all shore media high school sports 8-5-13 issue -14 volume v

August 5 , 2013 Vo lume-V Issue- 14

3Gridiron ClassicSam Mills Award4 Gridiron ClassicReview

5 2013 SFCF Hall of Fameinductees8-9Preseason FootballBurning Questions102013 NJSIAA FootballRealignment

11Gridiron ClassicCougar Connection12 Finishing StrongBrick's Dan Watson15 StumpysCorner

The f irs t thing fans, players , coaches and parentswant to know after the big game is always,

Is this going to be on

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ADVERTISINGOPPORTUNITIESAVAILABLE For The

2013 FOOTBALLPREVIEW

ADVERTISINGOPPORTUNITIESAVAILABLE For The

2013 FOOTBALLPREVIEW

The Sam Mills Award is annuallygiven to the Monmouth and OceanCounty players who show thededication, perseverance, character,leadership and inspirationpersonified by the late LongBranch legend and formerNew Orleans Saints All-Prolinebacker.

Sam was certainly smiling as he lookeddown at this year's two recipients of theaward.

The award winners were announced beforethe fourth quarter of this year's 36th annualU.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic playedat Toms River North's Gernerd Field.Neptune quarterback Ajee Patterson andMonsignor Donovan linebacker Tom Farrellwere the respective recipients, and playersand coaches from both sides spoke abouthow well-deserving the accolade was for thetwo standouts.

Patterson will be attending University ofNew Haven next year and felt very fortunate to berepresenting Neptune and Monmouth County this year. Itcapped a brilliant senior season in which he helped theScarlet Fliers win their first division title since 1998 andreach their second straight NJSIAA Central Jersey GroupIII final.

"It's an honor to be chosen for this game, and an evenbigger honor to be chosen for this award,'' Patterson said."There were a lot of great players who had a chance towin this award, so just to be considered is an honor and towin it is a blessing."

"It was a real pleasure coaching Ajee,'' MonmouthCounty head coach Greg LaCava of Colts Neck said. "Hecame in and worked hard, led by example and was well-deserving of the award"

"Ajee epitomizes what the award is all about,'' saidMonmouth County quarterbacks coach Matt Walsh, anassistant at Matawan. "He came in and led from the first

practice, worked hard and deserves all of this.It was never about him, but more about theteam and how to get better."

Patterson also starred in MonmouthCounty's 19-7 victory, going 6-for-9 for 65

yards and two touchdowns passing and also running for45 yards.

Despite Ocean County's loss, Farrell said this week wasa "true blessing" to him. His father, also named Tom, waspart of the Ocean County coaching staff. The youngerFarrell, who was also named one of Ocean County's fourcaptains for the game, will continue his career at StonehillCollege.

"I was surprised he was even selected to the team, letalone starting, and then to be named a captain is a trueblessing and honor,'' the elder Farrell said.

"The scoreboard did not show it at the end, but myteammates and myself were winners tonight,'' the youngerFarrell said. "We were able to represent our schools andfamily, and for that we are thankful."

"Tom is a great player on and off the field,'' said OceanCounty defensive coordinator Jeff Bower, a Point Beach

assistant. "He fit the mold of a leader from thefirst second he showed up, every day in practiceand on game day."

Lou Peccarelli, Lakewood High School assistant coachand Ocean County linebackers coach, told a typical TomFarrell story.

"On Monmouth's last drive, I wanted to put Tom into thegame but he said, 'Coach leave (Jackson Liberty's) Chris(Cruz) in, he is playing in his last game.' (Cruz will bejoining the U.S. Marine Corps). That sums up who andwhat he is. He cares more about others than he doeshimself."

When asked after the game about it, Farrell's reply was,"I felt Sam Mills would have done the same thing."

Be assured that the Sam Mills Award rests in goodhands this year.

Neptune quarterback Ajee Patterson (#6) next to Colts Neck coach Greg LaCava andMonsignor Donovan linebacker Tommy Farrell (#40) next to Point Beach coach JohnWagner were this year's recipients of the Sam Mills Award for their respective counties.

Seiz ing the Opportunity :Patterson, Far re l l NamedSam Mi l l s Award Rec ip ientsB y A r t G o r d o n - A l l S h o r e M e d i a c o n t r i b u t o r

Photos byCliff Lavelle

www.c learedge.zenfo l i o .com

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In the week leading up to the US ArmyAll-Shore Gridiron Classic, all ColtsNeck receiver Tim Vangelas had to dowas look under center for a reminder ofthe opportunities he was likely to get tomake an impact.

