RBR, Long Branch fall in state finals

BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

JEFF GRANIT staff Long Branch QB Maurice Turpin faces pressure from New Brunswick’s Jonathon Casillas during the CJ Group II final on Dec. 9.

Both the Red Bank Regional and Long Branch High School football teams started the year off slowly, needing to turn things around before it was too late.

Both did.

Both teams needed to get better with each passing week in order to prepare themselves for potential state playoff bids.

Both did.

JEFF GRANIT staff Long Branch’s Kenneth Banach takes on the state’s top player, New Brunswick’s Dwayne Jarrett, during the CJ Group II final on Dec. 9 in New Brunswick.

Once in the playoffs, both teams needed to play their best football of the year as high seeds in their respective sectional tournaments.

Once again, both did.

Once they began postseason play, both teams needed to upset some pretty good teams in order to earn their shots at state championships.

You guessed it, both did.

CHRIS KELLY staff Red Bank’s Cliff Toodle busts through the Middletown South defense for the Bucs’ first touchdown in the CJ Group III final in Middletown on Dec. 9.

In their respective sectional finals, both teams entered their games as prohibitive underdogs, facing two of the best public school teams in the state on their home fields. Both teams needed to pull off one final upset to complete their seasons in remarkable fashion.

But while both teams managed to show the heart and resiliency that got them there, neither could bring home the trophy.

The Red Bank Regional Bucs fell to Middletown South, 24-14, in the Central Jersey Group III final on Dec. 10 in Middletown. Earlier that day, Long Branch headed north to New Brunswick to take on the state’s sixth-ranked team, only to lose a heartbreaker 21-14 in the CJ Group II final.

Two teams that mirrored each other for much of the season consequently suffered the same fate on a cold and blustery Dec. 10 day.

Red Bank fell behind early to the Eagles and never fully recovered. After receiving the opening kickoff, the Eagles marched down the field on the heels of their outstanding tailback Knowshon Moreno.

The elusive sophomore went 26 yards on the game’s first play from scrimmage, then followed it up with a 25-yard scamper on a pitchout from Johnson on an option. After bringing the Eagles within scoring distance, Moreno then finished the job, finding the end zone from three yards out, and it was 6-0 South with 6:40 left in the first quarter.

The young Eagle defense then made its presence felt late in the first quarter when Chris Martinho recovered a fumble from his outside linebacker position and returned it six yards for the game’s second touchdown.

"I thought I was going to sack [RBR quarterback Keyron Sheard], and then I saw him go to throw the ball, and it just fell into my hands," Martinho said.

Though the Eagles missed their second consecutive PAT attempt, they still had a 12-0 lead, and all the early momentum.

But the Bucs, who lost to the Eagles 37-7 during week one of the season, showed the same resiliency they’ve displayed all season, and blocked an Eagle punt late in the second quarter. Starting at the Eagle 27-yard line with just over a minute before the half, Sheard threw a corner fade and Rahmir Cottman made a diving catch for a 19-yard reception that set up the Bucs’ first touchdown. It also marked the Bucs’ only first down of the half.Cliff Toodle took it from there, fighting his way into the end zone on a second effort, and the Bucs cut the lead to 12-6. Mike Pizzuli’s PAT kick made it 12-7.

In the third quarter, it was Martinho who once again made the opportunistic play, picking off a Sheard pass and giving the Eagles the ball at the 25-yard line. Five plays later, Moreno went in from two yards out. Another botched PAT attempt left the score at 19-7, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. On South’s next possession, Moreno broke several tackles and busted free for a 46-yard TD scamper that gave the Eagles a 24-7 lead.

Moreno’s ability to maintain his balance in the mud (not to mention his breakaway speed) was simply too much for the Bucs on this night. He ran for 162 yards on 27 carries and found the end zone three times — the kind of performance his teammates and coaches have come to expect from him.

"Typical Knowshon," said head coach Steve Antonucci. "The kid’s got potential to the sky. He’s going to be a great one. He already is a great one."

RBR attempted to get back in the game, and made a valiant effort. They began to focus on the combination of Sheard-to-Cottman (a combination that worked nine times for 136 yards), which led to a 16-yard scoring play that cut the lead to 24-14 in the fourth quarter.

The Buc defense then stepped up, forcing the Eagles to go three-and-out, but another Sheard interception, this one from Eric Daneman (his second of the game), effectively sealed the win for the Eagles.

Long Branch gave the undefeated Zebras quite a scare, jumping out to 7-0, and later 14-7 leads before New Brunswick decided to put the fate of the game in the state’s premier player, Dwayne Jarrett.

After Long Branch opened the scoring in the first quarter with a one-yard plunge from Johnny Williams, Jarrett responded with his first TD of the day, on a four-yard pass from QB Josh Jones.

But Long Branch came right back, using a pair of big plays (the first a 50-yard pass from Maurice Turpin to Terrance McKellar and the second a 35-yard scoring pass to Joe Nunez) to regain the lead, 14-7.

However, on the Zebras’ ensuing possession, Alteric Balaam got things going for the home team with a 32-yard run, before Jones found Jarrett on a 24-yard pass play. Then it was Jarrett, who is fielding scholarship offers from many of the nation’s top Division I-A programs, who beat double-coverage to haul in a seven-yard TD pass, and tie the score at 14-14.

In the third quarter, Long Branch had a chance to get on the board once again, but a dropped pass in the New Brunswick end zone on fourth down halted a potential scoring drive.

That set up Jarrett’s final act of heroism — an 85-yard touchdown run on a reverse that gave the Zebras the 21-14 lead with just 4:32 left in the third quarter.

The New Brunswick defense held from there, and the Green Wave’s hopes of knocking off the Greater Middlesex Conference’s top team came to a disappointing end.

Both Long Branch and Red Bank may have ended their seasons on disappointing notes, but they certainly earned the respect of two of the best teams in the state.

Middletown South coach Steve Antonucci praised the Bucs’ improvement from the first meeting.

"It’s tough to play them twice, and have to defend them twice. They’ve got some quality kids and some special skill players," he said.

As for Long Branch, they received the ultimate compliment from Jarrett, a player who has faced some outstanding teams throughout the season.

"Long Branch was the toughest team we faced all season," he said.

Though the sting of falling short in the state championship finals may last a while, both the Red Bank Regional Bucs and Long Branch Green Wave have plenty to be proud of as they look back on the season.

Both Red Bank Regional and Long Branch were hoping to put together a season to remember when they started training camp back in August.

Both did.