The football teams at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, Red Bank Catholic (RBC) High School and Shore Regional High School are all coming off a successful weekend.
RUMSON-FAIR HAVEN
Against previously undefeated Lakewood High School, visiting Rumson-Fair Haven showed just how good it can be in improving to 5-1. The Piners managed to shut down the Bulldogs’ running game in the first half, but Rumson- Fair Haven found other ways to score and jumped out to a 21-0 lead by halftime and never really looked back.
Junior quarterback Michael O’Connor threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Elijah McAllister on the game’s first drive and then hooked up with John Kingdon for 14 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter. In between, Mike Caruso picked off a Lakewood pass and ran it back 86 yards for a touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter.
O’Connor completed 8 of 9 passes for 105 yards on the day. All eight completions came in the first half. A 34-yard Thomas Chapin field goal upped the Bulldogs’ lead in the third before the Piners finally got on the board when Amir Tyler intercepted O’Connor and took it 20 yards to paydirt. The teams swapped touchdowns in the fourth quarter to account for the final score of 30-14.
The Rumson-Fair Haven defense held its hosts in check most of the evening, as the Piners were only able to muster 50 yards on the ground.
In its only loss — against St. John Vianney High School in a heavy rain — Rumson-Fair Haven was unable to get its ground attack going. This time around, the Bulldogs quickly adapted.
“Lakewood was clearly focused on stopping our running game,” Rumson-Fair Haven coach Bryan Batchler said. “They brought more players into the box, and it’s hard to run into something like that. That opened up some other things for us, and we took advantage.”
The Bulldogs will look for their sixth win when Raritan High School (3-3) comes to visit Oct. 30. The Rockets are coming off a 33-27 loss to Point Pleasant Borough High School. Rumson-Fair Haven sits atop the power point standings in the race for NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III playoffs with 97 points, one point ahead of Hopewell Valley Central High School. The top eight teams will qualify. The best seven of a team’s first eight games count in the standings.
RED BANK CATHOLIC
Meanwhile, at Manalapan High School Oct. 23, the unthinkable appeared to be happening. RBC was trailing the Braves, 14-13, and in danger of losing its second in a row as the clock ticked down to halftime.
The Caseys took both the lead and momentum with a well-managed 68-yard drive in the final two minutes of the half. Eddie Hahn led RBC down the field and capped the march with a 25-yard scoring pass to Mike Hazard.
Scoring runs of 60 yards by Mike Wilen and 9 yards by Dylan Murphy, his second of the night, put the game out of reach in the third quarter. Wilen’s touchdown came after a Manalapan fumble and put the Braves on their heels. Hahn finished the evening with 16 completions on 23 tries for 276 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and he also ran 11 times for 89 yards. Wilen rushed for 82 yards on six tries.
The 33-14 win boosted RBC’s record to 6-1. The Caseys are in fourth-place with 96 power points in the Non Public Group III playoff race. Next up is a visit by Ocean Township High School (5-1) Oct. 30. The Spartans had a bye last week and last played Oct. 16 in a 40-14 win against Long Branch High School.
SHORE REGIONAL
Shore Regional (6-0) dominated South River High School (0-7) in a 52-7 win. The Blue Devils led 21-0 by the end of the first quarter, as the host Rams were unable to get going.
Six different players scored for coach Mark Costentino’s team, which opened the scoring on a 16-yard touchdown run by Matt Pennell. Doug Goldsmith then scored on a 9- yard run and would later score again on a short run in the third quarter.
Josh Campi returned a South River punt 65 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Shore Regional’s 72 power points put it in third place in the race for the Central Jersey Group I playoffs. The Blue Devils are set to meet Point Pleasant Beach High School (4-3) Oct. 30.
RED BANK REGIONAL
On Oct. 30, Red Bank Regional High School returns to action against Holmdel High School (1-5) after a bye week following its 24-21 win over RBC Oct. 16. Coach Nick Giglio’s team is third in the Central Jersey Group III race with 95 power points.
“There’s a part of you that wants to play right away after a big win,” the Red Bank Regional coach said. “But you don’t want get too caught up because we have games to play. I think it was a good thing for us to have some time off to make sure we’re focused and prepared for the rest of the season.”