Shore Playoff Storylines: Best Chances to Win a Title, Potential Surprise Teams

The state playoff journeys for 25 Shore Conference public school teams begin this week, with three victories standing between calling it a season or winning a ring. 

It’s the most pressure-packed and exciting time of the year, when stories that will get retold at reunions in 20 years are born. 

Here’s what to watch as the postseason gets underway. You can see all the seeds and brackets here. We will get to the non-public brackets next week after they are seeded this weekend. 

Which public teams from the Shore Conference have the best chance to bring home NJSIAA sectional titles? 

On paper, it might be a team that hasn’t won an NJSIAA sectional title in 30 years: Middletown North. 

The Lions are the No. 1 seed in North 2 Group 4, so they have home field advantage the whole way. Rahway is a solid No. 2 seed but not unbeatable by any stretch. This is a very winnable bracket if the Lions put forth their best effort. 

Middletown North just suffered its first loss, 43-42 to a .500 Freehold Township team, so we’ll see if that was a wakeup call that will propel them to their first title since 1996, or a sign that there are some cracks in the armor. This team reached the Central Jersey Group 4 final last year before falling to Brick Memorial, so it has made a run before. 

They have a balanced offense between senior running back Matt Belenko and junior quarterback Derek Grasso, and a defense led by linebacker Kade Little that had been solid all season up until the loss to the Patriots.

The ingredients are there, and this is also a year ending in “6,” which is a positive omen for the Lions. In years ending in “6” in their 107-year history, they are 61-16-4 and have won four state titles (1926, 1946, 1986, 1996), according to team historian Ray Veth. Also, they reached a sectional final in 2016. 

Normally, Rumson-Fair Haven and Brick Memorial would be the no-brainers in this conversation. However, both of them have some heavyweights in their respective brackets that put them in the unfamiliar role as underdogs. Can they both win their brackets? Yes. Is it a lock like it has been for them in some recent years? Not at all. 

Brick Memorial is the No. 1 seed and defending champion in Central Jersey Group 4, but looks like it will have to run the gauntlet of fourth-seeded Millville in the semifinals and then possibly third-seeded Atlantic City in the championship game. Atlantic City is ranked No. 12 in the state by NJ Advance Media, and Millville was ranked before dropping out this week. Brick Memorial is No. 19.

The good news is all the games will be on Brick Memorial’s home field. The Mustangs have never won back-to-back NJSIAA sectional titles, so they are chasing history. They also fear no one after playing a tough schedule in Class A South and outside the division. 

Last season, they went down to Winslow Township and nearly shocked a loaded team expected to beat them handily, so rankings mean nothing to them. They will be ready, but it won’t be anything like last year when they were a huge favorite to win the bracket. 

As for Rumson-Fair Haven, the Bulldogs reached a Shore Conference-record 11 straight sectional finals before losing in the semifinals to Wall last year. They are a Group 2 mainstay, but they have to deal with a newcomer this season. They are the No. 2 seed in Central Jersey Group 2 behind Glassboro, which got realigned into Group 2 from Group 1 due to the NJSIAA’s competitive balance policy after being classified as a choice school. 

Glassboro is essentially a super team created with multiple players who do not live in the district. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 13 in the state by NJ Advance Media and are led by Oregon recruit Xavier Sabb, one of the top players in the country. 

That means Rumson would most likely have to take care of business against Sterling in the first round, potentially beat rival Point Boro in the semifinals and then go to Glassboro for the final. Point Boro has its own designs on upending Rumson and becoming the Shore team to square off with Glassboro. 

Glassboro could end up having to go through two Shore teams to win the section if Manasquan wins its first-round matchup and then either Rumson or Point Boro make the final. 

Rumson has pulled off many stunners in its state playoff history and plays a strong schedule, so the Bulldogs won’t be intimidated. If that Rumson-Glassboro matchup comes to fruition, it will be a question of whether their high-octane passing attack behind junior quarterback Brady Williams can overcome a team with its own explosive passing offense. The other scenario is Point Boro will try its contrast in styles to shorten the game, run the ball and shock Glassboro. Either way, the Shore team in the final will be the underdog. 

In South Jersey Group 5, the Shore is just about guaranteed a finalist out of the trio of Southern, Manalapan and Toms River North. However, whichever team emerges from that scrum will almost certainly have to deal with a powerhouse Washington Township (9-0), ranked No. 3 in the state by NJ Advance Media. 

