Rumson strikes back in rivalry with RBC behind O’Toole, Angstreich and Murray

RED BANK – After enduring another offseason of chatter about being on the wrong end of a lop-sided rivalry with Red Bank Catholic, Rumson-Fair Haven had an emphatic message on Thursday  night.

Enough.

“This was circled for a while,” senior quarterback Owen O’Toole said. “We were told all offseason and all season long last year that it’s not a rivalry any more, and we wanted to make a memory, and we wanted to continue the rivalry.”

The Bulldogs, ranked No. 2 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, dominated the final three quarters with an explosive offense and an attacking defense to beat No. 3 RBC 26-11 at Count Basie Field and clinch no worse than a tie for the Class A North title. It’s Rumson’s first win over the Caseys (3-3, 3-1) since 2019 and just their second in the last 23 years of the rivalry.

The Bulldogs held RBC to its lowest point total in the series since beating the Caseys 6-2 in 2002. They also ended the Caseys’ 17-game winning streak against Shore Conference competition and became the first Shore public school to beat them since Middletown South in 2020.

 

Rumson celebrates with the Dawg Pound after clinching at least a tie for the Class A North title pic.twitter.com/5RwwPfgijx

— Scott Stump (@Scott_Stump) October 11, 2024

“We’ve seen all the senior classes go through and it’s heartbreaking,” said senior wide receiver Jordan Angstreich, who had a monster game. “This is the biggest game we’ll ever have. We knew we had to take it personally.”

Bulldogs pile up yards 

Junior running back Kellen Murray was a workhorse with 184 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 31 carries, one game after putting up 212 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Manchester. O’Toole threw for 256 yards and a touchdown, and Angstreich finished with a career-high 204 yards receiving and a touchdown on eight catches. He’s the first receiver in the Shore Conference to go over 200 yards receiving in a game this season.

The Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0) outgained RBC 453-174 and had 23 first downs as their offensive line dominated.

“They’re bigger, they’re stronger,” Angstreich said. “They’re the best O-line in the Shore. We knew if we kept Owen clean, we’re going to get the ball down the field, and that’s what we did.”

The defense held the Caseys to only three yards rushing on 24 attempts and sacked RBC senior standout Frankie Williams five times in the second half and picked him off twice.

“We knew they had a young O-line, and we just practiced getting in their heads and just confusing them, and we executed it perfectly,” said senior defensive lineman Frank Argilagos, who was in the backfield constantly on his way to three sacks and two tackles for loss.

Angstreich jumpstarts Rumson

It was actually Red Bank Catholic that came out strong by taking an 11-0 lead after the first quarter on a 22-yard touchdown catch by freshman wide receiver Jason Berecsky and a career-long 45-yard field goal by Blake Caruso.

Rumson’s offense had only produced two first downs by that point before O’Toole and Angstreich sent a jolt of electricity through the Bulldogs. O’Toole found Angstreich on a crossing route over the middle and he took off for a 79-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 11-7 with 10:37 left in the half. It kickstarted a 19-point quarter for the Bulldogs.

“I saw the middle of the field wide open,” Angstreich said. “I saw Owen’s eyes light up. We’ve been practicing that all week. I just had to take that to the house.”

“That gave us a huge momentum shift,” Murray said. “We came out firing the rest of the game.”

The defense forced a three-and-out, and Rumson responded with a 12-play, 71-yard drive that culminated with a 3-yard touchdown run by Murray to make it 13-11 after a two-point conversion attempt was no good. The Bulldogs converted a fourth-and-5 when O’Toole hit senior Nick Economou for an 11-yard gain, and then moved the chains on a 4^th-and-14 when O’Toole found senior wideout Carson Memmott for a 17-yard strike to the RBC 11-yard line.

“In a game like this, you have to be aggressive,” Rumson head coach Jeremy Schulte said. “We knew they could score at any moment, and we wanted to keep the ball out of their hands as much as we possibly could.”

“We trust our offense. We’re very talented, we have a lot of weapons, and we’re very confident. And we don’t like to punt,” O’Toole said before smiling.

Rumson’s huge second quarter gives them a halftime lead

The defense then got it right back when Memmott recovered a fumble at Rumson’s 49-yard line on RBC’s ensuing possession. Nine plays later, Murray cruised into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown and a 19-11 lead the Bulldogs took into the break. Once again, O’Toole, who has more than 5,000 yards passing in his career, converted a fourth down when he hit Angstreich for six yards on fourth-and-5.

