Ocean Township’s last-second field goal ends season in gut-wrenching fashion
By Ken Weingartner, Sports Writer
Several days after the Monroe Township High football team saw its season end in the opening round of the state sectional playoffs, the sting remained.
The Falcons, who finished the year with a 6-4 record, lost at Hugh Walsh Field to Ocean Township, 9-7, on a field goal in the final five seconds. It was Monroe’s third consecutive appearance in the Central Jersey Group III playoffs, but first home game.
”I feel horrible for the kids, especially the seniors, to lose a game the way we just lost one,” Falcons coach Chris Beagan said. “We felt like we outplayed them. They were a good team. We had some things go against us. We’ve replayed the game a hundred times. It is what it is.”
Monroe led 7-6 near the end of the first quarter when Beagan elected to take a penalty against Ocean after kicking a field goal, giving the Falcons first-and-goal from the 7. Later on the drive, he eschewed a field goal in favor of going for a touchdown from the 1. The run failed.
”I would do that every single time,” Beagan said about accepting the penalty. “We’d just driven the ball 50 or 60 yards to get down there. On the second play (after accepting the penalty) we got to the 1. The irony is that if we’d lost some yards along the way, I would have kicked another field goal.
”But I couldn’t see kicking a field goal from the 1-yard line. We called a timeout on fourth down to make sure we had a play we were comfortable with. Plus, their kicker kicked the ball into the line on their extra point. I didn’t know how confident he would be.”
The Falcons still led late in the game when a fumble – the first by a Monroe running back all season – deep in Ocean territory gave the Spartans life.
”If someone was to give me a script to have our defense on the field with 4½ minutes to go and them having to go 80 yards, I’d sign up for it,” Beagan said. The Falcons’ defense gave up just seven points per game and posted four shutouts in the regular season.
Unlike many area teams, the Falcons do not have an annual Thanksgiving Day game, which means their campaign is finished. Just as well, according to the coach.
”I couldn’t imagine getting excited for a Thanksgiving game after that type of loss,” Beagan said. “It would be very difficult.”