"It really doesn't get much better than having those twoguys (Colts Neck's Mike Campbell and Neptune's AjeePatterson) throwing it around," Vangelas said. "Theymade it easy for me."

Vangelas, a Lafayette College commit, caught six passesfor 78 yards and two touchdowns to be selected asMonmouth County's offensive MVP and lead Monmouthto a 19-7 victory over Ocean County under the lights atToms River North. Vangelas caught a seven-yard passfrom Patterson in the first quarter and a 10-yard toss fromCampbell in the third to end his career in style after pilingup over 1,000 receiving yards in the fall.

"It's a great honor just to be in the game, and to go onand win MVP with all the great players here is anothergreat honor," Vangelas said.

Campbell finished 8-of-15 for a game-high 120 yards to

go along with his second-half touchdownpass.

"Once our season ended and we found outabout the All-Shore game and that (ColtsNeck) coach (Greg) LaCava was coaching,we've been looking forward to this,"Campbell said. "We talked about howwe wanted to get one last win, and Ithink we did a good job of comingtogether in a week."

Patterson got most of his touches in thefirst half and finished 6-of-8 for 65 yardsand two touchdowns. In addition to histouchdown pass to Vangelas, the New Havencommit found Holmdel's Robbie Cantelli for a 14-yardtouchdown in the second quarter.

"I left off on a good note but at the same time it'semotional knowing it's the last high school gameyou'll ever play," said Patterson, who was the AllShore Media Offensive Player of the Year in2012. "Coming out here and getting a 'W' iswhat I wanted to do and winning awardstoo is just a blessing."

Patterson's teammate David Calderon led

the Monmouth County defense with foursacks at defensive end and was

selected as the team's defensiveMVP. He took advantage of his

time along the line withconstant pressure against

Ocean County quarterbacksRyan Cieplenski (Brick

Memorial) and DanHiggins (Southern)while also leading the

charge in bottling upOcean's ground

attack.

"It wasimportant to playwell," Calderonsaid. "This is thetype of thing you

wait all your highschool career to playin. I looked at filmof last year's game

and couldn't wait untilmy time so I made

sure I wasgoing to

come outhere andnot waste anopportunity. You onlyget one chance to do this."

Cieplenski threw a 29-yardtouchdown pass to Point Beach's Andre

Cochran in the second quarter to accountfor Ocean County's only scoring and wasselected as the team's offensive MVP.Brick defensive end Dan Watson recordedtwo sacks, two quarterback hits and several pressures towin defensive MVP.

Monmouth received to begin the game and immediatelydrove 78 yards in 13 plays to take a 6-0 lead. Pattersonand Long Branch running back Joscil Jackson led thecharge down the field that culminated with Pattersonhitting Vangelas on a quick slant on third-and-goal fromthe seven. Toms River North's Garrett Kroeger blockedthe extra point by Middletown South's Connor Ryan tokeep it 6-0.

After a short series by Ocean County, there was a 30-minute delay because of lightning in the distance but playwas able to resume without any further delays.

The teams traded punts before Monmouth took over atits own 34 with 12:42 left in the second quarter. With theball at midfield three plays into the drive, Patterson ranaround left end for 29 yards for a first down at the Ocean21. Two plays later Patterson and Cantelli got together fora phenomenal touchdown to extend Monmouth County'slead to two scores. Patterson dropped back and shuffled tohis left to avoid pressure. As he was rolling left his threwback across his body, lofting the ball over the defensiveback and allowing Cantelli to make a sensational leapingcatch for a 12-0 lead. The two-point conversion passfailed to keep it 12-0 with 8:15 left in the half.

"All week we talked about putting 50 on the board,"Patterson said. "We came out attacking."

Ocean County got points back on its next drive,however, to make it a one-score game heading to halftime.Starting from its own 29, Ocean marched to Monmouth's29 on nine straight running plays. Cieplenski converted athird-and-2 with a six-yard run and later ran for sevenyards on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive. One playafter his fourth-down conversion, Cieplenski threw a

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4 Gridiron Classic - Touchdown Tim:Monmouth 19, Ocean 7By Bob Badders - Senior Staff Writer

perfect fade to Cochran down the home sideline and thePoint Beach receiver hauled it in for a 29-yard touchdownthat capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive with 1:29 left in thehalf. Point Boro's Brett Blank converted the extra point totrim Monmouth's lead to 12-7.

