Good show!

By: Ken Weingartner
nbsp;  Good teams can beat you in a variety of ways. Good teams can beat you with a variety of players.
   If the results of the first two weeks were any indication, the Monroe Township High football team is good.
   The Falcons, who traveled to South River yesterday for a game played after press time, improved to 2-0 Saturday with a 16-6 win over Colonia. Ryan Cushman set a school record by throwing for 281 yards and Monroe’s defense, with a few exceptions, smothered the Patriots.
   Making the two victories all the more impressive is the Falcons have been winning while a number of top returning players have been sidelined with injuries. For example, Ryan Meseroll, who rushed for 126 yards in Monroe’s season opening 28-20 win over South Brunswick, missed the Colonia game because of a groin injury.
   Meseroll was filling in for Mark Gulick, who was expected to be the team’s featured running back, but was injured in the preseason. Among the other sideline players has been top returning receiver David Gregor.
   No matter. With the running game struggling against Colonia, Cushman and new favorite target T.J. Denehy made life miserable for the Patriots while Monroe’s defense made certain a shootout wouldn’t be necessary.
   "It’s teamwork; it’s all about different people stepping up in different situations," said Denehy, who had seven catches for 157 yards and a touchdown against Colonia. "That’s what we’re all about. We’re like brothers; I can’t explain it. When someone steps in, everyone embraces him. We’re just a team, that’s all. People are stepping up."
   Cushman, who completed 13 of 18 passes in breaking the school record of 236 yards set by Brian Herbstman in 1991, bedeviled Colonia throughout the afternoon. He had three tosses of more than 48 yards and averaged a stellar 15.6 yards per attempt.
   
   "My linemen and my receivers did it all," said Cushman, who threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Martynuk just four plays after making an interception on Colonia’s first possession of the second half, giving the Falcons a 16-0 lead.
   "The receivers were wide open, all I had to do was put it in their chests."
   Meanwhile, the Falcons’ defense forced three-and-outs on four of Colonia’s first five possessions and forced a safety by keeping the Patriots bottled up near the goal line midway through the first quarter.
   Colonia had 29 plays that resulted in either incomplete passes or fewer than three yards. The Patriots ended Monroe’s shutout bid by scoring with 4:00 to play.
   "Last week it was offense, this week it was defense," Falcons coach Pat Dowling said. "We’ve got kids that are stepping up and we’re finding ourselves. If we ever get healthy, it will benefit us later on. We just have to keep our heads above water."
   Justin Doslik, himself coming off a groin injury, stepped into the running back spot for Meseroll and kept Colonia’s defense honest by rushing 21 times, although for only 40 yards. He had a key 56-yard reception on a screen pass to set up Denehy’s touchdown catch in the second quarter.
   Joe Snow had a 48-yard catch to set up the Falcons’ second touchdown.
   "The passing game is always in our back pocket," Dowling said. "I don’t know if that’s a positive or a negative thing, but we know we can always turn to that. Ryan made big plays when we needed them. He throws a nice ball. He had a great day."
   And the Falcons proved they were good.