Shore Conference Flag Football Championship Preview: Barnegat vs. Middletown South

SHORE CONFERENCE FLAG FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP 

Who: (3) Middletown South vs. (1) Barnegat

Where: At Barnegat High School

When: 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 21

 

BARNEGAT (10-0)

Head coach: Andrew Petruzzi, first season

 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

#0 – Jaynese Viera, Sr., WR/DB (12 catches, 134 yards, 3 TDs)

# 1 – Camila Chamorro, So., QB/S (160-258, 2,795 yards, 40 TD, 3 INT, 522 yards rushing, 2 TD) 

#2 – Julia Giangregorio, Fr., WR/DB (28 catches, 548 yards, 8 TDs/17 sacks, 1 INT) 

#4 – Amaya Afflick, Jr., WR/LB (8 catches, 141 yards, 1 TD/14 sacks) 

#9 – Amaya Martin, Fr., WR/DB (16 catches, 206 yards, 4 TD/5 sacks) 

#18 – Syrah Holmes, So., WR/DB (46 catches, 879 yards, 19 TDs/2 INT) 

#20 – Victoria Hoffman, So., WR (40 catches, 640 yards, 4 TD/11 sacks) 

#24 – Natalya Novitsky, So., R (22 sacks) 

 

MIDDLETOWN SOUTH (10-1)

Head coach: Marc Tomo, 2nd season

 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

#1 – Kaleigh Kapler, Sr., RB/WR/LB (889 total yards, 11 TD) 

#4 – Phoebe Zimmerman, So., DB (52 tackles, 6 sacks, 6 INT) 

#5 – Helana Thompson, So., WR/DB (34 catches) 

#7 – Sunnie Hanning, Jr., LB (41 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 INT) 

#8 – Cam Czwakiel, Sr., QB/S (1,950 yards passing, 25 TD, 1,035 yards rushing, 12 TD, 2 punt return TD) 

#13 – Bella Skalaski, Sr., LB (32 tackles, 8 sacks) 

#20 – Ava Loucopoulos, Sr., WR/DB (29 catches, 696 yards, 13 TD) 

 

ANALYSIS

This is Barnegat’s inaugural season as a program, while Middletown South is also in search of its first Shore Conference flag football title. 

This game will go a long way toward deciding the Shore Conference Player of the Year between Barnegat sophomore quarterback Camila Chamorro and Middletown South senior quarterback Cam Czwakiel. Barnegat sophomore wide receiver Syrah Holmes also may throw her hat in the ring for that honor.

Chamorro has had a monster season in her first year, leading the Shore Conference with 2,795 yards passing and 40 touchdown passes. Czwakiel, who was named the 2025 Shore Conference Player of the Year by the coaches, has lit it up as well. She is only 50 yards shy of 2,000 passing and also has 1,035 rushing with 39 total touchdowns. 

Both teams also have some of the Shore Conference’s top wide receivers. Holmes has become an instant star, leading the Shore in receiving yards (879) and touchdown catches (19), while fellow sophomore Victoria Hoffman and freshman Julia Giangregorio have combined for nearly 1,200 yards receiving. 

Middletown South features senior Ava Loucopoulos, who has a team-high 696 yards receiving and 13 touchdowns, and senior Kaleigh Kapler, a running and receiving threat with nearly 900 total yards. 

Everything starts with Czwakiel on offense for Middletown South, which averages 19.7 points per game. She has explosive speed when she breaks the pocket and the elusiveness to keep passing plays alive. 

Barnegat, which allows a Shore Conference-low 5.3 points per game, has shown against top quarterbacks that it will rush just Natalya Novitsky, who leads the Shore in sacks, while using junior Amaya Afflick as a spy on the quarterback. Afflick came over from the track team and has great closing speed if Czwakiel looks to get outside and run. 

The Bengals don’t have a ton of interceptions, as their real strength is getting in the backfield for sacks and negative plays before the quarterback can even throw it. Giangregorio is another playmaker with good speed on that side of the ball. 

Much of the game may come down to how much Czwakiel can buy time if Barnegat rushes one girl. She often makes the first tackler miss, as she showed in a 31-13 win over Trinity Hall in the semifinals. 

Middletown South also sometimes employs misdirection with two backs in the backfield to try to freeze the defense and give Czwakiel and the receivers another second or two to get open. Kapler is another running threat out of the backfield. 

Loucopoulos has shown she can make contested catches in a crowd, while Kapler is better at finding open space with her speed and eluding tacklers in the open field. If she is able to turn the corner near the sideline, she is gone. Sophomore Helana Thompson also can hurt teams on short underneath routes to keep the chains moving. 

Barnegat’s offense leads the Shore Conference in scoring at 31.7 points per game. While Chamorro is known as the Shore’s most prolific dropback passer, she also has run for 548 yards and 8 touchdowns and can gash teams for double-digit gains if they don’t respect her athleticism. 

Holmes is a matchup nightmare at 6 feet tall. She can go up and get it in a crowd in the end zone, so Middletown South has to find a way to not let her beat them with one big play, which is easier said than done. Loucopoulos may draw the assignment of having to slow her down, with Czwakiel back there playing center field in support. 

Pinelands showed in a 14-7 loss to Barnegat that shutting down Hoffman has a big effect on Barnegat’s offense, so don’t be surprised to see the Eagles keying on her. The Wildcats held her to three catches for 21 yards, which helped them limit the Bengals to their lowest point total of the season. She can be a real problem with her speed in the middle of the field, and the same goes for Giangregorio.

Middletown South sophomore Phoebe Zimmerman, who has six interceptions, could be matched up with Hoffman. Linebacker Bella Skalaski will also be important in pressuring Chamorro, who rarely makes mistakes with only three interceptions in 258 attempts this season. 

No team has scored more than 13 points all season on Middletown South, but this will be the biggest test yet for the Eagles’ defense. 

One X-factor is Czwakiel’s punt return ability. She has taken two to the house this season, so Barnegat may sacrifice some field position just to kick the ball away from her. 

Pinelands was the lone common opponent between the two teams, with Barnegat pulling out a 14-7 win in the regular season and the Eagles rallying to beat them 7-6 in the SCT.

This is the last Shore Conference Tournament before flag football becomes an official NJSIAA sport next spring, so we’ll see if Barnegat cements itself as a Shore power for years to come, or if a determined senior class at Middletown South can finish the job. 

Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point. 

Email: scottstump25@gmail.com