Atlantic Physical Therapy Shore Conference Football Top 12, 10/7/25
We’ve now reached “put a bunch of names in a hat and shake it up” levels of parity in the Shore Conference when it comes to doing the rankings.
Brick Memorial’s epic, 55-41 win over last week’s No. 2 team, Holmdel, has thrown the Atlantic Physical Therapy Shore Sports Insider Top 12 into a complete tailspin.
Good luck trying to rank Holmdel, Brick Memorial, Rumson-Fair Haven and Donovan Catholic in some kind of order that doesn’t have multiple teams yelling that they’ve been disrespected.
Here’s how it breaks down:
- Rumson beat Brick Memorial and lost to Holmdel.
- Holmdel beat Rumson and Donovan Catholic and lost to Brick Memorial. Holmdel’s other loss is by one point to No. 1 Red Bank Catholic.
- Donovan Catholic beat Brick Memorial and lost to Holmdel. The Griffins also have a loss to unranked Jackson.
- Brick Memorial beat Holmdel and lost to Rumson and Donovan Catholic.
Meanwhile, Southern is 6-0 for the first time in program history, and Manalapan has not lost to a Shore Conference opponent all season, so those teams have put their best foot forward as well.
At this point, it’s basically evaluating a team’s full body of work. How many quality wins do they have, and do they have any bad losses?
The good news is that this should get sorted out on the field. Brick Memorial and Southern play next week, Manalapan has the 1-2 punch of Wall and then Donovan Catholic, and Donovan Catholic has Point Boro this week.
Then it’s on to the state playoffs, where several of those teams could take home sectional titles. We’ll see how it all shakes out.
No 1 Red Bank Catholic (6-0). Last week: No. 1.
The Caseys got a battle from rival St. John Vianney, picking up a 24-14 win in a game that was tied at 7 at halftime. Freshman running back Gabe Kemp erupted for a career-high 282 yards and two touchdowns on a workhorse-level 42 carries to power the win. Junior linebacker Luke Scaturro continued his strong season with 11 tackles, and junior defensive end Lorenzo Tartamella added a sack and two tackles for a loss. Now comes a massive game against their oldest rival. RBC can clinch no worse than a tie for the Class A North title with a win. Next game: Friday at No. 5 Rumson-Fair Haven (4-1).
No 2 Southern (6-0). Last week: No. 4.
Junior quarterback Carson Abbato (4) and senior running back Aidan Covell (1) have helped Southern off to its best start in school history. (Photo credit: Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)
The Rams are the only other unbeaten team in the Shore Conference after starting 6-0 for the first time in their 67-year history. They have dominated defensively, only allowing a Shore Conference-low 35 total points all season after beating Lacey 35-0 last week. This is the highest they have been ranked in the Shore since the days of 2008, when they won a school-record 10 games and reached a sectional final with former Penn State standout linebacker Glenn Carson as their star. Carson Abbato threw for 186 yards and two touchdowns and linebacker Niko Iliescu had seven tackles and a sack to power the defense in the win over Lacey. They have crushed everyone in Class B South and can clinch no worse than a tie for the division title with a win this week. Next game: Friday vs. Manchester (0-6).
No 3 Manalapan (5-1). Last week: No. 5.
The Braves move up two spots as they prepare for the defining stretch of their regular season. They took care of Brick 34-6 for their fifth straight win, as junior quarterback Cameron Desfosse threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another. They play No. 10 Wall this week and can clinch at least a tie for the Class B North title with a win. That game is followed by a nondivisional matchup with No. 7 Donovan Catholic a week later. We’re about to find out if this team is for real. Next game: Friday at No. 10 Wall (3-2).
No 4 Holmdel (3-2). Last week: No. 2.
I can already hear it now. “But they just lost!” The Hornets have two quality wins over Rumson-Fair Haven and Donovan Catholic, both of them on the road. They also scored 30-plus points in both of those games, and they have no bad losses. They took No. 1 RBC to the brink in a 29-28 loss. They lost their second straight in a 55-41 shootout with Brick Memorial last week. Senior quarterback Jack Cannon was at it again, with 277 yards passing and 183 yards rushing and five touchdowns in the loss. Next game: Friday vs. Marlboro (2-4).
