When the Middletown South and Ocean Township football teams take the field tomorrow night in Middletown, there will be more at stake than just a shot at a state title.
While there is not a traditionally intense rivalry between the two teams, the Eagles and Spartans have found themselves squaring off in some important spots in recent years. And while the results have varied, the games have produced high levels of play and emotion. Simply put, these two teams may not have always been rivals, but they certainly are now, and that makes this Friday night’s showdown even more interesting.
Middletown South started strong, scoring on its first possession of the game when QB Ryan Mullan ran it in from 13 yards out. The 32-yard drive was set up by a 50-yard kickoff return from Bungee to open the game. South missed the PAT however, which allowed New Brunswick to take a 7-6 lead when running back Randy Varbelow scored from 14 yards out with 3:36 left in the game.
That set up the Eagles’ winning drive, which rekindled memories of South’s championship teams of a few years ago. This is a relatively young Eagles team, but now that they have a playoff victory under their belts, they will be even tougher on Friday night on their home field. Ocean will need another big night from its defense, as well as a more productive offensive output against a South defense that has been among the better units in the Shore all season.
On paper, South looks like a good bet to advance to the state championship game, where they would face the winner of the other semifinal game between top-seeded Freehold Borough and Neptune. However, as recent history has shown us, Middletown South-Ocean football games tend not to follow the expected path. This should be an intriguing match-up between an Ocean team that has shown it knows how to win close games and a Middletown South team that has impressed opposing coaches with its physicality and maturity. Game time is 7 p.m. in Middletown.
Middletown North was also hoping to be playing in a state semifinal game this weekend, only to have those hopes dashed by a very good West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 40-22, on Sunday.
The seventh-seeded Lions knew they would need to play a flawless game in order to knock off the unbeaten Pirates, and fell a bit short, though certainly not due to lack of effort.
Head coach Joe Trezza has the Lions playing a very sound brand of football right now, and with the Lions tasting success this season, Trezza is hoping that Sunday’s loss will be another step in his team’s path to championshiplevel football.
Early on, North (5-4) looked to be up to the challenge of taking on what has been an offensive juggernaut this year. The WWPS offense, led by talented quarterback Connor Farrell and a bevy of athletic playmakers, has racked up points at a feverish pace this year; which is something the Lions were well aware of going into the game.
On their first drive, the Lions looked up to the challenge, methodically driving down the field and scoring a touchdown on a Uly Gibson two-yard run.
Gibson was the workhorse all day for the Lions, accumulating 192 yards on 26 carries.
However, if the intent was to let the Pirates know they were in for a challenge, it worked, as WWPS came back with a vengeance, scoring 27 unanswered points in a 12-minute span to build a 27-7 lead. North quarterback Joe Dickey then dove into the end zone from a yard out to cap a 64-yard drive that took just 2:30 and cut the West Windsor South lead to 27-14 at the half.
Led by Farrell, who threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns, and tailback David Twamley (21 carries for 123 yards and two scores), the Pirate offense proved to be every bit as good as advertised. After they extended their lead to 33-14 in the fourth quarter, North got a seven-yard touchdown run from Sean McKee, followed by a successful two-point conversion pass from Joe Dickey to Gibson to get within 33-22.
The Lions then recovered an onsides kick, and were beginning to entertain visions of an unlikely comeback, only to have those thoughts dashed by a Jeff Riemann interception on a fourth-and-10 play. The Lions did get the ball back on a WWPS fumble at the North 8-yard line, only to have Twamley pick off another pass to seal the game.
While North certainly showed it was capable of playing with the Pirates, it also proved their coach prophetic. Trezza knew his team would need to play mistake-free football to win, and they were not able to do that (four North turnovers led to 20 WWPS points).
Now that their state tournament run has ended, the Lions will prepare for their Thanksgiving Day game against rival Middletown South. This should be another slugfest between two of the most physical teams in the Shore.
This weekend’s action also served a rude awakening to another of the local area’s young, up-and-coming teams, as the Raritan Rockets fell in the Central Jersey Group II opener to Delran, 42-0.
Head coach Bob Generelli’s team was no match for the sheer size of the Bears offensive line, which dictated the outcome of the game. Delran running back Robert Bruce was running in daylight for most of the game, racking up 189 rushing yards and four touchdowns to lead his team to victory.
All is not lost for the Rockets, however. At 6-3 on the year, they still have a chance to earn a piece of the Shore’s National Division title when they take on a winless Holmdel team on Thanksgiving Day.
After struggling through a 2-8 season a year ago, Generelli and his staff have to be pleased with the way their team has progressed this year. They ran into a team that posed an impossible match-up problem on Friday and couldn’t advance in the state tournament. However, with a win on Thanksgiving, the Rockets will end their season on a championship note nonetheless.