On the first possession of the third quarter, OceanCounty drove from its own 22 to midfield before beingfaced with a fourth-and-2 from the Monmouth 44.Running Cieplenski up the middle had been working likea charm for Ocean County, but this time Cieplenski wasstopped for no gain to allow Monmouth to take over ondowns. With Campbell under center, Monmouth marched

to the end zone in nine plays to push itslead back to two scores. On third-and-7 from the 47, Campbellconnected with ColtsNeck teammateConnor Canonicofor 13 yards andwent back to thetight end again on thenext play for 13 moreyards to move the ball tothe Ocean County 27.Campbell convertedanother third-and-7 later inthe drive, this time with his legs, ashe scrambled 17 yards to giveMonmouth first-and-goal fromthe seven. After a three-yardloss on first down, Campbellhit Vangelas for a 10-yardscore. Ryan's extra point wasgood to put Monmouth up 19-7.

On the second play of thedrive Campbell had Vangelasfor what looked like atouchdown, and at the worst a longgain. But the sure-handed Vangelasuncharacteristically dropped the pass.

"I missed that one so I owed Mike,"Vangelas said. "Idon't know what

happened there, but I got it back at the end and got Mikehis touchdown pass."

Asked if he got on Vangelas at all for the drop,Campbell just shrugged.

"I couldn't really get on him because he's bailed me outmore than a few times," Campbell said. "I was almost onthe sidelines because I thought he had it, and it was over.I'll give hime one a year and that was his one."

"My first touchdown pass was to Tim and now my lasttouchdown goes to Tim," Campbell continued. "He workshard and he deserved to win MVP. He's always open.People ask a lot about our chemistry, and we have a feelwhere we know what each other is going to do. We cameout here after a few months and it was the same thing."

Ocean County had its final two drives halted andMonmouth would hold on to win for the 20th time in theseries. Neptune defensive back Myles Martin interceptedHiggins to end a drive at Ocean's own 34 and thenCalderon sacked Cieplenski twice to end the game.

At halftime, current Southern Regional head coachChuck Donohue Sr. and former Matawan head coach JoeMartucci were among those inducted into the ShoreFootball Coaches Foundation Hall of Fame. Thisyear's Sam Mills Award winners were Patterson andMonsignor Donovan's Tom Farrell.

An Ocean County coaching legend anda Monmouth County coachingluminary highlighted the 2013 class ofthe Shore Football Coaches Foundation Hallof Fame at this summers 36th annual U.S.Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic.

At halftime of Monmouths 19-7 win over Ocean on July 18 atToms River North, current Southern coach Chuck Donohue Sr. andformer Matawan coach Joe Martucci headlined the SFCF Hall ofFame inductions, which also included the group of ShoreConference coaches/contributors Ron Emmert, Bob Strangia,George Jeck and Ken Turp.

Shore Conference football is some of the best and mostcompetitive football in the state, and its always an honor to berecognized like this in an area known for producing qualitycompetition every year, Donohue Sr. said.

Its especially gratifying to be inducted by your peers being aformer Shore Conference player myself and knowing the proudtradition of football in this area, Martucci said.

Donohue has a career record of 226-151-4 in 39 years at fourdifferent programs and is the first coach in state history to lead fourdifferent teams to NJSIAA sectional finals. During his stint atSouthern from 1998 to the present, he has a career record of 87-68and led the Rams to their only NJSIAA sectional final appearancein 2008 and 2012. In 2011, he led Southern to its first division titlesince 1972 and just the second in program history. Under Donohue,the Rams have made seven of their nine state playoff appearancesin school history.

In 2008, he led Southern to a school-record 10 wins with a teamled by current Penn State linebacker Glenn Carson. The Rams arecoming off a 9-3 season in 2012 in which they reached theinaugural South Jersey Group V championship game before fallingto undefeated Williamstown.

Donohue began his head coaching career at St. Josephs-Hammonton, where his teams went 44-20-1 from 1974-80, winningthe South Jersey Parochial B title in 1977 and reaching thechampionship game in 1980. They made four total playoffappearances under Donohue and also won two Cape-AtlanticLeague division titles.

