By Mike White
Staff Writer
TOMS RIVER— Fans at Toms River North High School didn’t have a lot to cheer about in the first half of last Sunday night’s 25th annual All Shore Classic football game. Both teams were engaged in a defensive battle. Both teams’ offense sputtered and failed to capitalize when first-half opportunities arose.
Yet it was the Ocean County All-Stars that delivered a dramatic ending. Lacey Township senior place kicker Carl Pennauchi connected on a 35-yard field goal to give the Ocean County All-Stars a 10-7 overtime victory over Monmouth County in front of a capacity crowd of 4,700 spectators.
"I was just trying to focus on the ball," Pennauchi, who will attend Nassau Community College in the fall, said. "I wanted to make sure I gave it a chance to get there."
Late in the third quarter, Pennauchi missed a 51-yard field goal attempt that would have stretched Ocean’s lead. He made sure, however, to erase that memory away before lining up to boot the game winner.
"I was trying not to think about the miss," he said. "I wanted to concentrate on the next kick in front of me. I guess it’s better late than never."
It marks the first time in 25 years that the All Shore Classic needed overtime to decide a winner. Despite Ocean’s triumph, Monmouth still holds a slight 13-12 edge in the series.
Ocean County coach Warren Wolf of Brick Memorial is now 5-0 in All Shore Classic match-ups.
With the score knotted at 7-all at the end of regulation, Ocean County received the ball first in overtime. Starting from Monmouth County’s 25-yard line, Ocean County’s Nick Castellano of Jackson carried the ball three consecutive times to put the ball on Monmouth’s 19 yard line.
That set the stage for Pennauchi’s heroics. With the ball spotted at the right hash mark, Pennauchi angled the 35-yard kick through the middle of the goal posts to set off a wild celebration of Ocean County players and fans.
But Monmouth still had one last chance to win or tie. However, Monmouth place kicker Shane Kochon of St. John Vianney missed a 21-yard field goal on fourth down to end the game.
Kochon appeared to hook his kick wide left.
"It was pretty nerve-wracking out there when he set up to kick," said Castellano, who was named Ocean’s Defensive Player of the Game. "I really thought this game was going to be high scoring. But both defenses did a tremendous job. I don’t think we could have had a more exciting finish."
Ocean drew first blood late in the opening half. Brick Memorial quarterback Brian Boland engineered a 64-yard, five-play drive that culminated in a 15 yard TD pass reception by Pinelands wide receiver Steve Richmond with 55 seconds remaining before halftime.
Boland, who was named Ocean’s Offensive Player of the Game, rolled left and drilled a strike between a pair of defenders to Richmond in the end zone to give Ocean County the game’s first score. Brick Memorial’s Ryan Graham’s PAT gave Ocean a 7-0 cushion.
The highlight of the drive was Boland’s 44-yard completion to Bryan Kopsic that gave Ocean County a first down at the Monmouth 14 yard line.
But Monmouth tied the game on a 1-yard run by quarterback Brendan Kennedy with 5:12 left in the fourth quarter. For Monmouth County, Wall’s Chris Malleo was selected as the team’s Offensive Player of the Game. Long Branch’s Derrell Sapp was Monmouth’s Defensive Player of the Game.
"I thought we did a good job of limiting their opportunities," Castellano said. "Our defense did a solid job."