It was a somber halftime locker room at Howell High School Saturday night.
Not only were the Rebels being thoroughly outplayed by Manalapan, more than the 15-6 deficit would suggest, but their starting quarterback wasn’t going to be around for the second half.
Tim Lamirande had injured his left wrist late in the first half and was off to the hospital for X-rays (which revealed a fracture that, however, won’t be seasonending). He was almost apologetic telling the team he was sorry he wouldn’t be with them for the rest of the game.
Brian Battaglia, the starting wide receiver who would take over at quarterback in that second half, said the Rebels (2-0) were moved by their quarterback’s speech.
“We wanted to go out and win this game for him,” he said.
The Rebels also got an earful from head coach Cory Davies who told his team they “had to put it on the line.”
There was no time to feel sorry for themselves if they were going to win their home opener.
Led by a rejuvenated defense that was able to slow down the Braves’ running attack led by Dave Presby, the Rebels found a way to pull out a 21-15 win on a hook-and-ladder play in the last 2:12 of the game.
Howell’s comeback started on the defensive end. After a Chance Carrick punt pinned Manalapan down on the Howell 5-yard line, the defense forced a three-and-out. On the punt, Ian Harvey broke through the middle of the Brave line and smothered the punt. Harvey’s blocked kick was recovered by Adam Feehan on the Braves 3-yard line. Two plays later, David Hayes carried it in from the 3-yard line and Howell was back in the game trailing 15-13.
Davies turned to Battaglia to quarterback the team in the second half.
“I wanted to put the best athlete there,” said Davies.
That was his wide receiver.
“I haven’t played much quarterback,” Battaglia said. “Everybody was quite focused in the second half. We picked it up.
“The offensive line and fullback did a good job blocking,” he added.
Battaglia would engineer Howell’s first big drive of the second half in the fourth quarter. He hooked up with Carrick on a first-down pass. A pass interference call and a first-down run by Battaglia had the ball on the Manalapan 16. But then there was a high snap from the center on second down, which was recovered by Manalapan’s Justin Dattolo on the 31-yard line.
With a couple of first downs, the Braves could have iced the game, but a pair of penalties prevented that and the Braves quick kicked with quarterback Craig Peterson on third down.
Howell took over on its own 39 with less than 3:00 in the game. Two plays netted minus 3 yards and Howell was in deep trouble facing a third-and-13. It was time to come up with something. So, Davies took a chance with the hook-andladder, inserting backup quarterback Richy Jones back in the game and moving Battaglia back to wide receiver.
“We ran the play twice during the game, but, the pass was incomplete,” said Carrick. “It’s a play we’ve worked on in practice.”
Jones, seeing his first-ever varsity action, had struggled against a Brave defense that was putting pressure on him when he played in the second quarter. Still, Davies turned to him for the big play.
“I was thinking this is the game, I’ve got to make the play,” said Jones.
He did, finding Battaglia over the middle on a crossing pattern that picked up the first down at midfield. Battaglia then pitched the ball to Carrick, who turned upfield.
“The entire sideline was open,” recalled Carrick.
It was a footrace to the end zone with Carrick finishing off the 67-yard scoring play untouched, providing the dramatic moment in Howell’s unlikely comeback win.
“It’s such a great high,” he said of his game-winning touchdown. “I knew the crowd would get into it.”
Carrick credited Jones for making the play work with his pass to Battaglia (his two-point conversion made it 21-15).
“He stepped up great, it was a huge play,” he remarked. “This was a huge win for us. It’s going to boost our momentum.”
The game wasn’t over yet. Manalapan still had one last chance to score. Carrick would figure in the clinching play when he stripped the ball from the Braves’ Chris Pellicano as he was fighting for first-down yardage and recovered the loose ball.
“The ball was right in front of me,” said Carrick.
Davies called the 21-15 win one of the school’s “greatest” because of what they had to overcome against a good team.
Until his injury early in the second quarterback, Lamirande led Howell on a 68-yard drive that put the Rebels ahead, 6-3. Jason Amato culminated the drive with a 2-yard scoring run.
Manalapan, though, would dominate the second quarter behind Presby’s punishing runs. He picked up 6 and 7 yards a clip. His 20-yard touchdown run put Manalapan up 9-6 in the second quarter.
Presby’s running set the Howell defense up for a deep pass, and Peterson was right on target connecting with Pellicano on a 47-yard touchdown pass with just 33.8 seconds left in the first half, stretching the Manalapan lead to 15-6.
The Braves looked to do more of the same in the second half, but couldn’t sustain the long drives it had in the first half.
“We tried to shorten the game running the ball like we did in the first half,” said head coach Tom Gallahue. “We didn’t make enough first downs.”
Presby gained 160 yards on the night on 31 carries.
Howell travels to winless Middletown North (0-2) tomorrow night. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Manalapan, which has been 0-2 the last two years and still made the state playoffs, will look for win No. 1 tomorrow night when the Braves host Brick (1-1). Kickoff is 7 p.m. Brick fell to Toms River North Friday, 9-7.
Colts Neck (1-1) rebounded from its opening game loss to Howell, to even its record with a solid 28-13 win at Middletown North Saturday.
Ashton Jackson was the differencemaker, accounting for 306 yards from scrimmage. He ran for 230 yards on 27 carries and pulled down two passes for 76 more. He scored two touchdowns, one on a 28-yard run and the other a 64-yard hookup with quarterback Chris Chiarella.
Chiarella scored on a 1-yard keeper that gave Colts Neck a 21-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.
After the host Lions responded with a touchdown that cut the lead to 21-13, the Cougars went on a sustain drive that culminated in Alex Muka’s 5-yard scoring run that put the game away.
Colts Neck hosts winless Toms River South (0-2) tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
Freehold Township (0-2), which opened with defending South Jersey champion Lacey, found the going no easier Saturday when the Patriots traveled to last year’s state playoff team Brick Memorial, falling 51-7.
It doesn’t get easier for the Patriots this week as they host undefeated Toms River North (2-0) at 6 p.m.
Marlboro’s season-opener was delayed a week with the Mustangs drawing their bye week the first weekend of the season. The Mustangs traveled to Jackson Memorial where they lost 42-17.
The Mustangs trailed by just 14-10 before Jackson ran off 28 straight points.
E.J. Tucker created excitement returning a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, which tied the game at 7-7.
Jordan Slaven’s 29-yard field goal cut the deficit to 14-10.
Marlboro’s final TD came on a 1-yard run by quarterback Cicero in the fourth quarter.
The Mustangs will host Southern (1- 0), which had its bye week last weekend. The Rams opened with a 6-0 win over Jackson. Game time in Marlboro is 3:30 p.m.

