NJSIAA Football Group 2 State Semifinals Preview: Rumson-Fair Haven vs. Point Boro
NJSIAA FOOTBALL GROUP 2 SEMIFINALS
WHO: Point Boro (10-2) at Rumson-Fair Haven (11-0)
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Borden Stadium at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School – 74 Ridge Road, Rumson.
POINT BORO’S ROAD TO THE STATE SEMIFINALS: Defeated Gloucester City 41-13 in the sectional quarterfinals; defeated Manchester 49-14 in the semifinals; defeated Camden 15-7 in the South Jersey Group 2 sectional final.
RUMSON’S ROAD TO THE STATE SEMIFINALS: Defeated Spotswood 48-0 in the sectional quarterfinals; defeated Delran 56-28 in the semifinals; defeated Wall 38-14 in the Central Jersey Group 2 final.
POINT BORO’S BEST WINS: 30-14 over Donovan Catholic; 34-24 over Central Jersey Group 4 semifinalist Jackson Memorial; 27-24 over Central Jersey Group 4 finalist Brick Memorial; 38-6 over Howell; 49-14 over South Jersey Group 2 semifinalist Manchester; 15-7 over South Jersey Group 2 finalist Camden.
RUMSON’S BEST WINS: 41-28 over South Jersey Group 2 champion Point Boro; 26-11 over Non-Public B quarterfinalist Red Bank Catholic; 35-6 over Central Jersey Group 4 semifinalist Marlboro; 42-7 over South Jersey Group 2 semifinalist Manchester; 38-14 over Central Jersey Group 2 finalist Wall.
PLAYOFF HISTORY: Rumson won its third straight sectional title and ninth overall by defeating Wall, 38-14, to win the Central Jersey Group 2 championship. That mark is tied with Toms River North for the third most in Shore Conference history. It was also the Bulldogs’ Shore Conference-record 11th straight appearance in a sectional final. Rumson has appeared in the last two NJSIAA Group 2 championship games and will try to win its first state title and complete the program’s first undefeated season since 1959. The Bulldogs are 41-16 in the state playoffs…Point Boro secured the fifth sectional title in program history and first since 2021 with a 15-7 win over Camden in the South Jersey Group 2 final. The Panthers’ previous title was in 2021 and they also reached the sectional final in 2023. This will be Point Boro’s first appearance in a group semifinal since the current playoff format began in 2022. The Panthers have a 24-16 all-time postseason record. This will be the first meeting of Shore Conference teams in the state semifinals.
ANALYSIS
It’s a game we figured would have a good chance of happening, and here it is.
Point Boro.
Rumson-Fair Haven.
Round 2.
Ever since Rumson scored a 41-28 win over Point Boro in a Week 1 matchup of championship contenders, eyes were on a potential rematch somewhere in the NJSIAA Tournament. After the Bulldogs won the Central Jersey Group 2 title and the Panthers claimed the South Jersey Group 2 crown, the two Shore Conference stalwarts will square off Friday night at Rumson’s Borden Stadium with a trip to the Group 2 state championship game at stake.
By now, everyone should know the basics. Rumson’s high-octane offense is the No. 1 scoring unit in the Shore at 41.8 points per game and just put 38 on a good Wall defense in the sectional final. Senior quarterback Owen O’Toole has put together one of the best seasons of any New Jersey quarterback with 2,454 yards and 25 touchdowns. The Bulldogs’ offense has great balance with junior running back Kellen Murray having rushed for 1,332 yards and 26 touchdowns and senior wideout Jordan Angstreich becoming the first player in program history with 1,000 receiving yards (1,041 and 13 TDs) in a season. Senior wideout Nick Thomas is also one of the Shore’s best and will enter the game with 693 yards and 9 touchdowns. The offense operates behind a dependable offensive line led by seniors Matt Smith and Jack Mauthe.
Rumson-Fair Haven senior quarterback Owen O’Toole. (Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com).
Point Boro also has one of the top offenses in the Shore, but goes about piling up the yards and points in a very different way with its flexbone triple-option offense. Senior fullback Dylan Reitmeyer went over the 1,000-yard mark with 152 yards in the win over Camden and has a team-high 18 touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Jake Clayton has 863 yards and 17 touchdowns and sophomore slotback Nick Spanola has 674 yards and six touchdowns. The Panthers average 35.1 points per game.
Both teams have good defenses with Rumson allowing 12.7 points per game and Point Boro allowing 16.3 points per game.
