Tournaments have begun and champions have been crowned as the autumn scholastic season continues.
Take a look here who sparkled this past week in our local landscape.
The Holmdel girls’ tennis team swept to the NJSIAA Group III title last week, its third straight group state championship.
Holmdel, which had won the Central Jersey, Group II section, didn’t drop a single match against West Essex in the group semifinals and Haddonfield in the championship match.
Brianna Gibbs at first singles, Alexandra Wojciak at second singles and Rita Vought at third singles won their respective matches in the final against Haddonfield. Holmdel’s doubles sweep was orchestrated by Emily Kong and Vicky Vought at first doubles and Natalie Cipriano and Jaimee Ratkoski at second doubles.
Second-seeded Holmdel then advanced to the Tournament of Champions final with a 5-0 victory over Newark Academy in the semifinals on Tuesday, Oct. 25.
Holmdl will play the winner of the other semifinals between Millburn and Ridge in the T of C final on Oct. 26 at the Garden State Tennis Center in Edison.
Off the tennis courts and on to the football fields.
Jha’Quel Brown was an unlikely star for the Allentown football team on Oct. 22. Unlikely because he was the unlikely starter at quarterback for the Redbirds that day. He filled in for the starter, Jordan Winston, who was suspended for the game.
Brown played like he had been under the center all season. He kept 20 times and rushed for 162 yards to guide Allentown to a 33-0 victory over Steinert.
Another player who became a quarterback — just a few weeks ago — is Ashante Worthy, who has also performed beyond expectations for the Freehold football team.
Worthy erupted on Oct. 22 when he ran for six touchdowns 315 yards and also threw a TD pass , completing six of 10 passes for 85 yards, when he steered Freehold past Marlboro, 48-32, on Oct. 22. Two of his scoring dashes came from long distance — 66 and 62 yards.
He also produced seven touchdowns when he first took command at QB in a 52-27 victory over Monroe on Oct. 7.
One QB who has been in control and has shined all season is Manalapan’s Luke Corcione. He came through with five TD passes, hitting on 14 of his 17 passes for 250 yards, to send Manalapan past Neptune, 55-21, on Oct. 21.
He will attempt to guide his 7-0 Manalapan squad past a solid Piscataway (5-1) unit this Saturday morning at 11 at Rutgers University.
An undefeated team felt the wrath of a QB in Howell’s 22-13 victory over Freehold Township, which came into the Oct. 21 game with a 6-0 record.
Howell signal caller Eddie Morales completed 18 of his 25 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown in a 22-13 victory that lifted the Rebels to 4-3.
South Brunswick called on its quarterback, Josh Liao, once again.
The crafty QB produced two TD runs and one touchdown pass as the Vikings beat Sayreville, 26-20, on Oct. 21. The victory gave South Brunswick a 4-2 record and left Sayreville at 5-2.
Staying with the quarterbacks from this past week, New Egypt’s Kyle Frimel delivered a brilliant effort when he rung up 368 yards and four touchdowns through the air in his team’s 36-8 triumph over Riverside on Oct. 22.
Old Bridge relied on its fine QB, Artur Sitkowski, and its splendid running back, Nick Sodano, to defeat New Brunswick, 41-14, on Oct. 21.
Sitkowski passed for two TDs and ran for two scores and Sodano rushed 26 times for 149 yards and one touchdown.
Running wild was the case of Bishop Ahr’s Andrew Brazicki.
He amassed 327 rushing yards and five touchdowns to carry Bishop Ahr to a 46-30 victory over Spotswood on Oct. 22.
Mike Gawlik passed 4,000 yards rushing in his career at Jackson Memorial when he ran for 233 yards and scored three TDs in his squad’s 41-7 victory over Toms River East on Oct. 21.
Quarterbacks and runners were not the only football stars from this past weekend.
Eddie Lewis, a receiver who plays in the secondary on defense, caught two TD passes —60 and 15 yards — and also took back an interception 50 yards when he led undefeated Mater Dei Prep past Holmdel, 41-0, on Oct. 22. The victory pushed Mater Dei’s record to 7-0.
Another undefeated club, St. John Vianney, also received a solid two-way play in its 41-21 victory over rival Red Bank Catholic on Oct. 21. Samuel East scored on a 26-yard reception and he also picked off two passes in the victory that sent St. John Vianney to 7-0.
On the cross-country paths….
At Holmdel Park in Holmdel, one race was decided by a nose and another race was settled by 300 yards.
During the Monmouth County Cross-Country Championships on Oct. 18, Ocean Township’s Elliot Gindi placed first in the boys’ race with a clocking of 16:01, while Jordan Brannan of Colts Neck finished just behind with a time of 16:02.
A close finish was not the case in the girls’ meet.
Howell’s Niamh Hayes breezed to the girls’ title with a clocking of 18:54, which was 48 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Rachel Kenny of Matawan. Hayes also crossed the finish line while Kenny was an estimated 300 yards behind on the course.
In the Greater Middlesex Conference Cross-Country Championships that were run on Oct. 22 at Thompson Park in Jamesburg, Rey Rivera of Old Bridge finished first in 16:21. That was the second straight GMC title for Rivera.