Can the dream seasons at Pinelands and Monmouth continue with playoff runs? 

This is the million-dollar question for two fanbases who have enjoyed a season like no other in their program’s history. Both teams are 9-0 for the first time and have already set the school record for wins in a season. 

However, they did it against schedules that raise the question of whether they are prepared to face more battle-tested teams in the postseason. Pinelands had three regular-season wins over playoff teams (Brick/Toms River South/Barnegat) while Monmouth had two (Brick/Barnegat). 

It looks like Pinelands has the better shot to keep making school history. The Wildcats have Triton (4-4) at home and then a game against the Red Bank-Oakcrest winner if they reach the semifinals. Those are both very winnable games, but Pinelands has only won one playoff game in the history of its program back in 2004. The Wildcats will have to put another chapter in the record book to reach their first final. Their calling card is their defense, which is always good to have in the playoffs when moving the ball can get a lot harder. 

Monmouth has a tough draw with a game against Wall in the first round. The Crimson Knights have reached consecutive sectional finals and are a perennial playoff threat, and they played a much harder schedule than Monmouth. The Falcons are making a big leap in competition from the Shore’s Class D North to facing an A North team, so if they pull this off, they will have everyone’s attention. 

At the very least, they have retired New York Giants great Eli Manning in their corner, and he knows a thing or two about pulling off upsets in big games.

 

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Has the Shore ever had a season where no teams won state sectional titles? 

It’s only happened twice, in 2012 and 1985, excluding the 2020 pandemic season when there were no playoffs. With no obvious heavyweight favorite this year, it’s going to take Shore squads winning as underdogs or ending long droughts, like Middletown North capturing its first state title since 1996. 

The most sectional titles the Shore has ever won in a season is six, which occurred in 2014 and 2015. 

Will there be a surprise sectional finalist this year? 

Middletown North made a strong run to the Central Jersey Group 4 final as an underdog last year. Who is that team this year? 

Wall felt like a good pick to me in South Jersey Group 2 with an opening game at Monmouth and then most likely West Deptford in the semifinals. However, standout junior running back Mike Boulard was on crutches after getting injured in Wall’s final regular-season game, a 31-7 loss to the Shore’s No. 1 team, Red Bank Catholic. 

Without him, knocking off traditional power West Deptford, which is ranked No. 20 in the state, might be a lot tougher if they reach the semifinals. I still think the Crimson Knights have a shot to grind out a win there. 

Another possible candidate is Holmdel. It’s weird to call the Hornets a possible surprise finalist considering they won their first state sectional final in school history last season, so they are a defending sectional champ.

Regardless, they enter as the No. 3 seed in North 2 Group 3 and would have to beat perennial playoff team Somerville in the first round and then go on the road against Wayne Hills, which is ranked No. 18 in the state. Holmdel is battle-tested from Class A North, and they won’t be facing a better team than the RBC squad they saw in the regular season. 

The final candidate for me is Shore Regional. The Blue Devils have a winnable game at Manville in South Jersey Group 1 and then most likely would travel to top-seeded Schalick in the semifinals. Shore played a challenging schedule for a Group 1 team, but Schalick is considered one of the favorites to win the overall Group 1 title. Did Shore’s schedule prepare the Blue Devils enough to stun the top seed? With Cole Torres in the backfield, there’s always a shot. 

What teams are hot heading into the postseason? 

Manasquan has outscored its last three opponents 109-0 going into the Central Jersey Group 2 playoffs and is finally whole after an injury-plagued season for senior quarterback Kyle Dow. The bad news is that if they can get by Gloucester City on the road in the first round, they run into Glassboro. 

Point Beach has won six straight heading into a formidable first-round matchup in Central Jersey Group 1. The Garnet Gulls are the No. 8 seed and would send a shockwave through the tournament if they toppled No. 1 Paulsboro on the road in the first round. 

Brick Memorial has won six straight, including wins over Southern and Rumson-Fair Haven, as it enters the playoffs as the top seed in Central Jersey Group 4. 

While one game doesn’t constitute “hot,” Freehold Township just stunned previously unbeaten Middletown North, 43-42, for its biggest win of the season. The Patriots’ Air Raid offense can cause chaos for defenses that haven’t seen it before, and they travel to Williamstown in Central Jersey Group 5. They also have senior quarterback Dakota Lasater back and healthy, and they are a different team with him in the lineup. 

Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999. 

Email: scottstump25@gmail.com