Nine football players from state champion Jackson Memorial High School were invited to play in the annual Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic football game that takes place July 16 in Long Branch.
“That’s more than we can remember for a long time,” coach Walt Krystopik said weeks before summer workouts run by team captains take place in early July as a tune-up to the official start of practice.
Brody Graham, an outstanding two-way lineman headed to the University of Pennsylvania, will not play, Krystopik said. But eight others who were integral parts of the Jaguars’ drive to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV playoff championship over perennial finalist Middletown High School South — a 21-18 victory for its first state title since 2005 — and its finish atop the Shore will play.
That includes quarterback Joe De- Maio, who is headed to Iona on a baseball scholarship as an outstanding outfielder. He plays for the defending Group IV state champion Jaguars baseball team that is 11-5 and has won 10 of its last 11 games coming into this week after a slow, injury-riddled start.
“He made a lot of big plays at crucial times,” Krystopik said of DeMaio at quarterback. “He often made big plays to win games.”
Regarding who will play quarterback next season, Krystopik is leaning toward sophomore Dan Barker — who missed most of last season with an injury to his left, non-throwing shoulder — for now.
“He’s been working hard to get back into shape,” Krystopik said.
Others selected for the All-Star game are linemen Tyler Rauch, Glenn Kipila and Brad Greenway, as well as Zach Tetro, Aaron Curet, Cole Collins and Matt Castronuova.
Curet picked up a lot of points for the school’s track and field team with second place finishes in the long jump and triple jump, as well as a fifth-place finish in the javelin, as Jackson Memorial won the Ocean County Relay championships handily May 2.
Kyle Johnson, a junior wide receiver and defensive back currently playing third base and hitting .400 on the baseball team, leads the returning players for the fall along with running backs Vin Lee, a junior, and Mike Gawlik, a sophomore. Lee and Gawlik each rushed for 1,000 yards, marking the first time two running backs have done that on the same Jackson Memorial team.
Johnson also has the rare distinction of having played on section championship teams in three straight seasons, starting with baseball and continuing with football in the fall and wrestling in the winter.
“I don’t think anybody here has had that,” Krystopik said. “I don’t remember three championships won here in backto back-to-back seasons like that.”
But the 11-1 football season ending with eight straight victories, and the ascent to the top rung in the Shore has led to a dedicated offseason by returning players.
“It’s really motivated them,” Krystopik said. “There are a lot more younger kids out for the sport, and they’re all doing what they’re supposed to do, either for football or playing other sports.”
Jackson Memorial takes the hardest hit to graduation on its front lines, which Krystopik has said is the key ingredient to his team’s success over the years. Dylan Smith, a junior playing right tackle, is the only returning starter on the offensive line.
Juniors Chris Mondello at center and Larry Richardson at guard rotated into the lineup last season and are shooting for starting spots along with sophomores Sean Martin at guard or tackle and Mitch Mills at tackle. Tyler Towns, a defensive end last season, may play at the tight end spot vacated by Graham.
Many returning players, like Johnson, have been playing other sports through the winter and/or spring, and that includes returning defensive back Kyle Lona playing baseball and Mills and Jared Calhoun, who has hit many decisive kicks in the past two seasons and is also a wide receiver and defensive back, playing lacrosse. Lee and Towns are on the track team.
Tetro and Greenway, who are both graduating this year, also play lacrosse.
Jackson Memorial’s three starting linebackers return: juniors Adante Davis and Nick Papandrea and sophomore Zack Lubertazzi. Davis might also run the ball a bit next season.
Johnson, Lona, Calhoun, Lee and Gawlik all have played in the defensive backfield, where Castronuova and Tetro distinguished themselves last season.
If the linemen emerge as Krystopik believes they can, it looms as another contending season in Shore Conference A South.