BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer
JEFF GRANIT staff Brick Memorial’s Mike LePore reaches for the ball during Friday’s All-Shore Football Classic in Middletown. Unfortunately, the pass was incomplete. Nobody wanted it to end this way.When you take 44 of the Shore’s most celebrated high school football players over the last couple of years and set them loose on a field in 90-degree heat for one last shot at scholastic glory, you know they’re going to give you everything they’ve got left to give.
Especially when you throw county bragging rights into the mix.
So the last thing you want at the end of the night is a tie, with neither side claiming those aforementioned bragging rights despite their efforts. But that’s exactly what we got last Friday night at the 29th All-Shore Classic football game at Middletown South.
After the top graduating seniors from Monmouth and Ocean counties battled to a 7-7 tie through regulation, it was a technicality that kept them from determining a winner. Following a lengthy discussion among coaches and officials, in which game director and Ocean County head coach Calvin Thompson informed everyone that the overtime was not covered by the insurance of the officiating crew, the officials decided it was in their best interests to end the game as a tie, calling it a liability issue.
While the officials were simply doing what the rules required them to do, it was the players who were most disappointed with the decision, and they let the officials know as much as they left the field.
While the end result was disappointing, the quality of the play was not. Both teams came ready to play hard despite the steamy weather conditions, and provided the over 6,000 fans with the type of effort Shore Conference football fans came to expect from these elite players over the last few seasons.
All week long in preparing for the game, the Ocean defense was told that it needed to contain Monmouth’s quarterbacks – namely Raritan’s Andrew Mandeville and Rumson-Fair Haven’s Michael Roberto – a pair of elusive players who can burn you with their legs or their arms.
The Ocean defense was also warned of the Monmouth offensive line’s overall size and athleticism, while the Monmouth players prepared for a balanced Ocean offense, led by Jackson QB Corey Lavin, who led his team to a state championship this past season.
But through the first half, it was the defenses that shined, as the two teams were unable to mount any substantial drives against the swarming defensive fronts.
Monmouth, in particular, struggled offensively throughout the first three quarters, but managed to take the lead on the heels of a special teams play to open the second half. Ocean Township’s Chris Chittum – the same Chris Chittum who emerged as the Spartans’ most explosive offensive threat throughout their run to a Central Jersey Group III title this past fall – took the third quarter kick-off and raced 83 yards down the right sideline, utilizing his blocks beautifully along the way. Two plays later, Manalapan’s Anthony Mujica found the end zone from a yard out to give Monmouth the 7-0 lead.
But Ocean came right back, scoring on its next possession after Lavin (the team’s offensive MVP with 111 yards passing) hit Jackson teammate Joe Arneth in stride on the left sideline for a 41-yard pass play to start the drive. Southern’s Josh Midili ended the 75-yard drive with a two-yard scoring plunge of his own.
Both teams had their chances to win the game in the fourth, only to miss field goals. Like he did so many times during his storied career at Raritan, Mandeville rallied his teammates to a 76-yard drive in the final minutes to set up a 23-yard field goal attempt for teammate Rick Jaeger. However, the kick fell short and left, leaving the game tied.
Ocean got its shot at the win after Lavin hit Brick Memorial’s Mike Lepore with a 23-yard pass to set up a 35-yard field goal attempt for teammate Chris Seifert. But once again, the kick was short and to the left.
With both teams playing at such a high level throughout the game, it only seemed fitting that it would take an overtime to decide the winner.
It’s a clich in sports that you hear from coaches all the time – “nobody deserved to lose this game.”
This time, nobody did.
And nobody was happy about it.