SSI Football Report: Toms River North Breaks Through, Shore Reg. Holds Its Own, Freehold’s ‘Character’ Comeback

Toms River North is growing up fast. 

The young Mariners showed how much their progress has accelerated when they upset Rumson-Fair Haven 37-29 in a nondivisional game last week in a matchup of defending NJSIAA Group champions.

Toms River North graduated the bulk of the star-studded lineup from a team that won its third straight Group 5 title last season, and then struggled to a 1-4 start this season against one of the Shore’s toughest schedules. Now the Mariners (4-4) are back to .500 and picking up steam as they get set to defend their title. 

“Obviously we have a young team, and we were working out the kinks in the beginning of the year,” said junior Jack Baker, one of the Shore’s top linebackers and one of only a handful of returners with experience. “Every game will get easier and easier for us.” 

Toms River North’s offense clicked into gear against the Bulldogs, putting up a season high in points after the Mariners had averaged just 8.5 points in their four losses, including two shutouts. Junior quarterback Logan Brill, who had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of All-Shore quarterbacks Micah Ford and T.J. Valerio, threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the win. 

Baker, who has offers from Princeton, Temple, Syracuse and the University of Pennsylvania, also plays tight end. The coaching staff even split him out wide on some plays against Rumson, and he finished with four catches for a career-high 102 yards and a touchdown. 

“They definitely tried to scheme the pass a little more, and I got a little more involved in the passing game after mainly being a blocker,” Baker said. “(Brill) has really stepped up. He definitely was a little nervous in the beginning of the year, but he’s putting it all together now.” 

Junior Cole Garrison, another top returning star from last year, ran for 107 yards and two scores as the Mariners rolled up 429 yards of offense. It allowed them to jump out to a surprising 31-7 lead and withstand Rumson’s comeback bid. 

Toms River North, which is the latest OIB Ortho Team of the Week for Shore Sports Insider, has now won three straight heading into another pivotal game against Point Boro on Friday night. The Mariners don’t plan on going quietly when it comes to defending their state title. They currently project to be a fifth seed in Central Jersey Group 5 and could move higher with a win and some help. 

“Obviously since the beginning of the year, we had a target on our back from winning state championships,” Baker said. “That target got pulled away when we started losing games, but I think we’re back in a good spot.” 

Shore Regional Holds Its Own Amidst Its Hardest Schedule Ever

Shore Regional got thrown in the deep end this season after dominating its fellow Group I schools last year in winning a division title. 

The Blue Devils were realigned into Class C North, where every divisional opponent is a bigger school, including three Group 4 schools. It’s the hardest schedule Shore Regional has ever had if you go by the Group size of its opponents. 

Shore has more than weathered the storm at 5-2 and gone down swinging in its two losses. It had an extra point blocked in a one-point loss to Red Bank and was in a one-possession game with four minutes to go in a 35-21 loss to No. 9 Manasquan. 

“It’s been about what we expected as far as the level of competition against bigger schools with more players on their roster,” head coach Don Klein said. “Our two losses came down to a handful of plays.” 

A big key has been the play of junior quarterback Logan Clark, who has given the Blue Devils balance with 1,000-yard rusher Cole Torres, a junior who is averaging 8.1 yards per carry for the season. Shore is averaging 32.6 points per game heading into another tough divisional showdown against Matawan on Friday night. 

Clark has thrown for 891 yards and nine touchdowns, and senior Enzo Cagliostro leads a deep receiving group with 16 catches for 190 yards.

“We have 11 different players with at least one catch and five with at least 10, so you really have to defend the whole field,” Klein said. “Usually there’s more of a growing pain process with a first-year quarterback, but the positives have greatly outweighed the negatives, and we’ve made plays in the passing game every week.” 

Shore is also doing it with only 13 seniors, three of whom are out for the year with injuries, and six juniors on its roster. The bulk of the program is 20 sophomores and 25 freshmen. 

“We’re asking a lot of the kids, but they’re showing up and doing a great job,” Klein said. 

The question now is whether the beefed-up schedule will help them in the Group 1 playoffs or hurt them. On the one hand, they have seen much better teams than they will most likely see in their sectional bracket – unless they are aligned with defending Group 1 champion Glassboro. 

However, they also have faced much more physical and bigger opponents than last season, when they went 10-1 against a primarily Group 1 schedule and reached a sectional final. 

“I’d think once the playoffs start, we’ll be very prepared having seen the teams we’ve seen,” Klein said. “But playing larger schools, it does wear on you. We’ve had guys playing banged-up for a couple weeks. It’s definitely opened my eyes because it’s a different set of challenges.” 

Freehold Shows Heart in Comeback Win

In the midst of a 1-6 season and trailing 24-0 in the first half to Keyport last weekend, Freehold could have easily packed it in and gone through the motions for another loss.

Instead, the Colonials rallied all the way back with 28 unanswered points for a 28-24 win for their second victory of the season. It wasn’t a headline matchup of the weekend in the Shore Conference, but it was one of those games away from the spotlight that can reveal a team’s character. 

“When you’re trying to build a program back up and you talk about character and finishing, that game is an example of that, and you try to build on it as best you can,” Freehold coach Derek Reichenbecher said. “I’m really proud of these guys.” 

In his first varsity start, freshman quarterback Adrian KrKuti threw a pair of touchdown passes and played turnover-free football to help fuel the rally. He also had a two-yard touchdown run on the final play of the first half with no time left on the clock that helped cut the lead to 24-8 and start the comeback. 

“It just really sparked us and gave us something to feel good about going into halftime,” Reichenbecher said. 

Senior Julian Isaacs then forced a fumble that junior Jordan McKenzie scooped up and returned 50 yards for a score in the third quarter to continue the momentum. 

“You saw so many different kids who made little plays at different points of the game,” Reichenbecher said. “It was really very much a team effort.”

Notes From Around the Shore

—New Egypt set a pair of single-game school records in a wild 50-43 loss to Asbury Park. Sophomore quarterback Thomas Marabuto threw for a record 401 yards and four touchdowns on 22-for-32 passing. He had 712 yards for the entire season before his record-setting eruption. Also, senior wide receiver Clyde Ferris had seven catches for a record 263 yards along with three touchdowns. He had 368 yards receiving all season before the game against the Blue Bishops. 

—Junior quarterback Jake Garrett has now scored touchdowns for two different Shore Conference teams in the same season. He ran for one for Red Bank Catholic in the second game of the season, and he ran for one for Ocean last Saturday in his debut for the Spartans after transferring from RBC on Sept. 15. He also had a sack for a safety in a 22-0 win over Colts Neck. 

—Wall senior linebacker/edge rusher Justin Davis continues to be in the mix for Shore Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He had a dominant game in a 21-0 win over Marlboro with 10 tackles, 4 sacks and 4 tackles for a loss.

—Manalapan junior quarterback Cameron Desfosse became the first Braves quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in 27 years when he threw for 306 and two touchdowns on only eight completions in a 23-22 loss to Donovan Catholic. The last Manalapan quarterback to go over 300 yards was Pete DiCataldo in 1998.

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