From 1981-85, Donohue was the head coach at Haddon Heights,finishing 26-20-1 in that stint and leading the Garnets to the SouthJersey Group II final in 1985. He then became the head coach at

Buena from 1986-97, where his teams went 69-43-2, finishing 11-0and winning the South Jersey Group II title in 1988. The Chiefsalso won two Cape-Atlantic League Division titles duringDonohues tenure and reached the state playoffs five times.

The greatest coach in Matawans illustrious history, Martucciracked up a career record of 197-91-1 in 27 seasons with theHuskies. His teams won five NJSIAA sectional titles, tied for thethird-most of any head coach in Shore Conference history.

Matawan also captured 10 Shore Conference division titlesduring Martuccis tenure. The Huskies finished undefeated in 1988for the first of Martuccis five titles, which also included 1991,1992, 2009 and in his final season in 2011. His 1988 and 2009teams tied the school record with 11 wins. Also Matawans athleticdirector, Martucci retired from his administrative position in 2012and is now the running backs coach at Kean University, where heearned a masters degree in supervision and administration in 1980.

Emmert was the head coach at Southern from 1972-1986 afterhaving previously been an assistant for the Rams for eight yearsand at Lacey for three seasons. He led Southern to the ShoreConference Class C title in 1972 for the programs first divisiontitle and its only division crown until 2011. He was named the Pressof Atlantic City Coach of the Year in 1981. A member of theSouthern Regional Athletic Hall of Fame, he also served as abroadcaster for coverage of Shore Conference football on Channel8 in Ocean County for five years and coached in five GridironClassics when it was then known as the All-Shore Classic.

Strangia had a tremendous run as the head coach at Red Bank

Regional for sixyears after havingserved as the headcoach at Dickinsonand an assistant atSnyder in Jersey City

for a total of sixseasons. Strangia led

the Bucs to threeundefeated seasons,

including their only NJSIAA sectional titlesince the creation of the state playoffs in1974.

In 1975, Red Bank beat Hightstown 46-44in one of the greatest championship games inNew Jersey history to win the Central JerseyGroup II championship. Red Bank also won

the Rutgers Cup in 1971 as a Central Jersey champion, and Strangiaearned Coach of the Year honors three times from local media.Strangia also served as a broadcaster for Channel 8 for 11 editionsof the All-Shore Classic and worked five state finals for televisionas well.

Jeck was the head coach at Toms River East for eight seasonsafter having been an assistant under the legendary Warren Wolf for14 years at Brick. He led the Raiders to a share of the Class A Southtitle in 1982 and also led them to their only NJSIAA sectional finalappearance in school history when they lost 17-0 to Brick in theSouth Jersey Group IV championship game in 1981. He alsocoached in five All-Shore Classics for Ocean County and served asa broadcaster doing Shore Conference football for Channel 8 for 18years, which included broadcasting five All-Shore Classics.

Turp promoted Shore Conference football on three radio stationsand two local cable stations in Ocean County over the course of 29years. He was the play-by-play broadcaster for 19 straight All-Shore Classics and did color commentary on the Game of theWeek broadcasts in Ocean County. Turp also had a regular phone-in show on WOBM radio, and served as the play-by-playannouncer on the radio for the inaugural North-South All-StarClassic in 1979. He also broadcasted 10 NJSIAA championshipgames, including two at the former Giants Stadium.

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2013 SFCF Hal l o f Fame inductees





Tim Vangelas is presented the Monmouthoffensive MVP by US ARMY LTC Davis

Neptune quarterback Ajee Patterson

2013 Inductees intoHall of FameB y S c o t t S t u m p M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

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Toms River South senior outfielder Russell Messler, a two-time, ASMfirst-team All-Shore selection, has verbally committed to Rutgers.

Messler continues a long tradition of Indians' stars continuing theircareers at Rutgers, including current Scarlet Knights' sophomore pitcherKyle Driscoll as well as former pitcher Tyler Gebler, who completed hissenior season this past spring. He also becomes the second member ofthe Shore Conference Class of 2014 to commit to the Scarlet Knights,joining St. John Vianney catcher Anthony Santoro.

Messler is on his way to carving out a career as an all-time great atone of the state's top programs after two outstanding seasons. As ajunior, he hit .500 with 37 hits, a Shore Conference-high 39 runs scored,22 stolen bases, 20 RBI, 7 home runs, 7 doubles, 2 triples, a .606 on-base percentage and a .932 slugging percentage.

