapan got new life when the Braves recovered a fumble on their own 23-yard line with 3:00 remaining.

On first down from the 23, Desfosse hit senior running back Ah’sere Woolfork on a wheel route. The pass covered 56 yards down to the Griffins’ 21 yard line.

A first-down run by Melendez then got the ball to the 10, where the Braves had first-and-goal.  A 4-yard Melendez run got the ball to the 6, and  a personal foul for unnecessary roughness on the Griffins moved the ball to the 3-yard line.

A 2-yard Desfosse run got the ball to the one, putting Manalapan right on the doorstep of a potential win.

On third-and-goal, Desfosse couldn’t handle the snap, and Madden dove in to recover the loose ball with 1:03 left. After a few timeouts, the Griffins’ were able to run the clock out, sending the ecstatic Donovan Catholic faithful back to Toms River with their fourth win in a row.

“Once we got huddled up and went over the situation, we knew we had done this before,” said Pritchard. “Last week we made a stop at the half-yard line, then drove the ball down the field for the game-winning field goal. We had the same mentality as last week, and just got the job done.”

Donovan Catholic (5-3) goes on the road again next week, as the Griffins take on Howell (3-5) at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

Manalapan (5-3) goes down the road, as the Braves take on district rival Freehold Township (5-3) with an outside chance of winning a share of the Class B North crown if they can win as well as have St. John Vianney defeat Wall.

 

Stats:

Passing

Donovan Catholic: Davis 8-18 235 2 TD

Manalapan: Desfosse 8-15 295 2 TD

Rushing

Donovan Catholic: Staten 4-15; Nicolas 15-120; Davis 8-64; Roberts 4-16; Kelly 1-3; Foendoe 2-7

Manalapan: Woolfork 4-57; Palmieri 8-17; Melendez 8-31; Desfosse 6-29; Englestrom 2-4 TD; Corsaro 4- minus 4

Receiving

Donovan Catholic: Kelly 1-75 TD; Madden 1-17; Roberts 3-55; Hunter 2-83 TD; Staten 1-5

Manalapan: Melendez 4-142 TD; Savage 2-21; Corsaro 1-76 TD; Woolfork 1-56