Toms River North rallies with 5 second-half TDs to win third straight NJSIAA sectional title

TOMS RIVER — Toms River North head coach Dave Oizerowitz called it the greatest half of football in program history, and it was hard to argue with that claim given what was at stake on Friday night at Gernerd Field.

Early in the third quarter, the Mariners were faced with the very real possibility that their dynasty could come to an end on their home field. Instead, they delivered a second half for the ages to continue their historic championship run.

Sophomore Cole Garrison had an expanded role on offense and came up huge with 124 yards rushing and three touchdowns, while senior Nasir Jackson returned two interceptions for touchdowns and ran for a score when top-seeded Toms River North scored 35 straight points in the second half to defeat Rancocas Valley, 42-27, and win the 2024 NJSIAA South Jersey Group 5 title.

It is the third straight sectional championship and ninth overall for Toms River North, which is tied with Rumson-Fair Haven for the third-most in Shore Conference history.

Trailing 13-7 at halftime and 20-7 early in the second half, the Mariners showed why they are the two-time defending Group 5 state champs by flipping the switch and rattling off five consecutive touchdowns to put the game away. A 1-yard touchdown run by Garrison with 6:13 left in the third quarter was the flashpoint for an epic rally in which Toms River North scored four touchdowns in a span of 10 minutes and 14 seconds. Once the pass rush led by senior linebackers Blaise Boland and Eddie Slosky began to heat up, North’s defense broke the game open with Jackson’s pick-sixes on back-to-back Rancocas Valley possessions.

Garrison then put the finishing touches on a memorable night by ripping off a 62-yard touchdown run with a little over five minutes remaining in the game. Now it’s back to the Group 5 semifinals, where the Mariners will try to move one step closer to a third state championship in a row. They will host Washington Township next Friday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m. after the Minutemen defeated Atlantic City, 27-6, to win their first sectional title since 1995.

“I told my team we gotta be dogs, be the best team we can be, and that’s what we did,” Jackson said. “We were down in the first half, but in the second half we pulled through. North tough.”

“We always fight hard and fight to the end,” senior two-way lineman Hathem Hooranyi said. “You never know when your last game is going to be, and we talked about that in the locker room. We had to play like it was our last game.”

 

Down in a hole

The Mariners found themselves down by six points at halftime and then behind by two scores early in the third quarter. For 24-plus minutes, not much went right for Toms River North.

Rancocas Valley, led by dynamic junior quarterback Sayvien Adams and standout senior wide receiver Brody Deiter, struck first with a 76-yard scoring drive on the game’s opening possession and took a 3-0 lead on a 21-yard field goal by Jameson Hollander. Adams broke a 37-yard run on the second play and hit Deiter for 17 yards on 4th-and-8 later on the drive. Toms River North was able to buckle down and hold the Red Devils to a field goal.

Toms River North then went three-and-out on offense, and a bad snap on the punt resulted in punter Yianni Papanikolas having to attempt a desperation pass that fell incomplete and also resulted in an intentional grounding penalty. The Mariners’ defense rose up, however, with a tackle for loss by Hooranyi on first down and another by Boland on second down. On third down, senior defensive back Mekai Morse stepped in front of Adams’ pass for an interception that he returned 55 yards to the Rancocas Valley 20-yard line. Two plays later, Jackson took a handoff and scored on a 13-yard run to give Toms River North a 7-3 lead.

It appeared the Mariners had righted the ship immediately, but that was not the case.

Rancocas Valley responded with an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive to take a 10-7 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Montre Wilson. Adams moved the chains early on the drive with a 9-yard completion to Deiter on 3rd-and-5, and a pass interference call on North a few plays later pushed the ball across midfield. A 30-yard run by Bellamy on the final play of the first quarter was followed by a 15-yard run by Wilson down to the 1-yard line, setting up his short score that put the Red Devils back ahead with 10:42 left in the second quarter.

The Toms River North offense looked like it was finally going to settle in when it mounted a strong drive on its next possession. Garrison gave the Mariners a spark with some good runs and Valerio hit Boland for 13 yards on 4th-and-3 to put the ball at the Rancocas Valley 22-yard line. A 13-yard catch by Jackson gave Toms River North 1st-and-goal from the 10-yard line, but the Red Devils’ defense tightened up and stopped the Mariners on downs at the 1-yard line.

Rancocas Valley then drove all the way from the 1 to the Toms River North 16-yard line, where Hollander connected on a 33-yard field goal that gave the Red Devils a 13-7 lead with 10 seconds left in the first half. Deiter was tremendous on the drive with a fantastic catch on a tipped pass for a 29-yard gain on 3rd-and-10 from the 1, a 19-yard reception on 3rd-and-13, and another 29-yard catch that moved the ball to the Toms River North 25-yard line. The bounces kept going Rancocas Valley’s way when Malcolm Harrison made another catch of a deflected pass for a 10-yard gain that put the Red Devils in field goal range.

As poorly as the first half went for Toms River North compared to its usual performances, the Mariners were still down by just six points and set to receive the kickoff to begin the third quarter. However, their situation became more dire right away when Valerio’s deep pass attempt on the first play of the second half bounced off the receiver’s helmet and into the arms of Wilson for an interception. Then, on 4th-and-2, Adams broke free for a 37-yard touchdown run that gave Rancocas Valley a 20-7 lead on the defending champs.

 

An epic second half

Trailing by 13 points is far from an insurmountable deficit for a Toms River North offense that averages right around 40 points per game, but the Mariners needed to make something happen quickly to begin to turn the tide. Their next offensive possession was massive, and they responded with an 80-yard scoring drive that ignited a 35-point surge.

