Pats win; undefeated fall in football action

BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer

When last weekend began, the Freehold Regional District had two undefeated football teams, and two still looking for their first win. When what proved to be an upsetting week for area teams concluded, there were no undefeated teams as Howell and Freehold Borough went down to surprise losses.

Freehold Township finally got its first win, beating Marlboro, 20-7, for its first win of the ’07 campaign.

Colts Neck couldn’t avoid the bad karma of the weekend, falling to Lacey, 17-7, at home.

Howell was thwarted by the Jaguars’ running back Don Murphy and an aggressive defense that got after quarterback Tim Lamirande, forcing him to throw the ball quickly to result in three pass interceptions.

Murphy is a North-South runner who wore the Rebel defense down. He scored three touchdowns on runs of 19, 70 and 5 yards. But, the damage was moving the chains and keeping the Howell offense off the field. He carried the ball 35 times for 240 yards. His 19-yard TD gave Jackson a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Jackson stretched the lead to 14-0 on John Cirri’s 6-yard toss to Mark Bergery. Seven straight runs by Murphy had set up the touchdown pass with 1:46 left in the first half.

However, that was more than enough time for Howell to get back into the game. Lamirande found Jason Amato open in the Jaguar secondary, and Amato did the rest sprinting to the end zone to complete a 42- yard touchdown pass.

That momentum did not last long. On his first carry off the second half, Murphy smashed through the line of scrimmage and went 70 yards for a TD, putting the Jags up by two scores, 21-7.

Jackson, rushing three players, was able to pressure Lamirande with delayed blitzes from its linebackers and safeties and the relentless push of lineman Chris Rae.

Howell, now 5-1, will host Brick Township (3-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. in an important Constitution Division game. The Rebels are still undefeated within the division and could take a big step toward winning the championship with a victory over the Green Dragons, who have just one loss in the division.

Freehold Borough traveled to winless Red Bank Saturday in what looked like a warm-up game before they tackled the shore’s top team, Middletown South. Games are won on the field, though, and Red Bank rallied from a 10-6 deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Colonials, 13-10.

Wil Sanborn, a thorn in Freehold’s side all game, delivered the knock-out punch, snaring a 44-yard pass from Tim Johnson that broke the Colonials’ back. Sanborn had nine catches for 192 yards and both Red Bank touchdowns. The other was a 31-yard catch from quarterback Colin Lang in the second quarter.

Freehold Borough came back to take a 7- 6 lead early in the fourth quarter on the bigplay capability of Brandon Brown. He caught a short pass from quarterback Brian Prisk and turned it into a 56-yard touchdown. Gerry Plescia’s point after kick gave the Colonials the one-point lead.

The Colonials’ stretched the lead to 10-6 on Plescia’s 23-yard field goal. Then, Sanborn came back to haunt them one final time.

Freehold Borough will be visiting a Middletown South team that is coming off its first loss of the year, 27-24, on Friday. This will be a Shore Federal Division game and both teams are undefeated within the division at 4-0. There are obvious championship implications. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Freehold Township’s season of misery received just the medicine it needed … a victory.

Playing at home, the Patriots finally got their offense rolling against winless Marlboro (0-5). The Pats piled up more than 350 total yards.

Quarterback Jack LaPietra was on fire completing 15 of his 19 passes for 197 yards. Ryan Spadola was on the receiving end of six of those tosses totaling 92 yards. Spadola used his foot as well kicking two fields goal of 38 and 27 yards.

Jon Bennett and James King scored onshort runs for the Pats. Bennett’s 1-yard dive in the second quarter broke a scoreless tie. King’s 3-yarder in the fourth made it 20-7, sealing the victory for Freehold Township.

The Pats rushed for 161 yards led by Bennett, who had 79 on 25 carries.

Marlboro closed to within 10-7 when quarterback Gerard Cicero connected with wide receiver Ryan Hilla on a 15-yard scoring pass.

The Pats will look to build on Friday’s win when they travel to Manahawkin to take on Southern Regional (4-1), which is coming off its first loss of the year to Brick Township, 21-20. Kickoff is 2 p.m.

Marlboro (0-5) will host Toms River East (4-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Colts Neck (3-2) and Lacey (4-1) played a throwback game in which defense was the name of the game. Neither team could generate much offense. The two teams combined for 13 first downs and five turnovers.

The highlight for the Cougars was a 39- yard scoring pass from running back Ashton Jackson on an option play to Jeremy Dinkins in the fourth quarter. The play pulled Colts Neck to within 14-7. But, a 37-yard field goal by the Lions R.J. Roe clinched it for the visitors.

The Lacey defense was the star of the day holding the dangerous Jackson to only 19 yards on 20 carries.

Saturday’s loss damaged the Cougars’ state playoff ambitions, At 3-2, the Cougars have lost their margin for error. Saturday, they return home to take on Manalapan (2- 3) in a game in which the losing team may well find themselves out of the state playoff picture.

Manalapan (2-3), riding a two-game win streak, had the week off and maybe with the way things unfolded it was the best thing for the Braves.

Kickoff in Colts Neck is 1 p.m.