Take Two: Shore Regional Reaches 2nd Straight Sectional Final With Win Over Point Beach

Shore Regional is heading back to a state sectional final for the second time in two seasons under head coach Don Klein after a 30-6 win over visiting Point Beach in the Central Jersey Group 1 semifinals on Friday night.

The second-seeded Blue Devils beat the sixth-seeded Garnet Gulls (7-3) for the second time this fall after routing them 63-7 during the regular season.

In the championship game, Shore will travel to top-seeded Burlington City, which romped past previously undefeated Manville 52-14 on Friday night to reach its first state sectional final in 46 years.

Fortified by a much tougher regular-season schedule and the experience gained in a 31-0 loss to Woodstown in last year’s Central Jersey Group 1 final, Shore is seeking to get over the hump for its first state title since going 12-0 in 2015. The Blue Devils were 10-0 last season before the lop-sided loss in the final.

“We feel like we’re better prepared this year to handle that game for a couple of reasons,” Klein said. “Our staff has been here longer now in our second season, and the regular season helped prepare us better. We’re excited about the opportunity. Burlington City’s got a really good team with some talented kids, but as a program we feel better equipped than we were last year.” 

Running back Cole Torres continued his brilliant junior season on Friday night with 213 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Junior quarterback Logan Clark and senior running back Mike Marotta each added rushing touchdowns, and John Mazzacco booted a 31-yard field goal.

The defense once again bottled up Point Beach’s prolific aerial attack and the school’s all-time leading passer, senior quarterback Matthew Rossi. It ended Point Beach’s best season since 2019, which included a division title.

“The defense was lights out,” Klein said. “They didn’t have positive yards rushing. It felt like it was a dominant effort, and Cole was special on offense.”

Shore has won six in a row after a two-game losing streak against Manasquan and Red Bank, a pair of playoff qualifiers, in Class C North. The Blue Devils were realigned into a tougher division with all bigger schools this year after going unbeaten in the small-school division last season.

“Since the back-to-back losses to Manasquan and Red Bank, our practice habits have been outstanding,” Klein said. “Being around the kids for a full offseason and a second full regular season, the kids are better equipped to handle the stress that comes with playing in big games.” 

Shore will now have to solve Burlington City (10-1), whose only loss is 8-0 to a Burlington Township team that reached the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals. Burlington City, which is also nicknamed the Blue Devils, is led by explosive senior running back Donte Davis, who has 1,824 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns on an average of 10.5 yards per carry. He ran for 199 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries on Friday night.

“After playing the game tonight, the kids celebrated the win, but we’re locked in on next week,” Klein said. “We are collectively ready to get back to work on Monday.” 

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