Week 3 Shore Conference football preview: Top contenders will emerge

Bob Badders and Scott Stump break down Week Three on the Inside Shore Conference Football Podcast

It’s only Week Three, but two Shore Conference teams have a chance to put themselves in the driver’s seat for division titles in a pair of key showdowns.

Class A South and Class C North could have clear front-runners after this week, but a pair of underdogs have other ideas. Top contenders should also emerge in Class B South, Class D North, and Class B North.

Here’s what to watch for this weekend as the fall officially gets underway. (Full schedule here).

Can anyone stop No. 1 Toms River North?

The top-ranked Mariners appear to be head and shoulders above the rest of the Shore Conference so far this season. They continued to look unbeatable in a 54-10 wipeout of No. 8 Jackson Memorial in Class A South last week and have outscored their first three opponents 140-12.

Quarterback T.J. Valerio, wideouts Mekai Morse, Nasir Jackson and Cam Thomas, running back Mordecai Ford, a monstrous offensive line – there’s just too many guys to try to stop. Meanwhile, the defense has been just as dominant behind linebackers/edge rushers Blaise Boland and Eddie Slosky. The only touchdown the Mariners (3-0, 1-0) have allowed all season was with the backups playing late in the game in the lop-sided win over Jackson Memorial.

The next team to take its best shot at Toms River North has a high-octane offense of its own – No. 4 Brick Memorial. The Mustangs (3-0, 1-0), who welcome the Mariners to DiFabio Field on Friday night, are coming off a 34-14 win over Howell in which junior quarterback Jason Lajara accounted for all five touchdowns and put up more than 300 yards of offense. They are averaging 34.3 points per game this season.

The real question is whether a defense led by All-Shore junior linebacker Trey Tallmadge can slow down an offense that has shredded every team it’s faced in the blink of an eye. At halftime of the Mariners’ opener against Downington East (Pa.), they led 24-0 and outgained the Cougars 303-0. At halftime of their game against Toms River East, they led 35-0, and last week against Jackson they were up 48-3 at the break.

It’s to the point where fans are wondering if this team is somehow even better than the one that won back-to-back NJSIAA Group 5 titles the past two seasons led by quarterback Micah Ford, who is now seeing extensive time as a true freshman running back at Stanford.

Brick Memorial counters with a team that has plenty of playmakers of its own, led by Lajara (775 combined yards, 9 TDs), senior running back Kevin Andrews (369, 3 TDs) and a group of wideouts led by Nyzier Matthews (9-178, 1 TD) and sophomore newcomer Shawn Fowler (3-139, 2 TDs).

If Toms River North can go on the road and take care of business, it feels like Point Boro might be the last real hurdle to the Class A South crown for the Mariners, and that’s only if the Panthers can get by a tough Jackson Memorial team on Friday night. Wins by the Jaguars and the Mariners would essentially end most of the suspense in the division race.

The Class A South title could be all but wrapped up unless the Mustangs can find a way to stun the No. 6 team in the state and the top-ranked public school in New Jersey. Toms River North has won eight in a row overall and 29 in a row against public school teams. It has not lost to an Ocean County public school since 2020.

Panthers and Jaguars will rumble at Al Saner Field

If Point Boro is going to stamp itself as the primary Class A South contender standing in Toms River North’s way, it will have to go through Jackson Memorial first.

The Panthers picked up strong 30-14 win over Donovan Catholic last week, while the Jaguars were routed by Toms River North. This features two superlative running games going at it, with star junior tailback Jonah Glenn leading Jackson Memorial, and the multi-pronged option attack of Jake Clayton, fullback Dylan Reitmeyer and slotback Nick Spanola for Point Boro. No team has held the Panthers under 28 points so far this season.

Turnovers could be especially crucial in this game because of the way these teams can control the clock with their running game. Giving away possessions might allow the other side to really shorten the game.

This matchup is also particularly huge for Group 2 Point Boro due to the haul of power points it can earn toward some home playoff games down the road by beating a quality Group 4 team in Jackson.