Rumson’s defense set the tone in the second half by getting sacks or hits for a loss on five of RBC’s first six plays from scrimmage and crushing their run game. RBC only ran the ball three times after halftime, which allowed the Bulldogs to swarm Williams in the backfield on almost every dropback.

“We knew they were an inside running team, so we really worked on controlling the inside,” Argilagos said. “Once we did that, they started passing, and we just had to buckle down, and the secondary did a great job.”

Even when Rumson lost a fumble at the RBC 2-yard line late in the third quarter, the Bulldogs shook it off and got a stop. It led to a 6-play, 86-yard drive that featured a 54-yard strike from O’Toole to a wide-open Angstreich down the sideline and a 4-yard touchdown run by Murray for a 26-11 advantage with 26 seconds left in the third quarter.

Murray ran for 92 yards in each half, using his cutback style to constantly gash the middle of the RBC defense.

“The O-line made the cuts very obvious for me,” Murray said. “They just did their job.”

“All of Owen’s great passes opened up the run game,” senior offensive lineman Matt Smith said. “They weren’t too heavy in the box in the second half, and we just used that against them.”

Bulldogs make their case for No. 1 

Rumson’s defense took it from there, allowing only 21 total yards in the second half. Memmott made a sensational one-handed interception, and senior defensive back Evan Ridgway made one of his own by wrestling the ball away from an RBC receiver in midair.

It added up to a rare victory in the 21^st century for the Bulldogs in a rivalry that dates to 1947. RBC now leads the all-time series 38-23-6.

Not only was it a satisfying win against a longtime rival, the Bulldogs know it’s another line on a resume they believe is better than unbeaten Toms River North’s when it comes to the No. 1 ranking in the Shore Conference.

Rumson beat No. 4 Point Boro 41-28 in the season opener, whereas Toms River North escaped with a 24-21 win on a last-second field goal against the Panthers. The Mariners have wins over two other ranked teams in No. 5 Brick Memorial and No. 10 Howell, while RFH boasts the wins over Point Boro and RBC.

“I think we got better wins than Toms River North,” O’Toole said. “I think we deserve that No. 1 spot. I wish we played them, but I think our matchups and our wins go ahead of them.”

“I think this was a huge statement game,” Smith said. “I think it shows we’re the best team in the Shore Conference, and we’re going to continue to be.”

What’s next for each team?

The Bulldogs, who are 6-0 for the first time since 2018, will take on Donovan Catholic in a nondivisional game. They can then clinch the outright Class A North title with a victory over winless Colts Neck on Oct. 25.

O’Toole is also closing in on a major milestone. After Thursday night’s performance, he now has 5,617 career passing yards, which is only 19 away from breaking the school record set by Michael Roberto (5,635).

It doesn’t get any easier for RBC, which has state-ranked Paramus Catholic coming to Count Basie Field next week for a nonconference game.

 

Box score

Rumson-FH 26, Red Bank Catholic 11

 

.                                  RBC                 RFH

First downs               12                     23

Rushes-yards          24-3                35-197

Passing                  17-29-2             16-26-0

Passing yards           171                   256

Fumbles-lost            1-0                   1-1

Penalties                  6-60                 3-25

Rumson-FH (6-0, 4-0)   0  19  7 0 – 26

RB Catholic (3-3, 3-1)   11  0  0  0 – 11

Scoring summary

RBC: Berecsky 22-yard pass from F. Williams (P. McGonnell run)

RBC: Caruso 45-yard field goal.

RFH: Angstreich 79-yard pass from O’Toole (Memmott kick).

RFH: Murray 3-yard run (pass failed).

RFH: Murray 8-yard run (kick failed).

RFH: Murray 4-yard run (Memmott kick).

Individual statistics

Rushing – RBC: M. Lonczak 7-19, Mosenthine 6-10, Scaturro 1-2, F. Williams 9-(-24), Bongiovi 1-(-4). RFH: Murray 31-184, O’Toole 4-13,

Passing – RBC: F. Williams 17-29-2 171. RFH: O’Toole 16-26-0 256.

Receiving – RBC: Zabora 3-64, Berecsky 4-41, Mosenthine 5-(-5), J. Williams 4-56, M. Lonczak 1-15. RFH: Thomas 2-16, Economou 3-14, Murray 2-5, Memmott 1-17, Angstreich 8-204.

Interceptions – RFH: Memmott 1-15, Ridgway 1-0.