No 5 Rumson-Fair Haven (4-1). Last week: No. 3.
The Bulldogs get pushed down two spots thanks to Holmdel’s loss to Brick Memorial. They have Top 10 wins over Point Boro and Brick Memorial, both of them by at least four touchdowns, although the one over the Mustangs was without standout quarterback Jason Lajara in the lineup for Brick Memorial. Rumson’s only loss is to Holmdel. The Bulldogs are coming off their bye week into the biggest game of their season. They have the opportunity to present their case to be No. 1 by beating Red Bank Catholic. Next game: Friday vs. No. 1 RBC (6-0).
No 6 Brick Memorial (4-2). Last week: No. 7.
Jason Lajara’s monster game powered Brick Memorial to its biggest win of the season over Holmdel. (Photo by Steve Meyer)
The Mustangs move up a spot after their 55-41 thriller over last week’s No. 2 team, Holmdel, behind a school-record performance from senior quarterback Jason Lajara. He threw for 411 yards, one of the highest totals in Shore Conference history, and four touchdowns, and also ran for three touchdowns. It was the best single-game performance by any player in the Shore this season. Brick Memorial has Top 10 wins over Wall, Point Boro and Holmdel. Their losses are to Rumson without Lajara and a one-point loss to Donovan Catholic. Now they face their longtime rival, and then can make their case to move back into the top tier when they face No. 2 Southern a week later. Next game: Friday vs. Brick (3-3).
7 Donovan Catholic (3-3). Last week: No. 6.
The Griffins drop a spot after all the commotion caused by Brick Memorial’s win. I understand if this doesn’t sit well considering they beat the No. 6 team head to head. However, with all the resumes being fairly even, Donovan’s loss to Jackson is the only loss to an unranked team by any of the four in the Rumson-Donovan-Holmdel-Brick Memorial quartet, and it was by four touchdowns. They have one Top 10 win, 15-14 over Brick Memorial. The Griffins are coming off a 35-0 win over Toms River East in which freshman quarterback Chris McClaren threw for a pair of scores and junior running back Alex Staten had a pair of touchdowns. They can bolster their resume this week in a Top 10 matchup in Class A South. Next game: Friday at No. 9 Point Boro (2-3).
8 Manasquan (4-1). Last week: No. 8.
The Warriors are coming off their bye week for a crucial game that should all but decide the Class C North title. Next game: Saturday vs. No. 12 Red Bank (4-1).
9 Point Boro (2-3. Last week: No. 9.
The Panthers are coming off their bye week and can make a push higher in the rankings when they face another tough Class A South foe this week. Next game: Friday vs. No. 7 Donovan Catholic (3-3).
10 Wall (3-2). Last week: No. 11.
Yet another team coming off their bye week, the Crimson Knights have a chance to make a statement and seize the spotlight this week. A win over No. 3 Manalapan clinches at least a tie for the Class B North title on top of the rankings implications. Next game: Friday vs. No. 3 Manalapan (5-1).
11 Red Bank (4-1). Last week: No. 12.
The Bucs rolled over Ocean 35-0 for their fourth straight win behind three touchdown passes from Brett Laude. Now comes their biggest game of the season. A win would clinch at least a tie for Red Bank’s first division title in 10 years. Next game: Saturday at No. 8 Manasquan (4-1).
12 Matawan (4-2). Last week: Unranked.
Matawan and Cayson Williams are off to a 4-2 start. (Photo by Joseph Szutyanyi)
The Huskies reenter the rankings after a 37-14 win over Raritan that they led 37-0 at one point. It snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Rockets in their rivalry series and marked their first win over them in 11 years. Sophomore quarterback BlairCarter Gagneron accounted for three total touchdowns to help lead the way. Matawan has a win over No. 8 Manasquan on its resume and its only loss to a Shore Conference team is to No. 11 Red Bank. Next game: Friday vs. Long Branch (0-6).
Dropped out: Jackson (2-4). The Jaguars lost 21-3 to unranked Middletown South as their offense struggled for a second straight week.
Knocking on the door: St. John Vianney, Central, Neptune, Middletown South.
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