Messler's robust junior campaign followed a sophomore season in

which he hit .505 with a Shore Conference-high 46 hits, 25 runsscored, 24 RBI, 12 stolen bases, 9 doubles, a .545 on-base percentageand an .835 slugging percentage.

Messler is part of a Shore Conference recruiting class that includesCentral pitcher Andrew DiPiazza (Alabama); Jackson Liberty secondbaseman/pitcher James Sofield (NJIT); St. John Vianney outfielderEvan Pietronico (NJIT) and his teammates, catcher Anthony Santoro(Rutgers) and pitcher Justin Chin (NJIT); Rumson-Fair Haven pitcherShane McCarthy (Seton Hall); Manchester pitcher/infielder/outfielderDevin Tomei (Campbell); Christian Brothers Academy outfielderRyan Ramiz (Seton Hall); Red Bank Catholic catcher Mike Alescio(Seton Hall); Jackson Liberty pitcher Dan Serreino (Seton Hall); Wallpitcher Tyler Swiggart (George Washington); Shore Regionalpitcher/outfielder Matt Cosentino (George Washington); and RBCpitcher/shortstop Al Molina (Coastal Carolina).

Central senior right-hander Andrew DiPiazza, the 2013All Shore Media Pitcher of the Year, verbally committedto the University of Alabama earlier this week to join agrowing list of Division I-bound standouts from the ShoreConference Class of 2014.

DiPiazza had verbally committed to Boston Collegefollowing an injury-plagued sophomore season beforedeciding to de-commit and reopen his recruiting as ajunior. He followed that decision with a brilliant juniorseason in which he went 9-0 to lead the Shore Conferencein wins and struck out 106 in 66 innings with an ERA of0.85 and a WHIP of 0.80. He also had a 16-strikeout no-hitter in the season opener against Point Boro.

He allowed two runs and struck out eight in Central's 3-2 win over Class B South champion and ShoreConference Tournament finalist Jackson Liberty and

allowed one run with 12 strikeouts in a 5-1 upset of TomsRiver East in the Shore Conference Tournament openinground. He also delivered two stellar NJSIAA Tournamentoutings to help the Golden Eagles make run to the SouthJersey Group III semifinals as a No. 10 seed. He won nineof his 10 starts without taking a loss and of those 10 starts,six ended with DiPiazza striking out 10 or more, tied withMonmouth's Tom Broyles for the most double-digitstrikeout starts of any pitcher in the Shore Conference.

DiPiazza is part of a 2014 Shore Conference recruitingclass that includes Toms River South outfielder RussellMessler (Rutgers); Jackson Liberty secondbaseman/pitcher James Sofield (NJIT); St. John Vianneyoutfielder Evan Pietronico (NJIT) and his teammates,catcher Anthony Santoro (Rutgers) and pitcher Justin Chin(NJIT); Rumson-Fair Haven pitcher Shane McCarthy

(Seton Hall); Manchesterpitcher/infielder/outfielder DevinTomei (Campbell); Christian BrothersAcademy outfielder Ryan Ramiz(Seton Hall); Red Bank Catholiccatcher Mike Alescio (Seton Hall);Jackson Liberty pitcher Dan Serreino(Seton Hall); Wall pitcher TylerSwiggart (George Washington);Shore Regional pitcher/outfielderMatt Cosentino (GeorgeWashington); and RBCpitcher/shortstop Al Molina (Coastal Carolina).

Baseball - TR South's Russell MesslerCommits to RutgersB y S c o t t S t u m p M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

Central's Andrew DiPiazzaCommits to AlabamaBy S c o t t S t ump Manag i n g Ed i t o r

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ith preseasontraining campsgetting underway

in mid-August, thelong wait is finally

over.Its time for Shore

Conference football again. With a new season comes a whole new set

of questions. Graduation and offseasonimprovement always threaten to shake up the

Shore hierarchy, and this season should be nodifferent. While the teams right at the top look to

remain the same, there are plenty of unknowns outthere behind them.

Who will be this years Ajee Patterson, the Neptunestar who began the preseason having never started avarsity game at quarterback and ended it as the AllShore Media Offensive Player of the Year. Who will bethis years Colts Neck, which seemingly had a lot ofholes to fill before the season began yet roared to aschool-record nine wins and its first state playoffvictory in 12 years.

