Eagles top Lions in last warm-up before state final
Middletown South wins annual Thanksgiving Day game 26-12 for first time in two years
FARRAH MAFFAI Middletown North’s Rob Molinaro runs for some positive yardage during the Lions’ annual Thanksgiving Day game with Middletown South.
With its traditional Thanksgiving Day game out of the way with a 26-12 win over its cross-town rival, the Middletown High School South football team is on its way to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III finals.
Following its 21-13 triumph over previously undefeated Wall Nov. 17, the Eagles were not about to look ahead to Hamilton West, which downed Colonia 33-27. It was a matter of first things first, and that meant the annual Turkey Day match-up with Middletown North.
The Lions, despite records of 6-5 in 2000 and 2-8 in 1999, made Thanksgiving difficult for South, 7-3 both seasons, by winning the annual game. Once again, Middletown South’s 10-0 record and North’s 5-4 mark coming into the game meant little to either team.
And the Lions made South work very hard to remain unbeaten. With the seconds ticking down in the first half, North’s Billy Lyons went 64 yards to knot the score at 12 entering intermission. Lyons, who has been among the Shore’s leading rushers all season, finished the year with an 111-yard day on only 16 carries. His brilliant junior season is complete, and North fans can hardly wait to see him return to the gridiron next year as a senior.
FARRAH MAFFAI Middletown South’s Anthony Macaluso celebrates his third-quarter touchdown reception during the Eagles’ 26-12 win over Middletown North on Thanksgiving morning.
Determined to keep its record unblemished, the Eagles made its rivals pay for turning the ball over. A fumble recovery early in the third helped pave the way for the go-ahead score, as Anthony Macaluso, who ran for 65 yards on the drive, grabbed a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Kennedy to give South the lead for good. Ironically, North’s first TD came after a fumble recovery.
Later in the quarter, Christian Thomas, a senior lineman, burst in to block a punt that led to six insurance points. In short order, Kennedy hooked up with wideout Mike McClelland for a 29-yard TD play. The Middletown South defense kept its neighbors quiet the rest of the way.
Kennedy, South’s 6-3, 190-pound senior quarterback, was splendid throughout, tossing three touchdown passes on the day, and running for his team’s first score. All this came after he gave Eagle fans quite a scare, missing most of the first quarter with a pulled muscle in his right leg.
With another impressive showing in a tough game, Kennedy once again proved that he has become one of the Shore’s top offensive performers, and will be the key to preserving South’s undefeated record against Hamilton West.
In addition to snapping a two-game winless streak in the series, South’s success upped its lead in the annual contest to 14-11-2. More important, the Eagles are now free to concentrate on Hamilton West, which owns a 10-1 record and has also defeated North Hunterdon in Group III play.
The Eagles will travel to Hamilton to play the Hornets Saturday. South will need to play its best game of the year, and should be primed to finish the year unbeaten. It has been looking for respect from Day One of the season.
If it gets by Hamilton West Saturday, it will have made its point, and that respect will inevitably come.
In other local action, the Holmdel Hornets stunned the Keyport Red Raiders on Thanksgiving, winning a tightly-contested 17-14 game, in front of a boisterous home crowd in Holmdel.
After the two teams traded touchdowns in the first half, Holmdel jumped ahead 14-7 on an Anthony Addonizio five-yard TD run. Holmdel made it 17-7 when Addonizio booted a field goal. Keyport came right back to make it 17-14 on a Kenny Cattouse 17-yard TD run, but saw their final drive stall when Dan Principe made a pair of stellar defensive plays, helping the Hornets defeat Keyport for the first time since 1997. Holmdel finished the year at 5-5, while Keyport finished at 6-5.
The Mater Dei Seraphs also wrapped up their season on Thanksgiving, dropping a 40-7 contest to Keansburg.
The Matawan Huskies ended their season on a high note with a come-from-behind win over Raritan on Friday night.
The Huskies used a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives to overcome an early deficit and pull out the 12-6 win. Raritan got on the board first when Jimmy Papcun found the end zone from four yards out. Matawan got on the board in with 7:09 remaining in the fourth when quarterback A.J. Roque snuck in from a yard out on fourth-and-goal.
Then, with 37 seconds left in regulation, Roque found Tom Corley in the end zone from eight yards out for the game-winning score.
Raritan (4-6) tried to mount a comeback of their own, but saw their drive end on the Matawan 19-yard line as time expired.
The Huskies (6-5) were led by senior Kevin Davis, who rushed for 187 yards in the final game of his illustrious career.