Practices went routinely last week for all three Middletown high schools, although there was discussion among players and coaches about the topic of bullying, which had led to arrests and the cancellation of the season at Sayreville War Memorial High School.
Middletown South raised its record to 4-1 and stayed in contention for the Shore Conference A North championship and in prime contention for an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV playoff berth with a 44-0 victory over Howell. It was Middletown South’s third straight shutout victory after a 36-24 loss to South Brunswick as Cole Rogers continued along his big season with four touchdown runs. Middletown South has a divisional showdown on Friday night at unbeaten Manalapan.
“We had a team meeting on Monday and restated the school policy (on bullying) to make some kids aware,” said Middletown South coach Steve Antonucci. “It’s something we address every year and try to address it when we may see something so it doesn’t become a problem.”
Middletown North also stayed in the running for a state playoff spot in Central Jersey Group IV with a 21-7 victory over Ocean as Troy Thompson caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Donald Glenn and ran 30 yards with a fumble for another score.
“I don’t think there’s any place for it (bullying) at all,” said Middletown North coach Steve Bush, who has coached championship teams in New York and Massachusetts and built a powerful program at Manalapan before moving over to Middletown North last season. “We try to build a team with unity. There was a sense of it going on in the past and we talked to the team about doing the right thing. Players must understand that they’re looked to a higher level for the team, their school and the community. But we brought it up again early in the week to make sure they know exactly where we’re coming from. We know the type of kids that are here and don’t expect that to go on and reinforced that we need unity and a family atmosphere.”
Bush said he’s seen the seniors work with the younger players to help them develop in the program.
Mater Dei also stayed in contention in Non-Public B with a 54- 14 victory at South River as Christian Palmer passed for four touchdowns and ran for another. The Seraphs are 4-1 and have won three straight since a 50-38 loss to Dunellen.
Mater Dei coach Steve Sciarappa also is the school principal and spoke about bullying as an “ongoing conversation every day at school. We talked to the younger guys about the expectation of conduct and performance, that when you do something like that, you‘re not doing your job for yourself but also not doing your job for your teammates with that distraction.”
Sciarappa said the closely knit atmosphere extends beyond the players to their families, who spend a lot of time around the players at team functions, and said about bullying that “things of that nature don’t happen in our place.”
Rich Carroll, director of athletics for the two Middletown public high schools, said there is a Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying officer in his district, just as in other school districts around the state, and there is a mandatory training session for coaches before the season on bullying.
“That’s been in place for the second year here and we take it very seriously,” Carroll said. “We’ve taken the time to readdress it and talk to student-athletes how to report bullying. There are always incidents that happen in the course of a school year and Middletown is no different. We have to handle it and educate students.”
Bush and Carroll both echoed the sentiment that, although the Sayreville incident is an extreme case with seven students facing charges, bullying generally has been going on for a long time in schools.
“Society is changing and how it is addressed, but people should not have to put up with that and should be in a safe environment,” Carroll said. “Some things that happened 30 years ago and were considered a tradition over the years are not tolerated today.”
All three Middletown teams showed a strong sense of unity in their games.
“This will be a good measuring stick because Manalapan has been our Achilles heel,” Middletown South coach Antonucci said of his next opponent. It’s the first of three big games coming up, followed by games against Brick Memorial, which has not lost since its opening game 42-0 setback to Brick Township, and unbeaten Freehold Township. “A win (over Manalapan) would set us up nicely for the conference and power points for the state (playoffs).”
Antonucci credited the defense led by Dylan Rogers (Cole’s brother) at middle linebacker and Nolan Pereless at free safety and a solid offensive surge on the line led by tackle Jim Wilson, who has verbally committed to Youngstown State, tackle Tom Lopez, guards Brian Joyce and Kyle Maynes and center Joe Rutkowski.
Bush said Middletown North “needed this one” against Ocean coming off a 56-34 loss to Manalapan as it heads into Friday night’s game at home against 1-4 Howell.
“We made some plays but did not run the ball nearly as well as we should,” Bush said. “We made some mistakes and guys got caught up.”
Middletown North took command in the third quarter when Chad Freshnock ran one yard for a touchdown and Thompson had his fumble runback for a touchdown. Freshnock, who rushed for 96 yards on 17 carries, set up Thompson’s first touchdown with a 49-yard run. But Middletown North in the first half missed a field goal and had a pass intercepted in the end zone on a deep threat that kept the game close until the third quarter. Bush said cornerback Aaron Borrero made some big stops on fourth down plays while end Matt Dombrowski and outside linebacker Nick Kish also excelled on defense. Lineman Constantine Dudzinski is expected back from an injury for the Howell game after sitting out the Ocean victory.
As for Mater Dei, Sciarappa said Tyson Stamper had a “breakout day” as he caught three passes for 173 yards, all touchdowns. “We knew it was just a matter of time for him,” he said and added that the two-platoon system installed this year is “working out well,” all the way to the offensive line where he said center Liam Olausen anchors a cohesive unit. “Everybody out there knows what each other is thinking,” he said.
Next is a home game against Shore Regional, the first of three playoff-caliber teams over the next month.
“On so many levels, this is a big game for Mater Dei,” Sciarappa said. “They (Shore) come ready every week and have been running their system very well since these kids were in middle school. The thing is we can’t make mistakes. This is a seminal game to see if our players can be on the level of a Shore Regional.”