Monroe Township High School’s Blake Bascom runs past the reach of Middletown High School South’s Matt Saulnier for some of his 208 yards on 25 carries in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III championship game at The College of New Jersey, Ewing, on Dec. 5. PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff All the parts are in place, beginning with a head coach, Chris Beagan, who in his second season at the helm has asserted himself as a bona fide genius when it comes to preparing his young players to play this often complex game.
Then there is the staff Beagan has assembled, chief among them offensive and defensive coaches Justin Cella and John Denuto, respectively, who crafted masterful game plans the entire season, one in which Monroe finished 11-1, easily the best in the school’s history. The Falcons’ most wins had been eight — in 2006.
Monroe football coach Chris Beagan and Marc Tyson celebrate the 30-10 victory over Middletown South. If this coaching trifecta combined with the rest of the staff remains intact — and there is every indication it will — Monroe is poised to build on its first championship ever. And what a championship performance it was.
“We had a game plan with the objective of controlling the tempo with our offense,” explained Beagan, Sunday night. “Justin wanted our offensive line to dictate the tempo, so he installed plays that enabled us to churn out chunks of yardage. That strategy proved to be vital.”
Blake Bascom, who destroyed the Monroe regular-season rushing record by amassing
1,994 yards this season, eclipsed the 200-yard mark once more (208 yards) but, as Beagan pointed out, high marks should go to the Falcons’ offensive line, which opened huge holes for the senior back. The 30 points scored were against a Middletown South team that had yielded an average of 4.5 points up until the Falcons dismantled their defense.
Top: Monroe’s Mike Walp catches a pass over Middletown South’s Brian Benedetto with 47 seconds left in the half for a 14-10 lead. Above: Marc Tyson (l) and Chris Geist pressure Middletown’s quarterback Scott Meeker to fumble the ball. “Blake said it best when he credited the line for his rushing statistics,” said Beagan. “He’s also being modest, but that’s the type of player he is. As good as his regular season was Blake jacked it up another notch in the postseason games [victories over Princeton and Ocean Township].”
However, the Falcons’ hard-hitting defense also deserves its place in the spotlight.
As has been the case throughout the season, the entire unit, led by as solid a linebacking corps as there is in the state, Chris Geist, Chris Gregor and Marc Tyson, provided a wall that kept the Eagles stymied throughout the contest.
PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff “Team unity is a big deal to us,” Beagan said, ‘and we set out this season trying to develop our own identity. This team will be unique compared to any other Monroe team in the future. But it’s one we’re that has the right to be very proud for what it accomplished.”
Beagan is particularly proud of his outgoing seniors, calling them “special”.
“On the day before the game, after practice was over,” he said, “we went over to the lecture hall and sat everybody down and invited each senior to say a few words about what playing football for Monroe Township meant to them.
“It was gratifying to listen to them talk about, in their own way, the lessons we as coaches tried to teach them, things we know would help them be successful on the field,” he continued. “Hopefully, the underclassmen which will be our leaders next year and in future seasons, will take those words to heart and continue the winning tradition we’ve established here.”
Game notes: Despite the cold and rain throughout the game, a crowd of approximately 3,000 watched the game from the Lion Stadium stands. Chris Mattos, one of the key seniors who will be hard to replace because of his special kicking ability, launched two more kickoffs into the end zone despite the nasty weather. While a number of Falcon players are capable of playing college football, Bascom appears to be the one player who will earn a scholarship. Monmouth University, who already has two former Monroe players on its roster, Dale Degraw and Rich Lorfing, is said to be one of the leading colleges vying for Bascom’s services.