A 15-yard reception by senior wide receiver Cam Thomas and a late-hit penalty tacked on put the ball at the Rancocas Valley 34-yard line, but two straight false start penalties on North made it 1st-and-20. A pass interference call on the Red Devils moved the chains on 3rd-and-15 and Garrison did the rest with runs of 11 and five yards to set up his 1-yard touchdown run that pulled Toms River North to within 20-14 with 6:13 left in the third quarter. The momentum shift was palpable.

“We just needed momentum,” Garrison said, “And when we get it, no one can stop us.”

“That just turned the whole game around,” Jackson said. “As we continued to make plays, we just kept coming on stronger.”

Toms River North’s defense came out flying on the next series and forced a three-and-out when senior defensive back Mordecai Ford broke up a pass on third down. Starting at their own 30-yard line, the Mariners needed just six plays to reach the end zone and take the lead for good. A 30-yard run by Jackson on first down, a 5-yard run by Garrison, and an 8-yard catch by Thomas moved the ball to the Rancocas Valley 27-yard line. After a 14-yard reception by Thomas, Garrison took a snap from a wildcat formation and scored on a 13-yard run, and Papanikolas added the extra point for a 21-20 lead with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

“When they went up 20-7 I said we need to make this a one-score game and then see what happens to them (Rancocas Valley),” Oizerowitz said. “When we made it 20-14, you could feel the momentum switch and then our defense came out with a great series, and we went down and scored. They were still in the game, but the momentum had swung so far in our favor it was going to be difficult for them to beat us in this kind of game.”

When Rancocas Valley got the ball back at its own 22-yard line late in the third quarter, the Toms River North defense was revved up to max RPMs and ready to unleash its ferocious pass rush on Adams. The Mariners appeared to score on a 40-yard interception return by sophomore defensive back Jael Hester, but the touchdown was called back because of a roughing-the-passer penalty.

The Mariners remained on track, getting a combined tackle for loss by Boland and Jaelyne Matthews on first down and forcing an incompletion on second down. After a penalty on Rancocas Valley brought up 3rd-and-18, Boland chased Adams out of the pocket to his left, and his pass was intercepted by Jackson and returned 20 yards for a score to give Toms River North a 28-20 lead with 10:04 left in the game.

The Mariners were relentless on the Red Devils’ next possession as Slosky sacked Adams for an 11-yard loss on second down to force a 3rd-and-20. Adams tried a deep pass for Wilson that was broken up by a leaping Morse. The ball caromed right to Jackson, who snared the deflection at the 40-yard line before picking up some blocks on his way to another pick-6 and a 35-20 Toms River North lead.

“On the first pick I just came down playing coverage, saw the quarterback lock onto (his receiver), and I came in and made a play,” Jackson said. “On the second one, all props to Mekai on that one. He made a great play and I was there to make a play, too.”

“Our defense is the best part of our team,” said senior quarterback T.J. Valerio. “Without them, there’s multiple games we wouldn’t have won this season. Blaise Boland, Eddie Slosky coming back from an injury, Nasir Jackson, the whole secondary coming together and really sealing the game.”

 

Cole the Closer

Garrison has shown flashes of his playmaking ability this season as a wide receiver, defensive back, and punt returner. And while he may be the Mariners’ quarterback of the future, his time spent at the position this season was mostly in mop-up duty in the second half of blowout wins. That changed on Friday night when the Mariners added a significant wrinkle to their playbook by inserting him at quarterback in designed runs out of a wildcat formation.

Garrison answered the call with 124 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 10 carries, helping Toms River North exploit a Rancocas Valley defense that had struggled against the run for much of the season.

“Cole is a guy we know is a special, elite runner who has been our third or fourth option, but we prepped him to run the football this week, and we said we were going to unleash him,” Oizerowitz said. “He played a big role in digging us out of the hole.”

“He is one of the most underrated sophomores in the whole Shore,” Valerio said. “He’s one of the fastest kids on the team and when I’m not able to get it done, he’s able to get it done. That’s all you can ask for from a team.”

With a 15-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Toms River North stopped Rancocas Valley on downs at the Mariners’ 38-yard line. On the next play, Garrison broke a 62-yard touchdown run to slam down the exclamation point on an all-time second-half rally.

“I just had to come out ready,” Garrison said. “It’s a dream, the best feeling in the world.”

Garrison’s short-area quickness and speed was something Rancocas Valley likely had not accounted for.

“We knew they probably turned the film off after he came into games,” Oizerowitz said. “He’s as good a runner with the football that we’ve had at that position going back to (Mike) Husni. He’s that good.”

“There’s a pattern at North,” Valerio said. “We have kids that are able to make plays but don’t see the field that much, and that just adds so much power to our team. Someone can step in and we don’t have a drop-off at all.”

 

Two wins from immortality

Toms River North is now 12-0 and two wins from winning its third straight Group 5 state championship. The Mariners will host Central Jersey Group 5 champion Washington Township in the semifinals with the winner of that game facing either Union City or East Orange in the state championship game at Rutgers. It’s a legendary run that likely won’t be matched for many years if they can win their final two games and finish off a second undefeated season in the last three years.

“I’ve been waiting for my chance for so long and to finally be a part of it, it’s truly awesome,” Valerio said. “We’re pumped to win another week. We’re not looking past anyone.”

“The West Jersey Football League teams are all really good,” Oizerowitz said. “Washington Township is big and strong and they know us real well and are a well-coached team. It’ll be a battle. I’m just glad it’s here.”