Thats the fun of the preseason, whenevery player believes this is his year andevery team thinks it is being slept onand is ready to make some noise. Withso much uncertainty out there, letstake a look at some preseasonburning questions for ShoreConference football

Which team(s) willmake sure theShore Conferencegets back ontop in the stateplayoffs?Last season marked the

first year since 1985 that theShore did not produce onesectional champion, as it went a combined 0-5in state championship games. Its not goingto get a whole lot easier to end that drought in2013, but there are some worthy contenders.

Manalapan has been to two straight sectionalfinals but has not been able to bring home itselusive first state title. The Braves are loadedonce again, but have to deal with a ruggedCentral Jersey Group V bracket that includesdefending champion South Brunswick, whichbeat the Braves 33-22 last season. The bracketalso includes three-time defending CJ Group IVchampion Sayreville, which beat Manalapan in the

CJ IV final in 2011 and is now up in Group Vunder the latest NJSIAA realignment. Add inperennial contenders like Hunterdon Centraland Brick Memorial, and it

wont be an easy road for the Braves.

Central Jersey Group IV becomes more wide opennow that Sayrevilles gone, which may giveMiddletown South the chance to finish the job afterlosing in the sectional finals in four of the past fiveyears. Neptune, which has made two straight CJ GroupIII finals, is now up in Group IV, which also includes atough Colts Neck team on the rise. Also, CJ Group IIIchampion Nottingham is now in this bracket. Still, thereis no 800-pound gorilla like Sayreville here, so theShore should have a good shot.

Long Branch and an Ocean team with the tandem ofTyler Thompson and Royal Moore look like legitimatethreats to make a run at the CJ Group III title in abracket the Shore has had great success in over theyears. Matawan also has to be respected as a contendergiven its track record. Rumson-Fair Haven, arejuvenated Lakewood and Point Boro should be athreat in CJ Group II along with Shore Regional, whichmoves up after reaching last years CJ Group I final.

One of the best chances may be among the smallschools, where Point Beach will try to overcome thegraduation of a stellar class and finish the job afterfalling to Florence in the semifinals last year. Plus thereis always Asbury Park, which has won four of the last sixCJ Group I titles and looks to rejoin the hunt this year.

In South Jersey, Southern remains a threat inSJ Group V, but defending championWilliamstown is a tough obstacle in a loadedbracket. Lacey has a shot in SJ Group IV,but Kingsway is still there and a loaded

Timber Creek team that has become anFBS recruit factory isnt going

anywhere either. In SJ GroupIII, defending championDelsea returns and will bein the way of teams like

Barnegat andManasquan.

Finally, the ShoreConferences best

team, Red BankCatholic, is still ahuge underdog inNon-PublicGroup III

sectionheadlined

by perennialjuggernaut and

defendingchampion

St.

Joseph-Montvale, which beat the Caseys 42-7 in lastyears semifinals. No Shore parochial team has won a statetitle since 1980, so this is the longest shot of them all.

Can anyone stop the reign ofRed Bank Catholic?

The Caseys have won 24 straight games against Shorecompetition and have finished No. 1 in each of the lasttwo seasons. They will star this season at No. 1 again,and the scary part is they could be better than last years10-1 team. They return Notre Dame recruit QuentonNelson to anchor a huge line on both sides of the balland bring back leading rusher Larry Redaelli and fellowrunning threat Mike Cordova in the backfield. Supersophomore Eddie Hahn will challenge Pat Toomey forthe starting quarterback spot, and the defense returnsplenty of experience and talent. Its going to be anothertough year for anyone to get in their way locally.

How will transfers affect thelandscape?

There almost needed to be a weekly transactionsupdate during this offseason with players hoppingschools right and left. Unfortunately, thats the way theworld works at this point because the NJSIAA rarelygives even a slap on the wrist and many schools dontbother to challenge outgoing transfers, so players aregoing to play wherever they and their parents wantthem to play.

Defending Class B South championMonsignor Donovan has seemingly addedabout half of Toms River Norths teamfrom last season, including leadingreceivers Joey Fields and KyleCarrington. Their addition puts the

Griffins rightin the mix torepeat aschampions inwhat shouldbe animproved

division.Brick hasaddedjunior quarterbackCarmen Sclafani,

who ran

andpassed formore than 1,000yards as a sophomore for TomsRiver North and joins a strongClass of 2015 for the GreenDragons that should make them afactor in Class A South after a 3-7season.