The first meeting saw Rumson jump out to a 28-7 halftime lead and hold off a furious Point Boro rally in the second half where the Panthers ran for most of their 289 yards. Clayton ran for 144 yards and three touchdowns, including a highlight-reel run where he broke multiple tackles. The Panthers had two critical turnovers in their own end that led to Rumson touchdowns, however, which made the difference in the Bulldogs’ 14-point win. O’Toole threw for 196 yards and three touchdowns to lead Rumson’s offense, but it was Murray rushing for 138 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries that helped the Bulldogs close out the game in the fourth quarter after Point Boro had pulled to within six points.
To flip the script, Point Boro will need to play the entire game like it did the second half of the first meeting when it ran for 246 yards and three touchdowns. Avoiding turnovers will also be crucial for Point Boro. And as always, a run-heavy team can’t afford to fall behind by too many points in order for its ball-control offense to remain effective. It will come down to the execution of the triple option. If Point Boro is consistently getting five yards a carry and sprinkling in some big gains, it can have the double effect of keeping Rumson’s offense off the field and limiting the number of possessions for the Bulldogs’ high-scoring unit.
Both Rumson and Point Boro feel they are very different teams from the ones who took the field in Week 1. The contrast is obvious for Point Boro in both positive and negative ways. Standout senior two-way lineman Lou DiBiase did not play in the first game because he had to sit out the first three games per the NJSIAA’s transfer rule after coming to Point Boro from Donovan Catholic. Spanola had yet to really take off and give the Panthers a true threat as the third option on the outside. Their presence has been huge for Point Boro. Conversely, the Panthers are down two linemen after senior Paul Hagenmeyer was lost for the season in a September 20 win over Jackson Memorial and senior Slade Samaritano suffered a serious leg injury during the sectional final.
Point Boro sophomore quarterback Jake Clayton. (Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com).
Defensively, Point Boro is coming off its best game of the season and one of the best performances in program history when it held an explosive Camden offense to just seven points. The challenge versus Rumson is even greater, and the Panthers have seen that firsthand. Rumson can win by either throwing it or running it with equal effectiveness. The Bulldogs also run a warp-speed, no-huddle offense that has left teams scrambling to adjust on the fly. Point Boro’s weakness the past few seasons has been passing teams throwing the ball over the top for long touchdowns. The Panthers answered that question last week but will have to do it again against O’Toole, Angstreich, Thomas, and company. Slowing down Murray may be even more important, because if Rumson is operating in second-or-third-and-short most of the game, it’s going to be incredibly hard for Point Boro to slow them down. Point Boro brought pressure on almost every play against Camden and quarterback Makhi Brunson so it will be interesting to see if defensive Shane O’Connor has a similar plan versus O’Toole.
Rumson would like a repeat performance of Week 1 ideally with better run defense and tackling. Point Boro has rushed for at least 210 yards in every game so the Panthers are going to get yardage. The key will be forcing turnovers and playing stout red-zone defense. Nobody has slowed Rumson down all season as the Bulldogs have scored at least 34 points in 10 of 11 games, so the pressure will be on Point Boro’s offense to match Rumson if the Bulldogs are having their usual success. Rumson’s offense is better now than when it scored 41 on Point Boro in its first game of the season. How does Point Boro go about closing that gap?
A huge factor on Friday night could be the weather. The current forecast has the game-time temperature at 41 degrees with light but steady rain and winds around 10 mph. It will be much windier earlier in the afternoon and that could linger as we get closer to kickoff. Wind, not rain, is a passing team’s worst enemy, so any gusting winds could force Rumson to keep it on the ground more often. The rain would affect Point Boro more because of all the ball fakes, pitches and action at the mesh point present in the flexbone. If the ball is slick it could force Point Boro to avoid risky pitches and run more of a double option with Clayton and Reitmeyer inside. The wind and rain could also have an impact on the kicking game, and in a matchup this tight that could be the difference.
Rumson is in the midst of arguably the greatest season in program history with the best offense it has ever fielded. After two straight agonizing defeats in the Group 2 final, the Bulldogs are on a mission to return to Rutgers and finish the job to end a historic season. Brian Staub took over as Point Boro’s head coach in 2018, and after three sub-.500 seasons, the Panthers returned to their winning ways with a 10-2 record and a sectional title in 2021. They are 38-7 since the start of the 2021 season and have been one of the Shore’s best teams. Like Rumson, they routinely compete with Group 3, 4 and 5 schools.
The atmosphere should be electric on Friday night in Rumson. The only thing left to find out is which team will punch its ticket to the state final.
