Week Zero Shore Conference Football Preview: Starting With a Bang

The 2025 Shore Conference football season is starting with a host of must-see games. 

Week Zero has three showdowns right off the bat between teams ranked in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, including one with the state’s longest current winning streak on the line. A bulk of the games feature Shore squads against nonconference opponents, but there are still plenty of juicy matchups. 

Unlike the past few seasons, question marks abound on perennially top teams in the Shore thanks to graduation losses. A lot of new faces are playing important positions for Top 12 regulars like Toms River North, Rumson-Fair Haven, Red Bank Catholic, Donovan Catholic and others. 

We will get answers about those new guys immediately, as all of those teams have challenging games right off the bat.

Get caught up on all the Shore Conference teams before kickoff with our in-depth previews.

Here’s what to watch for in Week Zero. 

No. 1 Toms River North at No. 3 Red Bank Catholic, Thursday at 7 p.m.

RBC was a hard team to place in the preseason Top 12 given that the Caseys are coming off a disappointing 6-4 season yet have added some of the top freshmen in New Jersey while returning key talent. Are freshman quarterback Rahmir Rivera and tailback Gabe Kemp ready to deal with a program like three-time defending NJSIAA Group 5 champion Toms River North in their first high school game? Will Rivera be rotating with junior quarterback Jake Garrett or starting the whole way? Meanwhile, is Toms River North’s new quarterback, Logan Brill, up to the task in a hostile atmosphere in his first varsity start? Perhaps the biggest question of all is which team’s offensive and defensive lines will win this battle after RBC’s unit struggled last year, while Toms River North graduated a ton of size and talent up front. We’ll find out soon enough. 

No. 5 Point Boro at No. 4 Rumson-Fair Haven, Friday at 6 p.m.

This is becoming an annual rivalry between the two Group 2 contenders. Rumson beat Point Boro twice last season, including a 44-10 romp in the Group 2 semifinals on its way to a 13-0 season. The question now is whether Rumson can immediately reload after graduating a senior class that could argue it’s the best class in Bulldogs history. This is yet another game with a new quarterback, as Rumson’s competition has gone down to the wire to replace Owen O’Toole. Meanwhile, Point Boro is a veteran team led by junior quarterback Jake Clayton that is out to show it will now have the upper hand this season thanks to all its returning experience. 

No. 2 Brick Memorial at No. 9 Wall, Friday at 7 p.m. 

A loaded Mustangs team with championship aspirations heads on the road to face Wall in a nondivisional game that kicks off a brutal stretch to start the season for Brick Memorial. The Mustangs’ first six games are against teams currently ranked in the Top 12. Does Wall have the offense to keep up with quarterback Jason Lajara, wideout Nyzier Matthews and company? Or is Wall’s defense led by senior edge rusher Justin Davis up to the task of slowing down one of the Shore’s most high-octane offenses? This will also be the first look at yet another new quarterback, Wall senior Brian McKenna, who steps in as the starter because junior Franny Scaramellino transferred to Red Bank Catholic in the summer and then transferred back to Wall, so he has to sit out via the NJSIAA transfer rule. 

Kingsway at No. 6 Donovan Catholic, Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

This is a great nonconference matchup between a perennial South Jersey public contender and a new-look Griffins team with high aspirations. Donovan Catholic looks to mesh a group of talented transfers, including highly-touted Seton Hall Prep transfer Kahden Davis at quarterback, with a group of returning talent led by Illinois commit Kai Pritchard up front. Kingsway is coming off an 8-3 season and returns seven starters on offense and six on defense, led by quarterback David Oravetz and receiver Luca Lentini. 

More games to keep an eye on: 

—Colts Neck at Marlboro, 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Marlboro will christen its gleaming new turf field with a Freehold Regional District showdown against the Cougars. The impressive new facility mirrors the rise of Marlboro’s program, as the Mustangs have won at least one state playoff game for three straight seasons after having previously won three combined in their entire history. Colts Neck is coming off a one-win season and looking to put that in the rearview mirror with a victory in the opener. 

—Long Branch at Ocean, Thursday at 6 p.m. 

An old-school rivalry gets its latest installment in a game between two proud programs looking for a good start coming off losing seasons. Senior quarterback Quinton Fisher returns for Long Branch, while Ocean will have a new offense that includes a pair of battering ram running backs in senior Josh Calixte and 260-pound De’Antae Richardson. Ocean head coach Chad King will be coaching against the program where he was a longtime assistant and then head coach, while Long Branch coach Ben Woolley will be coaching against his former colleague. The group text will be active after this one. Both programs are also mourning the loss of Jim Simonelli, a Long Branch graduate and former longtime coach and athletic director for the Green Wave affectionately known as “Sim.” He also coached at Ocean up through last season. He died at 78 on Aug. 22. 

—Jackson Twp. at North Brunswick, Thursday at 6 p.m. 

This is the inaugural game of the new Jackson Township High School after Jackson Liberty and Jackson Memorial were consolidated into one school. Star senior tailback Jonah Glenn and the Jaguars will look to make it a strong debut for the new program. 

—Tottenville (NY) at Manalapan, Thursday at 6 p.m.

Seemingly half of Manalapan is from Staten Island, so the Braves have finally embraced it fully and are playing a team from Staten Island. This marks the debut of new quarterback Cameron Desfosse in front of a veteran backfield featuring Ah’sere Woolfolk and Nicky Palmieri. 

—Manasquan at Toms River South, Friday at 6 p.m. 

This is a rare meeting between two of the Shore’s most storied and tradition-rich programs. The Warriors head to Detwiler Stadium to face a team that won a share of a division title last season but graduated star running back Jake Henehan and much of its starting lineup. Senior running back Ace Etienne is back for a Manasquan team looking to make a leap after playing a lot of young players at the end of last season. 

—St. John Vianney at Seton Hall Prep, Friday at 1 p.m.

The Lancers start with a matinee on Friday against a North Jersey non-public that should be a good gauge for both teams as they welcome some new faces. Seton Hall Prep lost quarterback Kahden Davis to Donovan Catholic, while St. John Vianney lost superstar tailback Abdul Turay to St. Peter’s Prep. The Lancers return standout quarterback Zach LaBarca, linebacker Danny Breen, receiver Adam Urs and Long Island University recruit Rob Yakovchuk up front under Greg Penta, who is St. John Vianney’s third head coach in three years and looks to build a strong foundation. 

—Highland vs. Southern, Saturday at 10 a.m. 

The Rams will take part in this year’s Battle at the Beach showcase event with an early-morning game at Rowan University. They will break in Carson Abbato at quarterback after graduating a big senior class, and keep an eye on sophomore linebacker Niko Iliescu, who should be an impact player for the Rams. They face a Highland team coming off a one-win season. 

Scott Stump is the football editor for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and also has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point. 

Email: [email protected]