An already loaded Manalapanteam has added even more impactplayers, as St. John Vianneyrunning back Mo Omar andlinebacker CarlosTeixeira,Freehold

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By Scott Stump Managing Editor

Manalapan's Saeed Blacknall

Red Bank Catholic's Quenton Nelson Lakewood's Chapelle Cook

running back/linebacker Imamu Mayfield and JacksonMemorial quarterback Charles Lombana have alltransferred in and should all be impact players. TheBraves are a heavy favorite to win their fourth straightClass A North title and reach their third straight NJSIAAsectional final.

Lacey has bolstered an already explosive offense withMarlboro running back Dewann McAllister, and Barnegathas added a skill position weapon in junior Manny Bowen,a Central transfer. Manchester has added two-year startingquarterback KaShaun Barnes of Matawan, who should bea skill position threat for the Hawks and also help them ondefense.

Can Toms River South and Oceanmake the leap back into thespotlight?

These are two of the storied programs in the ShoreConference but have been under the radar in the past threeseasons or so. Both have made strides back to becomingcontenders, as both reached the state playoffs last season.

However, this is now an era when everyoneand their grandmother qualifies for the state

playoffs, so truly being a contendermeans at least making the sectionalsemifinals.

Both teams have that potential thisyear because of outstanding running

attacks led by rising talents.Toms River South junior

quarterback Tymere Berryand senior fullback OtisKearney were aformidable tandem lastseason for a team that

should continue to rise fromthe ashes under coach RonSignorino Jr.

Meanwhile, this could bethe year thatOceansophomorerunning backTylerThompsonfullyexplodesonto theShore

Conferencescene. He

became the firstfreshman to rush

for 1,000 yardssince some kid

named KnowshonMoreno at Middletown

South last year and hasonly gotten bigger,stronger and faster.Pair him with all-purpose threat Royal

Moore, and you havea handful for

opposing

defenses.That is thetype of firepowerthat could put Oceanright back in theconversation for divisionand state titles after being onthe outside looking in for a few years.

Can Jackson Liberty,Colts Neck, Lakewood and St. John Vianney sustaintheir momentum?

All three programs took a bigstep forward last year thanks tostellar senior classes, so now it remains to beseen as to whether the wins can keep oncoming despite graduation losses.

Jackson Liberty finally turned the corner withits first winning season and first state playoffappearance in program history last fall, but thensuffered the tragic death of Tim Osborn, the onlyhead coach in program history. The team will playin his memory and try to honor him by keeping thewins coming under new coach Jim Sharples, theformer defensive coordinator. With junior quarterbackMatt Castronuova back in the fold, the Lions shouldbe right in the hunt in the Class B South race but dohave a lot of question marks thanks to graduation.

A team Jackson Liberty will have to deal with inthe division is Lakewood, which loses two-time, first-team All-Shore talent Tyrice Beverette atquarterback/safety as well as some other talented seniors,but the cupboard is far from bare. This squad is teemingwith FBS talent from running back Chapelle Cook tolineman Ben Watson to linebacker/defensive end DatrellReed and plenty more. The participation numbers are way

up, and this team seems poised tocontinue its incredible ascentfrom one of the worstteams in the Shore to aTop 10 team afterhaving its best

season in 12 yearslast fall.

Colts Neck alsolooks to continue to rack

up wins, although it has toreplace the most productive

quarterback (Mike Campbell)and wide receiver (Tim Vangelas)

in school history. The good news isthat 1,000-yard rusher and top

linebacker Anthony Gargiulo returnsalong with several key players on

defense to give the team a strongbackbone of punishing running and

stingy

defense.

St. John Vianney went 6-4 for itsfirst winning campaign since 2006 lastseason, but it will have to replace somekey losses. Star wide receiver Ishmael

Hyman is now at Kansas, and do-it-alltalent Steve Callari also was part of thegraduating class. Meanwhile, startinglinebacker Carlos Teixeira and runningback Mo Omar transferred toManalapan. The good news is that2,000-yard passer Billy DeMato is backto engineer the spread offense, and

FBS talent Justin Gille and juniorClay Kemp return to anchor astrong defensive front for theLancers. Making the leap from a

six-win squad to one that can reacheight or nine is often one of themost difficult jumps to achieve,and the Lancers will look to takethat step.

