By Wayne Witkowski
Jackson Memorial High School’s football team renews what has become a crucial matchup at Brick Township High School at 7 p.m. Sept. 16 after both teams come off contrasting season-opening victories against crosstown rivals.
While Jackson Memorial remained unbeaten in its 10-year series against Jackson Liberty High School with a 50-6 victory Sept. 9, Brick Township needed to rally in the final quarter for two touchdowns Sept. 10 to beat Brick Memorial High School, 28-14.
Jackson Memorial hit the 50-point plateau against Jackson Liberty for the second straight year behind senior halfback Mike Gawlik’s three touchdowns before an overflow crowd at Jackson Liberty.
“The key will be execution, eliminating mistakes,” Jackson Memorial coach Walt Krystopik said of Brick Township. “You can’t hurt yourself in that game. It comes down to who makes the biggest mistakes.”
The Jackson Memorial vs. Brick Township game has been pivotal in the Shore Conference A South Division championship chase in recent years.
Last year, it was a safety that decided Brick Township’s 2-0 victory over the Jaguars in a torrential downpour. Jackson Memorial avenged that loss, 21-7, in the playoffs en route to its second straight NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV title.
Gawlik hopes for another big game against the Green Dragons after setting a school record for career touchdowns with 41, surpassing Nick Castellano’s mark of 39 in a career that ended in the 2001 season. Gawlik is closing in on Castellano’s all-time rushing yardage mark of 2,992, with about 150 yards needed. He had 114 on 12 carries against Jackson Liberty in half a game’s worth of action.
“He’s definitely one of the top competitors we’ve had with players like Castellano, Ray Brown and Jeremy Edwards, all from that era.” Krystopik said. “He’s up there as one of the best two-way players ever at Jackson Memorial.”
Gawlik said he would have preferred a tougher game leading up to the conference showdown. But senior quarterback Dan Barker, who ran the team smoothly throughout the game, said the victory over Jackson Liberty helps a lot.
“We have to play smash-mouth football like we do at Jackson Memorial,” he said.
While Jackson Memorial capitalized on Jackson Liberty mistakes in the first half, Barker kept his poise. He started last year’s regular season game against Brick Township and then relinquished the spot before securing it during this year’s preseason work.
“It’s good to be back on the field,” he said.
Gawlik’s 8-yard run gave the Jaguars a cozy 28-0 lead with nine minutes left in the first half against Jackson Liberty that expanded to 36-0 at halftime.
“You don’t go into this game thinking it’s going to be a breather,” Gawlik said. “You work hard all summer for every game. They’re crosstown rivals, but the hype is way too much.”
Against Jackson Liberty, Gawlik credited the line, where Jackson Memorial clearly had a decisive edge on both sides of the ball. It’s an area that Krystopik regards as crucial to success. The coach singled out the efforts of right tackle Joe Hurle. The rest of the starting offensive line included left tackle Mitch Mill, guards Larry Richardson and Sean Martin and center Magnus McCaleb.
“They weren’t as good in the first drive and then they got it going after that, all of them,” Gawlik said.
“The line is the heart and soul of the offense,” Barker said.
Defensively, Jackson Memorial will have a close eye on Brick Township quarterback Anthony Costanza and running back Ja’Sir Taylor, who scored the go-ahead touchdown against Brick Memorial and was just as dangerous catching the ball as running with it.
Jackson Liberty, meanwhile, will look to bounce back Sept. 16 when it opens its Shore Conference B South Division schedule at Manchester Township High School, which lost its opener Sept. 9, 20-0, to division favorite Lakewood High School.
Quarterback Justin Mayes scored against Jackson Memorial on a 23-yard run early in the final quarter after completing a 12-yard pass to Ryan Downer.
“We’ve got our division ahead of us. It is what it is, and we have to move on from this,” Jackson Liberty coach Jim Sharples said after the loss. “We have to learn from what we did, watch film and get better. Mistakes were everywhere — a lot of mental errors. We were not as physical as we may have liked. Our quarterback was making his first start and by the second half, he got a little experience and hopefully learned from it.”
The Lions have to make necessary repairs quickly with Lakewood on the schedule for next weekend.