By Jeff Appelblatt
The Manalapan High School football team has played well ahead of its competition this season. Most of its opponents look stunned by halftime, and a number of Braves expressed their desire for a perfect season by the time the middle of the campaign rolled around.
Now there is only one team standing in the way of a perfect 12-0 season: Piscataway Township High School. Manalapan (11-0) will take on the Chiefs (9-2) Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. at Rutgers University’s High Point Solutions Stadium in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group V championship game.
When Manalapan secured its trip to the big game with a 34-20 win in the semifinals against South Brunswick High School Nov. 18, it didn’t know what team it would face in the finals — the Braves simply knew the competition would be stronger as the postseason goes on.
“As the playoffs go on, it becomes tougher and tougher for the offense,” junior Symir Blacknall said after the latest win.
Not that the Braves showed much struggle to score at any point this season. Only twice did they fail to score 30 points — and one of those times was against Piscataway in a game the Braves won, 21-10, Oct. 29. That game came down to a two-touchdown, fourth-quarter rally for Manalapan. The Chiefs held a 10-7 lead after three quarters.
The win against South Brunswick did seem more of a test for Manalapan’s defense. Following a one-sided, first-round shutout of New Brunswick High School, 49-0, the Braves gave up 20 points for only the third time this season.
“It was mostly a defensive game,” Blacknall said. “We knew it was going to be one.”
The Braves depended on their defense to keep the Vikings from tying or taking the lead at any point. Every stop was necessary, which hasn’t been true in the majority of games for Manalapan. The team won seven of its 11 games by at least 30 points. South Brunswick, though, just wouldn’t go away, and Manalapan expected that. After all, South Brunswick knocked the Braves off in last season’s playoffs en route to a Central Jersey, Group V title.
However, it took a few strong showings by Manalapan’s offense to defeat the Vikings this year. And Manalapan was ready when it mattered most. South Brunswick cut the Braves’ lead to seven points in the final four minutes of the game. Just over a minute later, Manalapan was down the field and going for a field goal.
Cody Wiener nailed the kick, but an offside call against Manalapan took away the three points.
“Unfortunately, we went offsides,” quarterback Luke Corcione said. “But we’re a good team, and good teams are going to come out in big situations and make big plays.”
After that, Manalapan coach Ed Guerrieri decided he’d leave it up to Corcione to make a big play, despite the fourth-and-17 his team was facing.
Seconds later, that choice paid off. Corcione whizzed a pass across the middle to the left of the end zone into the arms of Scott Scherzer.
“I dropped back. I saw [Scherzer] about to get open. I looked down at the protection. And, man, that pocket was perfect,” Manalapan’s quarterback said. “Our [offensive] line did an outstanding job. I put it up [and] gave [Scherzer] a chance. And he came down with it, of course.”
That pass was one of only six Corcione completed on the night. And it was the only touchdown pass he threw. Nevertheless, it was enough in that game for the Braves — especially when Manalapan’s top scorer, Naim Mayfield, added another 228 yards on the ground and three touchdowns to his season totals. Going into the final game of the year, Mayfield has run for 1,624 yards and carried the ball across the goal line 21 times.
Manalapan has had plenty of time to let the feeling of its 11-0 record sink in and plenty of time to prepare for the Dec. 3 championship game at Rutgers, but Piscataway has had about as long to get ready for Manalapan following its thrashing of Old Bridge High School, 42-3, Nov. 19.
Corcione isn’t worried, and the senior quarterback guaranteed Manalapan will finish with a perfect record and finish things off as Central Jersey, Group V champions for the second time in three years — the first with him leading the offense.
“We’re not going out in that championship game with a loss,” he said. “We’re going 100 percent, and we’re coming out with that ‘W.’ ”
The game between Manalapan and Piscataway at 10 a.m. will be the first of four championship contests played at Rutgers Dec. 3.