Wall knocks off Howell to continue the program’s resurrection
WALL TOWNSHIP – As Wall head coach Ed Gurrieri gathered his team following a 24-14 nondivisional win over visiting Howell on Friday night, he took a moment to reflect on how far the Crimson Knights have come in his three seasons.
Gurrieri came out of retirement after a tremendous run at Manalapan and took over the program in 2022 out of the ashes of a hazing scandal. The Crimson Knights spent two seasons getting beaten down by some of the state’s top teams in the ruthless Shore Conference American Division to finish a combined 8-14.
Now they stand at 6-1, with a high playoff seed most likely locked up in Group 2 and a chance at a division title in their Thanksgiving game against Manasquan. They also are back among the Shore’s best, ranked No. 8 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12.
“We’re a few years removed from when we first got here,” Gurrieri told his team in the postgame. “This place was a freaking mess. You guys here, win, lose or draw from this point forward – and we got a lot of good football ahead of us – you’re going to be known as the team that turned this whole thing around. I’m proud of every one of you.”
Wall builds momentum for the playoffs
Wall now has its most wins since going 7-0 in the shortened Covid-19 season in 2020 after holding off a gritty Howell team in Wall’s final game before the playoff cutoff. Sophomore quarterback Franny Scaramellino threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first quarter, junior Heath Reinhardt nailed a 31-yard field goal, and linebackers Justin Davis, Dylan Cohen and Joe Vaccaro helped close out the game on defense.
“It’s very gratifying,” Gurrieri said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and you kind of get spoiled and you’re used to success all the time. We took our beatings the last two years and we only worked harder, and now this is the payoff.”
Wall coach Ed Gurrieri expressed his pride to his team after the game about how far they have come in his three seasons (Photo by Scott Stump)
“The adversity we’ve been through the past couple years, it’s great to finally find success,” Vaccaro said. “Maybe in years prior, we don’t win these games. This year we’re getting it right, and we’re playing together.”
Howell (3-4) scored on a six-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Vin Meehan to senior running back Juan DeJesus with 3:21 left in the game to cut it to 17-14 and make things interesting. The Rebels then forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 1:47 remaining and no timeouts, but Wall’s defense finished strong.
Davis sacked Meehan for an 11-yard loss on second down, and then Vaccaro picked off a pass on fourth down and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown to ice the win with 1:01 remaining.
Joe Vaccaro ices the win with a 15-yard pick six and Wall leads Howell 24-14 with 1:01 remaining pic.twitter.com/HVTiLgLOis
— Scott Stump (@Scott_Stump) October 19, 2024
“(Meehan) was under pressure, and he just tried to throw up anything,” Vaccaro said. “I should’ve probably went down (before the end zone) and saved us the extra couple minutes, but when you got the ball in your hands, you want to score.”
Wall gets off to a hot start
The Crimson Knights looked like they might run away with the game early on, thanks to a pair of explosive plays. On Wall’s third play from scrimmage, Scaramellino found Davis, who also plays tight end, with a short pass and he bolted 56 yards for a 7-0 lead with 9:13 left in the first quarter. Davis finished with 3 catches for 90 yards in the win.
The lead became 14-0 on Wall’s next possession when Scaramellino hit senior Tony Credle over the middle and he bounced off a defender and took off for a 56-yard score of his own with 5:21 left in the first quarter.
“We knew that they were going to dedicate a lot of bodies to the run, and they did,” Gurrieri said. “They had a lot of guys down in the box, and that’s why those guys got open like that.”
Considering Howell entered the game averaging only 15.7 points per game, zooming to a 14-0 lead put Wall in a great position.
“There’s games where we didn’t come out hot like (a loss to) Holmdel,” Vaccaro said. “They jumped on us 14-0. We were on the other end of it. We knew tonight that we had to jump on them.”
Like it has done for most of the season, Howell’s defense generated a turnover that put the offense in business and get the Rebels back in the game. Senior defensive back Zach Padilla intercepted a pass, and his return plus a late hit penalty on Wall gave Howell the ball at the Crimson Knights’ 13-yard line. Four plays later, Meehan found DeJesus for a 9-yard score to cut it to 14-7 with 37 seconds left in the first quarter.
It was a defensive slugfest from there. The score remained the same at halftime after a penalty-ridden second quarter in which both teams turned the ball over at the end of long drives. Wall added some cushion with an eight-play drive to start the second half that ended with a 31-yard field goal by Reinhardt for a 10-point advantage with 7:25 left in the period.
Vaccaro then clinched the win with his pick-six after the second touchdown catch by DeJesus to give Wall its second straight win heading into the postseason.
“We learned how to win,” Vaccaro said. “It’s contagious. When we know that a team is going to throw the ball, we get after them, and we get home.”
What’s next for both teams?
Wall has a bye next week and then will have its first-round state playoff game. The Crimson Knights won’t know their opponent or if they are in a Central Jersey or South Jersey bracket until Oct. 27 when the NJSIAA releases the official brackets.
Howell’s regular season wraps up next week with yet another tough game on its brutal schedule. The Rebels have a Class A South tilt against Point Boro, the No. 3 team in the SSI Top 12.
Box score
Wall 24, Howell 14
. W H
First downs 8 14
Rushes-yards 22-80 29-101
Passing 10-15-2 15-27-1
Passing yards 187 102
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2
Penalties 8-85 8-48
Howell (3-4) 7 0 0 7 – 14
Wall (6-1) 14 0 3 7 – 24
Scoring summary:
W: J. Davis 56-yard pass from Scaramellino (Reinhardt kick).
W: Credle 56-yard pass from Scaramellino (Reinhardt kick).
H: DeJesus 9-yard pass from Meehan (Allard kick).
W: Reinhardt 31-yard field goal.
H: DeJesus 6-yard pass from Meehan (Allard kick).
Individual statistics
Rushing – W: Scaramellino 4-19, Adam 10-24, Credle 3-11, Reinhardt 2-2, Cohen 2-13, Boss 1-11. H: DeJesus 8-31, Meehan 20-76, Z. Padilla 1-(-6).
Passing – W: Scaramellino 10-15-2 187. H: Meehan 15-27-1 102.
Receiving – W: J. Davis 3-90, Adam 2-6, Reinhardt 2-8, Credle 2-57, Vaccaro 1-26. H: Shaw 2-17, Z. Padilla 3-15, No. 8 3-7, DeJesus 4-36, Borgia 3-27.
Interceptions – W: Vaccaro 1-15. H: Z. Padilla 1-17, Meehan 1-0.
Scott Stump is an award-winning reporter, newsletter writer and editor who first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point.
Email: [email protected]
