Sea Breeze Ford Shore Conference Football Scoreboard: State Finals & Thanksgiving

Shore Conference Football Scores and Recaps

 

WEEK 13

Thursday, Nov. 28

Thanksgiving Games

Class C North

Manasquan 13, No. 8 Wall 7

Junior Dylan Lu returned a fumble for a touchdown and junior quarterback Matt Antonucci ran for a touchdown when the Warriors (6-5) built a two-score halftime lead and held on to stun the Crimson Knights (8-3).

Wall had a chance to clinch a share of the Class C North division title with the victory. Instead, Holmdel secured the outright division title to give the Hornets consecutive division championships for the first time in program history.

A driving rain storm turned Vic Kubu Warrior Field into a mud pit and Manasquan was able to take advantage early when Lu scooped up a backward pass that was ruled a lateral and returned it for a touchdown. It was a huge emotional lift for the Warriors after standout junior running back Ace Etienne suffered a serious leg injury and was taken from the field by ambulance. In the second quarter, Antonucci scored on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line to give Manasquan a 13-0 advantage.

Wall made it a one-score game with under two minutes left when junior Heath Reinhardt hauled in a 31-yard touchdown pass from Brian McKenna. Manasquan recovered the onside kick with 1:52 left. A fumbled snap gave Wall one more opportunity to win the game, but 4 straight incomplete passes including pass breakups by junior linebacker Jake McDaid and senior linebacker Jackson Battaglia sealed the victory for the Warriors.

In addition to his fumble return touchdown, Lu ran for 100 yards on 25 carries, intercepted a pass, and recorded a team-high five tackles. Sophomore Dax Klein had two tackles for loss and a forced fumble, sophomore Nick Loughery had one sack, and senior Adam Murphy and sophomore Lucas Kubu recovered fumbles.

 

Nondivisional

Middletown South 32, No. 6 Middletown North 22

Sophomore defensive back Michael Mullane returned an interception 83 yards for a touchdown and senior Brendan Sliva and sophomore Justin Rosato each ran for two touchdowns as the Eagles (4-7) continued their turkey-day dominance over the Lions (8-2).

Middletown South has now won eight straight games versus Middletown North and 24 of the last 25 in the Thanksgiving Day series.

Sliva scored on a 6-yard run and Rosato added a 1-yard touchdown when Middletown South built a 13-0 first-quarter lead. Mullane’s pick-6 made it 19-0 before Middletown North got on the board with a 65-yard pass from junior quarterback Owen Robson to sophomore Danny Siegler to cut the Eagles’ lead to 19-7 at halftime.

Middletown North closed the gap to 19-14 when Jovanni Fernandez blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. Middletown South would not relinquish its lead, however, adding to its advantage on Rosato’s 12-yard touchdown run. Siegler caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Robson in the fourth quarter to pull Middletown North within 25-22, but Sliva’s 1-yard touchdown run gave Middletown South a 10-point lead.

Sliva ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries and Rosato ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. Middletown South held Middletown North to 62 rushing yards on 23 attempts.

Siegler had three catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns in a breakout performance and Robson completed 8 of 12 passes for 171 yards and two scores for Middletown North.

 

 

 

Friday, Nov. 29

NJSIAA Group 5 State Final

At Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford

Toms River North 41, Union City 14

The Mariners (14-0) won their third straight Group 5 title and finished unbeaten for the second time in three seasons, as senior quarterback T.J. Valerio threw four touchdown passes, three of them to senior running back Mordecai Ford, in a rout of the Soaring Eagles (11-2).

Toms River North extended the state’s longest current winning streak to 19 straight games and 39 in a row against public school opponents. The Mariners have also won 15 straight state playoff games, and they have won all three Group 5 titles since the NJSIAA expanded the playoffs in 2022.

Valerio finished 13-for-18 for 159 yards passing and four touchdowns and also ran for 56 yards against a Union City defense that entered allowing only 8.9 points per game. Ford had seven catches for 79 yards and also had a two-point conversion catch for the Mariners.

Sophomore quarterback Cole Garrison added 83 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 6 carries, including a 57-yard touchdown run to blow the game open in the fourth quarter. Senior Nasir Jackson added a 25-yard touchdown catch and had a 60-yard kickoff return that helped set up a touchdown.

The Mariners’ defense held Union City’s Wing-T offense, which has two 1,000-yard rushers, to 86 yards rushing, 47 of which came after the score was 41-14. Union City had 145 total yards in the loss.

 

Wednesday, Dec. 4

NJSIAA Group 2 State Final

At Rutgers University, Piscataway

Rumson-Fair Haven 26, Shabazz 24

Junior running back Kellen Murray ran for 170 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries, senior quarterback Owen O’Toole ran for a score and delivered two huge fourth-down conversions, and the defense came through with clutch stops in the middle quarters as Rumson (13-0) won its first state title and completed the program’s first undefeated since 1959.

Down 16-6 midway through the second quarter, Rumson scored three straight touchdowns between the 4:40 mark of the second quarter and 6:06 left in the fourth quarter to surge to a 26-16 lead. Shabazz scored a late touchdown with 17 seconds left but Rumson recovered the onside kick to clinch the historic victory. Murray had touchdown runs of 3, 7 and 17 yards and O’Toole had a 1-yard touchdown run. Junior tight end Jack Gymimesi and senior tight end Carson Memmott had critical catches to covert fourth downs, including a 22-yard gain by Memmott on 4th-and-7 from the Shabazz 38-yard line with 6:35 left. The conversion led to Murray’s 3-yard touchdown run for a 26-16 lead.

Junior linebacker Dylan Plesser recorded a game-high 15 tackles (9 solo) with one pass breakup and sophomore defensive lineman Ben Gredell had 7 tackles, 1 sack and 3 tackles for loss to lead Rumson’s defense. Junior defensive back Beau Devine intercepted a pass and broke up two others.