Response After Response, Winslow Outlasts No. 1 Red Bank Catholic

RED BANK — Every time the Shore Conference’s top-ranked team appeared ready to take control, Winslow answered.

Sophomore quarterback Javon Thompson delivered the final answer for the Eagles, connecting with senior wide receiver Jayion Moss for a 33-yard touchdown to break a late tie and lift Winslow to a 31-24 road victory Saturday.

The win improved Winslow to 4-2 and capped a back-and-forth second half in which Red Bank Catholic took the lead three times, only for the Eagles to erase each advantage. Sophomore running back Gabe Kemp carried the Caseys with 189 yards and three touchdowns on 35 attempts, but Winslow’s speed in space, quick passing game and ability to produce explosive plays ultimately tilted the matchup.

“We may have had a lot of yards, but we really didn’t get the balance we wanted through the air,” RBC coach Mike Lange said. “We’re more balanced than how we looked today. We got our run game going because of what they were giving us. Gabe ran really hard. Twenty-four points is great, but our standard is a little higher than that.”

Kemp consistently made the first defender miss and turned narrow creases into productive gains. He ran with patience behind the Caseys’ offensive line, pressed the front side of blocks and punished Winslow when its pursuit flowed too aggressively by cutting back into vacated lanes.

RBC’s offense found success through Kemp and junior wideout Berecsky, but struggled to generate consistent production elsewhere. Sophomore quarterback Rahmir Rivera completed 13 of 24 passes for 124 yards, with junior wide receiver Jason Berecsky accounting for nine receptions and 89 yards.

With Kemp carrying the load on the ground and Berecsky responsible for the bulk of the passing production, Winslow was able to focus its defense on RBC’s two most productive weapons and limit the Caseys’ ability to find another consistent option.

The Caseys had opportunities from the start. Their opening possession reached the red zone behind a mixture of Kemp runs and short completions to Berecsky, but RBC handed the ball to Kemp on fourth-and-9 and gained only 2 yards.

After its defense answered with a fourth-down stop, RBC returned to Kemp. He handled seven carries for 33 yards and caught a 16-yard pass before finishing the drive with a 5-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.

Winslow needed only one opening.

Senior athlete Ka’Ron Ceaser, a Penn State commit projected as a defensive back at the next level, burst through the second level and outran RBC’s secondary for a 52-yard touchdown. A missed extra point kept the Caseys ahead, 7-6, but the play foreshadowed the problems Ceaser would create throughout the matchup.

Ceaser finished with 118 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries while adding three receptions for 29 yards. His biggest contribution was still to come.

RBC’s defense repeatedly stiffened near its own goal line. After Winslow forced and recovered a Berecsky fumble, Thompson found senior wide receiver Andrew Kratee, a Toledo commit, for 42 yards to the Caseys’ 2.

Senior linebacker Luke Scaturro dropped a runner for a loss, and junior linebacker Brock Goodman broke up a pass to force Winslow to settle for sophomore kicker Adnan Kassou’s 20-yard field goal and a 9-7 lead.

Senior kick returner Mikey O’Neal immediately flipped the field with a 50-yard kickoff return. A block-in-the-back penalty wiped out a completion from Rivera to senior tight end TJ Walsh, but sophomore kicker Simon Picinich converted a 36-yard field goal. to give RBC a 10-9 lead.

Berecsky preserved that lead with an interception late in the second quarter, although another block-in-the-back penalty erased his long return.

The Caseys carried their momentum into the third quarter. Junior defensive end Asher Cummins recorded a sack to help end Winslow’s opening possession, while Navy commit Lorenzo Tartamella, a senior defensive end, also generated pressure with a sack of his own. A short punt gave the Caseys possession at the Winslow 38, and Kemp touched the ball on five of the next six plays before scoring from 8 yards out for a 17-9 advantage.

Winslow drove inside RBC’s 15 on its next possession, but the Caseys produced another fourth-down stand. Their ability to compress the field and close throwing windows in the red zone kept them ahead, even as Winslow found space between the 20s.

That space came from a combination of scheme and execution. Winslow spread the field, identified the cushion in RBC’s coverage and let Thompson work through a quick route tree featuring hitches, slants, screens and throws to the flat. Those completions forced the Caseys’ defensive backs to drive downhill, creating opportunities for Moss and Kratee on deeper routes.

Thompson completed 18 of 29 passes for 275 yards. Moss caught eight passes for 128 yards and the winning touchdown, while Kratee added four receptions for 88 yards.

“At times, we were misaligned,” Lange said. “We were giving guys too much space. Kudos to them. They threw hitches and slants, but we practiced that all week. We were just giving them too much room and missing too many tackles in space. They had a good game plan.”

Winslow did not need its offense to score the next touchdown. Ceaser fielded a punt, found a crease along his sideline and accelerated through RBC’s punt unit for a 75-yard return before catching Thompson’s pass for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 17.

Ceaser accounted for 20 of Winslow’s 31 points, scoring twice on the ground and once on special teams before adding the two-point reception. More importantly, each of his touchdowns erased or cut into an RBC lead, making him the centerpiece of every Eagles response.

The Caseys responded with their best drive of the night. They did not have a negative play or an incompletion as Kemp gained 45 yards on seven carries, Rivera found Berecsky for completions of 20 and 4 yards and Kemp finished the march with a 10-yard touchdown.

Once again, Winslow answered.

Thompson completed his first three passes on the ensuing possession, including a 34-yard connection with Kratee. An unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty against RBC added 15 yards after a pass breakup, and Ceaser scored on an 11-yard run to tie the game at 24 with just more than eight and a half minutes remaining.

The Caseys punted on their next possession, giving Winslow the ball at its own 34 with 3:18 left. Thompson remained patient against RBC’s coverage before finding Moss behind the secondary on a fly route for the go-ahead touchdown.

RBC mounted one final push. Kemp ran for 12 yards, and Rivera found Berecsky for 18 more to reach the Winslow 30. Four consecutive incompletions ended the comeback attempt.

The defeat was RBC’s second of the season, but neither loss has come against a Shore Conference opponent. The first was a narrow setback against DePaul in a game the Caseys led for most of the night and came close to closing out.

This loss will reopen the conversation surrounding the top spot in the Shore, particularly with Donovan Catholic surging, but RBC will have little time to dwell on it. Long-time rival Rumson-Fair Haven comes next before the showdown against Donovan.

“Rumson week. That’s all it is,” Lange said. “We have a rearview-mirror approach. That’s a very good team. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do here tonight, but I think Rumson is an opportunity to get us back where we need to be.”

Kemp ran well enough to keep pushing RBC ahead, and the defense produced enough red-zone stops to protect those leads. Winslow simply found one answer too many.

With Rumson next and Donovan looming, the next opportunity for a response belongs to the Caseys.