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. 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 only mustered 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. 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. 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.