Huskies flex their muscles against top-seed Carteret
Keyport, Middletown South record playoff wins
VERONICA YANKOWSKI Middletown North’s Billy Lyons escapes from South Brunswick’s Bryan Turner during the Lions’ 45-17 win over the Vikings in their state playoff consolation game in Middletown on Saturday. Lyons is the Shore Conference’s leading rusher entering North’s Thanksgiving Day game against Middletown South.
It must be November; the Middletown South and Keyport High School football teams are winning playoff games.
But this year, there’s a third local team in the mix, a dangerous Matawan Huskies team that looks to be peaking at the right time.
Over the weekend, both Middletown South and Keyport did what they normally do, win a tough playoff game and advance to the next round. But it was the Matawan Huskies who were the biggest story of the first round, knocking off the CJ Group II top-seeded Carteret Ramblers 36-14 on Saturday in Carteret.
The Huskies, who have struggled with consistency most of the year, brought their "A" game to Carteret and shocked the bracket’s top seed early and often. First it was all-everything tailback Kevin Davis catching a 46-yard touchdown strike from quarterback A.J. Roque to open the scoring.
The quick strike surprised everyone in attendance, but that shock was nothing compared to what was to come. As it turned out, Davis’s TD reception was simply the first of six straight scores for the Huskies.
Following Davis’ touchdown, the Huskies got a 24-yard field goal from Tom Dunnelis; a 22-yard TD run from Davis, a safety, when the Carteret punter fell on the ball in his own end zone; a one-yard TD run from Corey Spann; and a four-yard TD pass from Roque to fullback Tom Corley. All of that led to an insurmountable 30-0 lead.
With all this before halftime, the Ramblers managed to get a pair of scores in the second half, but the outcome was never in doubt. Matawan had pulled off the upset and had turned a lot of heads in doing so.
The Huskies will now face Ridge on Saturday. Ridge is coming off a 24-7 win over Freehold Borough in a game where the Colonials lost, despite gaining over 300 yards of total offense. Ridge’s ability to force seven turnovers helped them this time, but next week they’ll need to find a way to slow down Davis. The speedy back ran for 142 yards on only 13 carries against a Carteret team renowned for its ability to stop the run.
If Davis continues to perform at the level he displayed this weekend, the Huskies may very well have some more surprising wins up their sleeves.
As for Keyport, the Red Raiders entered Saturday’s game against Metuchen, looking to notch yet another playoff win for a program that has been a perennial contender in Group I action under head coach Mike Ciccotelli.
The Red Raiders were in control from the start on Saturday en route to a 42-7 drubbing of Metuchen. Keyport got on the board first when Kenny Cattouse bulled his way into the end zone from one yard out early in the second quarter. That was followed by a 48-yard TD run from Jamie Gutridge and a nine-yard scoring strike from QB Steve Greggins to J.J. Beedle for a comfortable 21-0 lead.
In the second half, Keyport added a Duquan Cross one-yard TD to complete their scoring. The defense was outstanding for the Red Raiders, limiting Metuchen to just a late touchdown.
The Red Raiders now move on to the sectional final, where they’ll face a familiar foe in top-ranked South River. The Rams and Red Raiders seem to face each other in this game every year, and with last year’s loss to South River still fresh in their minds, the Red Raiders will be looking for revenge on Saturday.
But a win against South River will be quite a feat. The Rams, led by the Greater Middlesex Conference’s top rusher, Zack Earvin, and top passer in QB Mike Feaster, have been dominant from the first snap of the ball this year. The Ram offense is the GMC’s best, and their defense has been just as good. The Red Raiders will need to play their best to keep this one close, and if they do, they may be able to steal a win from the undefeated Rams.
You can’t be sure how the Rams (9-0) will perform in a close game. They haven’t been in one all year.
The Middletown South Eagles have been one of the Shore Conference’s most dominant teams all season long. Their offensive and defensive numbers are comparable to those of top-ranked Jackson, yet for some reason, the Eagles have not received the acclaim they feel they deserve.
Coach Steve Antonucci’s team realizes that the only way to make believers out of everyone is to engineer an impressive drive toward a state title. They began that drive on Friday with a hard-fought 17-14 win over Hamilton North.
The Eagles found themselves trailing in this one, which is a position they have not often been in this season. After taking a 3-0 lead on a Justin Clark 32-yard field goal, the Eagles watched Hamilton North bounce back with a touchdown in the third quarter to take a 7-3 lead.
South responded with a score of their own when senior quarterback Brenden Kennedy raced 36 yards for a touchdown and the 10-7 lead.
Hamilton North’s Even Joseph then put Hamilton ahead 14-10 with a eight-yard TD with 7:50 left. But Kennedy orchestrated a 15-play, 65-yard scoring drive, which culminated in a five-yard TD strike to Mike McClelland to give the Eagles the lead once again.
McClelland had what will likely be the most memorable day of his high school career on Friday. In the first half, he had the interception that led to Clark’s field goal. Then, later in the first half, he had a second interception but landed hard on his back and began coughing up blood. He was rushed to Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, for X-rays, which were negative.
He then returned to the game just in time to make the game-winning touchdown reception. And just to top things off, he had a third interception with 26 seconds left to seal the win for the Eagles.
South will need some more magic in the next round when they take on unbeaten Wall in the semifinals. The Crimson Knights beat Long Branch 29-6 on Saturday and have been one of the Shore’s top teams all year long. The Eagles have been looking for some respect. They will get a bunch with a win over Wall in the next round.
The only other local team in playoff action this weekend, the St. John Vianney Lancers, fell to very strong Immaculata team, 31-12, in a Parochial Group II contest. The Holmdel Lancers played well, moving the ball against the 9-0 Spartans from the first series of downs, but couldn’t sustain their high level of play for the entire game.
The young Lancers proved they were a legitimate playoff team with their performance, and they almost caught one of the state’s top powers napping.
The remainder of the area’s teams played in consolation games this weekend to some mixed results. The Middletown North Lions beat up on South Brunswick, 45-17, to get to 5-4; the Holmdel Hornets topped John. F. Kennedy of Iselin, 38-34, to get to 4-5; the Raritan Rockets fell to Rumson-Fair Haven, 17-14, to drop to 4-6; and the Mater Dei Seraphs of Middletown remained winless, dropping a 28-7 decision to Wildwood.