For Brick Memorial’s football players, it was a game they thought they could only dream of.
After yielding a touchdown on the opening series, the Mustangs clamped down on defense and kicked its offense immediately into fifth gear to beat Manalapan, 29-6, on Monday for the school’s first state championship victory.
"I couldn’t think of a better way to end it," said halfback Nick Spataro, who scored two touchdowns. "All the hard work for this moment right here was all worth it."
A chilled but thrilled home crowd saw the Mustangs take control for the NJSIAA Group IV crown in their first year going from the South to Central Jersey quadrant. The school-record eighth victory in an 8-3 season was far different from the only other trip to the finals in South Jersey, in 1990, a 22-19 loss to Overbrook.
"This is the first game our defense and offense actually put a game together," said 6-foot, 5-inch wide receiver Garrett Graham.
With a robust supporting cast, Brian Karatz was a demon on defense while Nick Spataro, who moved from fullback to halfback at mid-season, rushed for two touchdowns and 145 yards on 11 carries, surpassing the 134 yards of Manalapan’s shackled ground game.
"This is the exclamation point on the season right here," said Karatz.
And sophomore quarterback Chris James, who made his varsity debut in a season-opening 25-14 victory over this same Manalapan team after he spent the summer months adjusting to playing the new position, commandeered the efficient offense. He also scored the third touchdown of the game that made the players and fans realize this game would not be a white-knuckler.
And he did it while pacing the sidelines non-stop when the defense was on the field, not out of nerves but because of a high ankle sprain. It did not show when his six-yard touchdown run and a tricky conversion pass play staked Brick Memorial to a 22-6 lead just 3:23 into the second half. And it did not show when he bolted 46 yards down the sidelines late in the game or while he completed seven of 10 passes for 117 yards, 49 of them coming on a play to Graham on Brick Memorial’s third play of the game to tie the score. Graham’s kick put the Mustangs ahead for good.