The (Re-)Arrival: Asbury Park falls to unbeaten Manville 35-0 in first playoff appearance since 2022

MANVILLE — On a windy, brisk Halloween night, the Asbury Park football team all took a knee in the end zone, following its loss to Manville in the Central Jersey Group 1 quarterfinal round. In the huddle, all the coaches who spoke preached the same message.

We will be back.

It may have been hard to digest in the moment, especially considering the Mustangs’ (10-0) 35-0 victory, but in head coach and former Blue Bishops (5-4) state title-winning signal caller Will Johnson’s second year at the helm, the future is bright after the first playoff appearance for the program since 2022.

“We preach a lot about family here,” Johnson said after the game. “So for us, it’s more so, keep your heads high, you guys played your butts off.”

Even though the season came to an end on Friday, the feeling amongst the huddle was that this program is just beginning in its return to the promised land. The program that holds seven sectional titles returns a large portion of their roster, and the youth program has continued to prepare the high school team for success.

Winning up front

In the four-seed versus five-seed matchup, Manville made history on its home field, winning the first playoff game in program history and notching a record-setting tenth win on the year. The Mustangs used their unique two-quarterback Wing T offense to win in the trenches, with four of the five touchdowns coming on the ground. On the other side of the field, their stout defensive front held strong, “containing” star senior running back Amiere Massie to “only” 88 rushing yards on 18 carries.

On the game’s opening possession, the Blue Bishops’ defensive line stuffed Manville senior running back Isaiah Bennett for consecutive one-yard gains. On third down, however, senior quarterback Josh D’Ambrosio lofted a 61-yard touchdown pass over the middle to a wide-open Sammy Echeverri, his fellow senior quarterback counterpart.

Asbury Park got the ball back to start its night offensively, and the drive started solidly. After four plays, the Blue Bishops had worked their way into Manville territory, with Massie and senior quarterback Ny’John Kirkpatrick moving the ball on the ground. On first down from the Mustangs’ 38-yard line, a Massie run was called back due to holding, setting up a first-and-20. From there, disaster struck. Kirkpatrick tried a jet sweep with senior wideout Kingston Dunkley, but the exchange was fumbled. While Dunkley recovered it, Manville’s defense was all over him in the backfield, resulting in another ten-yard loss. Asbury Park punted two plays later, and it would not get deep in opposing territory again until late in the third quarter.

The passing game struggled, as all six of Kirkpatrick’s pass attempts fell incomplete. The Blue Bishops tried to set up opportunities for the senior to make plays with designed roll-outs and scramble opportunities, but Manville’s defense flew around the field all night and closed up any lanes for him to make big-time throws. He also finished with 18 yards rushing on five attempts.

Manville, on the other end, fired on all cylinders on offense. D’Ambrosio completed all four pass attempts for 123 yards and the touchdown to Echeverri, and ran for 165 yards and a score on 14 carries. Echeverri ran for a touchdown of his own late in the fourth quarter, and finished with 37 yards rushing on four carries, while Bennett scored two touchdowns on the ground as part of a 74-yard night on 13 carries. He also caught two passes for 45 yards.

Missteps doom the Blue Bishops

While the Mustangs executed at a high level all night long – a performance that would likely have beat several other teams playing on Friday – the Blue Bishops fell behind with mental errors. The aforementioned holding and fumble combination derailed the first drive, but both teams churned out long and methodical drives in the first half, leading to a 14-0 deficit at the half. After winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, Asbury Park felt like it was still in a solid spot, helped by the fact that the defense picked up a major fourth-down stand at the Blue Bishops’ four-yard line in the final seconds of the first half.

Dunkley hauled in a bouncing kickoff at his own 20-yard line, and weaved in between sidelines and tacklers to take it 80 yards for a momentum-shifting score.

The officials disagreed, throwing a flag for holding on the return and wiping out a potential turning point for the visitors. They went three-and-out and punted on the ensuing drive, starting at their own 30-yard line.

“A lot of mistakes on our behalf,” Johnson said. “Of course, they played well, but a lot of mistakes on our behalf, putting ourselves behind the sticks, mental mistakes, penalties, things like that. You can’t win a game that way.”

Following the punt, the Mustangs worked an eight-play, 83-yard touchdown drive capped off by two big plays from D’Ambrosio. He fired a 37-yard pass to Bennett to convert on third down – his final pass attempt of the game – and the senior signal-caller ran it in himself from 16 yards out on the ensuing play to stretch the lead to 21-0.

Asbury Park worked its best drive of the night as it looked to keep the game within arm’s reach, setting up shop in the red zone for the first time as Massie found his footing with his breakaway speed in between the tackles, and Dunkley continued to be a force running towards the sideline.

The Blue Bishops would only get as close as the eight-yard line, however. Massie appeared to suffer an injury on a 12-yard run at the end of the third quarter, and did not return to the game. Asbury Park went backwards to open the fourth, losing four yards on the ensuing four plays, and turned the ball over on downs.

Backed up deep in his own territory, D’Ambrosio did his damage once again, gaining ten yards on a first-down run, before breaking free on the next play for 77 yards. Dunkley chased him down and made a touchdown-saving tackle just short of the goal line at the two. Bennett scored three plays later on the goal line.

The future ahead

Even in a losing effort, Johnson was happy with the way his team performed, closing his second season as the head coach with a winning record. He had a message for his outgoing seniors, as well as his returners.

“A step forward next year,” he said. “We keep getting better. Seniors, wherever you’re at, we’re at. We’re going to show up for you no matter what.”

Even though some of the top Blue Bishops this year – three of the most notable being Massie, Kirkpatrick, and Dunkley – are outgoing seniors, Asbury Park has plenty of youth working their way up the system, and is excited for their outlook next year. Several contributors in 2025 were only freshmen or sophomores, and will continue to develop.

As the first head coach to have a multi-year tenure in five years – the first since Tim Fosque, who led the team to its most recent sectional title in 2016 – Johnson has given stability and a fire back to his alma mater.

“A lot of our starters are young guys,” he said with a smile. “The majority of our team is coming back next year. We lose a lot of seniors, but a lot of them were important, they built this team. They set the example for the younger kids. 
It’s just about them following an example and getting better from here.”