The Red Bank Catholic (RBC) and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional high school football teams both remained undefeated thanks to convincing victories this weekend.
RBC, playing at Middletown High School South (5-2), proved dominant after giving up an early touchdown. RBC shut down the Eagles the rest of the way and piled up 34 points to win.
After the Eagles took the lead, the Caseys answered right back when Larry Raedelli scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 3-yard run. Midway through the second quarter, junior quarterback Pat Toomey’s touchdown on 4th and 1 put his team ahead for good.
Before the half was over, Bobby Whitlock went 47 yards on a reverse play to lengthen RBC’s lead. On its first possession of the second half, Raedelli, who ran for 122 yards on the night, broke off a 30-yard touchdown run. Jesse Flaherty’s 14-yard run closed out the scoring.
“It’s always tough to play at Middletown South and the crowd is always so loud,” RBC coach Jim Portola said. “Our guys came to play and they just stayed focused on the task at hand.” The victory left RBC with 119 power points and in fourth place in the race for an NJSIAA Non-Public Group 3 playoff berth. RBC, four points behind St. Joseph High School of Montvale, hosts Monmouth Regional High School (1-6) on Nov. 2.
Meanwhile, at Monmouth Regional on Oct. 27, the Falcons battled Rumson-Fair Haven to a 14-14 tie as the teams went into the locker rooms at intermission.
Rumson-Fair Haven jumped out to an early 14-0 lead when Danny Roberto connected with Sam Shaud and John Ryan for touchdown passes of 59 yards and 14 yards, respectively. Monmouth kept its cool and quarterback Jeff Farrah promptly marched his team downfield, culminating a drive that saw him complete five passes for 64 yards with a 5-yard TD toss to Jose Saurez.
A Bulldogs turnover on a screen pass that was ruled a lateral was picked up by Dylan Brown, who ran 20 yards into the end zone to the delight of the home crowd.
The Bulldogs’ depth, coached by Shane Fallon, helped them gradually gain control of the contest in the third quarter. Midway through the period, Jake D’Amelio connected on a 28- yard field goal. Before the period was out, Roberto connected with Ryan, who made a leaping catch and ran it in for a 17-yard touchdown.
Roberto throw his fourth touchdown pass of the game in the final quarter, when he found Melquan Reevey for 40 yards to round out the scoring.
At 7-0, Rumson-Fair Haven is in third place in the race for a Central Group 2 playoff berth, eight points behind Delran High School. Next up for the Bulldogs is a visit to Manasquan High School (3-4) on Nov. 3.
In other area action, Red Bank Regional High School picked up its second win, a 21- 0 decision against Freehold High School. Quarterback Ross Gisondi opened the scoring with a 37-yard touchdown run when he scrambled out of the pocket. In the third period, Gisondi found Dylan Devita for a 26- yard scoring pass. In between, he intercepted a pass and handled the punting duties for the Buccaneers. Jahimere Hinton scored Red Bank Regional’s other touchdown on a 24-yard run.
In Wall, Ocean Township High School and Wall High School played to a rare tie, 29-29. The game was tied 14-14 at the end of regulation play. Royal Moore scored on a 7-yard pass from Andrew Mehr and freshman Tyler Thompson, who ran for 125 yards on the day, put up a touchdown on a 56-yard run for the Spartans. Moore and Danny Loizos scored for Ocean on its overtime possessions, and Mehr’s run for the conversion on the third overtime possession forged the tie.