The second week of November means one thing for the top high school football teams throughout the state — it’s time to put the pedal to the floor and chase down a state championship.
For three local teams, victories last weekend cemented their spots in their respective state tournaments; while for two other local teams, heartbreaking defeats ended their dreams of a state title.
No local team has created more of a buzz this season than the Middletown North Lions. Under their young, inspiring head coach, Joe Trezza, the Lions have fought hard to earn their first trip to the Central Jersey Group IV tournament since the 2000 season.
On Saturday, Trezza’s Lions traveled south down the Garden State Parkway to take on a Brick Township team that had already locked up its spot in the South Jersey Group III tourney. The Green Dragons were playing for a high seed, and gave the Lions everything they had before watching the resurgent Lions walk off their field with a triple-overtime 22-14 victory.
The come-from-behind win improved the Lions to 5-3 on the year, earning them the seventh seed in the state tournament, and a date with second-seeded West Windsor- Plainsboro South (9-0) this weekend.
Trailing 14-7 in the second overtime session, North quarterback Joe Dickey hit Connor Delepine for a nine-yard touchdown. Then, in the third OT, Dickey hit Sean McKee with a 22-yard TD on the second play of the drive.
Those two completions represented Dickey’s only completions of the day, but they certainly came at the right time. And Dickey did connect with Delepine for the ensuing two-point conversion to give his team the 22-14 lead.
Brick Township then went four-and-out on their drive in the third OT, giving the Lions the win. The Green Dragons had several chances to put this game away, including a first-and-goal from the Lion 2-yard line in the first OT.
However, the Lion defense held, and Brick missed a 20-yard field goal that would have won it. The host team did score on its possession in the second OT, setting up Dickey’s heroics down the stretch.
Now the Lions prepare for a WWSP team that reached the sectional final a year ago, only to get blown out by Howell, 46-13. With Mercer County teams’ poor track records against Shore Conference teams in recent years, the Lions certainly deserve a fighter’s chance in this one.
The Raritan Rockets also needed a win to lock up their berth in the CJ Group II tournament, and scored an impressive 25-17 win over rival Matawan.
The loss kept Matawan out of the postseason, spoiling what looked to be a very promising season for the Huskies. Raritan played an opportunistic game against the Huskies, taking advantage of Matawan mistakes to score all of its points on special teams and defense.
Matawan led 17-15 and was deep in Rartian territory about halfway through the fourth quarter when the wheels fell off for the host Huskies. A series of penalties led to a Matawan punt, and Raritan swiftly drove down the field to set up Bennet Jackson’s second field goal of the game. Jackson, who also returned a punt 73 yards for a score in the first quarter, split the uprights from 29 yards out to give his team the 18-17 lead.
T.J. Murray, who returned an interception 72 yards for a score in the second quarter, did it to the Huskies again on the second play of Matawan’s ensuing drive, picking off a Anthony Provenzano pass and racing 41 yards for the score that sealed the game for the Rockets (6-2).
With the win, Raritan locked up the fourth seed in the CJ II bracket, and will host fifthseeded Delran (also 6-2) this weekend in the first round. A win could mean a rematch with top-seeded Manasquan in the semifinals.
Raritan shocked the Warriors with a 13- 12 win on Nov. 8.
Middletown South is the only other local team postseason bound.
Head coach Steve Antonucci’s team has been gathering steam ever since its seasonopening loss to unbeaten Freehold Borough, and was dominant Friday night once again, knocking off Lacey, 27-0, on the road to post its fourth consecutive shutout.
South scored early, as Ryan Mullan hit Andrew Suarez with a 36-yard TD pass on a beautiful play-action fake just 2:49 into the game. But the Lacey defense stiffened from there, not allowing another Eagle point in the first half.
The South defense meanwhile was dominating the Lion attack. However, Lacey threatened to tie the game on its first possession of the second half, reaching the Eagle 18. The Lions then tried a play-action of its own, only Chris Bungee didn’t buy it — picking off the pass in the end zone and returning it to the 13-yard line.
With the threat eliminated, South never looked back, driving 87 yards on 11 plays and capping the drive with a 3-yard Matt Martino scoring plunge.
South then put the game away on its next possession when Bungee broke loose for a 42-yard TD run.
With the win, South improved to 7-1 on the year, and locked up the third seed in what should be a very tough CJ Group III bracket. As such, the Eagles will host sixthseeded New Brunswick (6-3) on Friday. The Zebras are one of the Greater Middlesex Conference’s more athletic teams, and should provide the Eagle defense with a challenge due to their quickness.
With a win, South could meet Shore rival Ocean Township in the semifinals.
While this has been a tough bracket to predict in recent years, most people are expecting a Freehold Borough-Middletown South final, and a rematch of that seasonopening Colonial win.
The Keyport Red Raiders were hoping to earn their spot in the CJ Group I tournament, but needed to beat Manasquan in order to do it.
Early on, the Red Raiders looked poised to pull off the upset as Aaron Lee took a sweep and raced 75 yards for the touchdown on its first play from scrimmage. But the Warrior defense shut Keyport down from there (the Red Raiders gained just 13 yards in the final three quarters), and with junior Lorenzo Venable rushing for two fourth-quarter touchdowns, Manasquan was able to secure the 13-7 win, and end Keyport’s hopes for a postseason run.
The loss eliminated Keyport (4-4) from the bracket, allowing New Egypt to sneak in with the eighth and final spot. However, with that spot comes a date with the Shore’s top team, Asbury Park on Friday..