St. John Vianney looks to put a vise grip on Class C North

Coming off a 33-19 win over Holmdel, No. 6 St. John Vianney can take a big step toward all but locking down the Class C North title when it faces No. 7 Wall on Friday night.

The Lancers (3-0, 1-0) have an explosive duo between junior quarterback Zach LaBarca and sophomore running back Abdul Turay, who combined for more than 450 yards in the win over Holmdel. LaBarca is a dual threat who spread the ball around to five different receivers last week, and Turay showed he can be as much of a home run hitter as a receiver as he is running the ball.

Wall (3-0, 1-0) counters with a dual threat of its own in sophomore quarterback Franny Scaramellino (526 total yards, 8 TDs) and senior running back Mason Adam (32-196, 4 TDs) for a Crimson Knights team that is one victory away from tying its win total from all last season.

This is a big step up in competition for Wall, whose first three opponents are a combined 0-8. However, their returning players faced one of the state’s most brutal schedules last season, so they’ve seen high-level teams. Both squads gave up 100-yard rushers during their wins last week, Wall to Raritan’s Matt Jones and St. John Vianney to Holmdel’s Jack Cannon, so it will be interesting to see which defense can get the most stops against the opposing ground game.

If St. John Vianney wins, Manalapan looks to be its primary hurdle to the division title after beating Manasquan by 28 points last week. If Wall wins, the Crimson Knights would make their case as a top-five team in the Shore and gain momentum going into a big stretch with Holmdel and Manalapan back to back to stake their claim to the division crown.

Separation games in B North, B South and C South

Red Bank’s chance to inject itself back into the Class B North race after a season-opening loss to Ocean comes this week when the Bucs (2-1, 0-1) welcome Freehold Township (2-1, 1-0). On the other side, the Patriots and their prolific passing attack can put themselves in a good spot at the front of the standings after grinding out an overtime win against Ocean last week.

Freehold Township has never won a division title in program history, which dates back to 1972. Getting this one against the Bucs would most likely make Middletown North on Oct. 25 the last primary hurdle to school history if Freehold Township takes care of business against the bottom teams in the division.

Middletown North (2-0) will look to keep pace in first place as well with a crucial game against Ocean (1-2). The Lions’ defense has only allowed 7 total points in two games, but it was against two teams that are a combined 0-5, so this should be more of a test.

In Class B South, Southern is looking to start 4-0 for the first time in 16 years by beating Toms River East (1-2), which has lost two straight. Brick (1-1) faces Toms River South (1-2), and if the Green Dragons win, it most likely sets up a three-team race for the title between Brick, Southern and Central. If Toms River South wins, then a Week Four showdown between Southern and Central would be for sole possession of first place if both teams win this weekend.

Finally, in Class D North, it looks to be a separation game between Neptune and New Egypt in clash of two teams with solid run games. The winner emerges as a primary challenger for the division crown along with Shore Regional (2-0).

At the crossroads

Two games between teams that entered last week feeling good about their division chances only to suffer losses will be pivotal this weekend.

Howell travels to Donovan Catholic as both teams look to bounce back in Class A South. Donovan Catholic has scored 20 total points in two games and is looking for answers on offense, while Howell was bottled up by Brick Memorial last week after scoring 42 a week earlier.

Also, No. 10 Holmdel and Manasquan will try to stay in striking distance in the Class C North race after losing last week to St. John Vianney and Manalapan, respectively. This game should also be crucial down the road when it comes time for playoff qualification and seeding.

Can anyone stop Lakewood’s Rahmel Anderson?

While Class C South still looks like a wide-open race, the team opening eyes so far is Lakewood. Senior quarterback Rahmel Anderson is putting up Xbox numbers through three weeks with 931 yards and 14 touchdowns. No team has held him under 250 yards rushing so far this season.

His numbers project to 3,103 yards and 47 touchdowns over a 10-game season. The Shore Conference single-season rushing record is 2,860 set by Freehold quarterback Ashante Worthy in 2017.

Pinelands (0-2, 0-1) is next up to take its shot at stopping Anderson in a game the Wildcats need if they want to stay in the division race. Lakewood is trying to get to 4-0 for the first time since 2016.

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]