What are some otherthings to keep an eyeon?Can Southern weather heavy graduation

losses and build enough offense aroundsuperstar wide receiver Mike Gesicki tomake another deep playoff run?...Havegraduation losses finally caught upwith Neptune after two straight trips

to the Central Jersey Group III finals?...Can PointBeach lose the entirety of a stellar backfield andkeep the wins coming in the programs rebirthunder coach John Wagner?...Will Rumson-FairHaven be able to smoothly transition to newcoach Bryan Batchler to keep the best run inprogram history going?

Will Keyport get over the humpagainst quality opponents with three-year starter Alex Thomson back asone of the Shores top

quarterbacks?...How will TomsRiver North recover from

losing all of its top skillposition players totransfer and its headcoach during theoffseason?...Can

contenders like Howell,Jackson Memorial, Raritan,Wall, Freehold, and TomsRiver East rebound fromdismal seasons to once againbecome a factor in divisionalraces?...Can former MiamiDolphins assistant Steve Bushhelp Middletown North turnthe tide in a town that hasbeen dominated byMiddletown South?


www.clearedge.zenfolio.com

B i l l N o rm i l e www.billnormile.zenfolio.com

David Thornewww.davethorne.smugmug.com

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Lakewood's Chapelle CookToms River South's Otis Kearney

Ocean's Tyler Thompson

Jackson Lib's Matt Castronuova

The NJSIAA classifications forthe 2013 football season havebeen released, with several prominentShore Conference teams findingthemselves in new state playoffbrackets this season.

Neptune, which has been to two straightCentral Jersey Group III finals, winning thetitle in 2011, is now in Central Jersey Group IVwith old rival Middletown South, whichreached last season's final, as well as on-the-rise Colts Neck and 2012 playoff qualifierJackson Liberty. Middletown North, Brick, andFreehold are also in Central Jersey Group IV,where the good news for Shore contenders isthat perennial power and three-time defendingchampion Sayreville is now in Central JerseyGroup V. While the section loses Sayreville,however, it adds Nottingham, which beatNeptune to win last year's CJ Group III title.

Manalapan, which reached the inaugural Central Jersey Group V final lastseason before losing to South Brunswick, remains in that bracket, whichadds Sayreville to make it a rugged section. The bracket also includes ShoreConference teams Brick Memorial, Marlboro, and Freehold Township,which were in that section last season, with Brick Memorial being the loneplayoff qualifier of the group.

Two perennial Central Jersey teams find themselves in South Jersey, asManasquan and Wall are now both in South Jersey Group III. Manasquanwas in South Jersey Group II in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007, winning the SJGroup II title during its undefeated 2006 season, while this is unchartedterritory for Wall. They join Shore holdovers Barnegat, Central, Manchesterand Pinelands in that section.

One of last season's Central Jersey Group I finalists, Shore Regional, isnow up in Central Jersey Group II along with Keyport, another CJ I playoffqualifier from last season. Lakewood, which lost to Neptune in the CJGroup III quarterfinals last season, has dropped down to CJ Group II, whichalso includes Rumson-Fair Haven and Point Boro, the latter of which was inSouth Jersey last year. Defending champion Carteret has been realigned intoCentral Jersey Group III.

Long Branch, Matawan, Red Bank Regional, Holmdel and Ocean allremain in Central Jersey Group III, which has added Raritan, which wasaligned in the North II, Group III bracket last season, and Monmouth,which was in CJ Group II. The section has also added Carteret, which went12-0 and won the CJ Group II title last fall.

Asbury Park, Keansburg and Point Beach, all playoff qualifiers lastseason, remain in Central Jersey Group I, which also returns defendingchampion Florence.

In South Jersey Group V, 2012 finalist Southern and playoff qualifierToms River North remain in the bracket, which returns defending championWilliamstown. Lacey remains in the South Jersey Group IV bracket afterreaching the semifinals last season, and playoff qualifier Toms River Southalong with rival Toms River East both have stayed put in that section. Thereare no Shore Conference teams aligned into the South Jersey Group II andGroup I brackets.

On the non-public side, there have been no changes for the local teams.Red Bank Catholic, St. John Vianney and Monsignor Donovan remain in theNon-Public Group III bracket with defending champion and perennialjuggernaut St. Joseph-Montvale as well as Delbarton, Immaculata, PopeJohn XXIII, etc. Mater Dei Prep remains in Non-Public Group I.

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2013 FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL BROADCAST SCHEDULE(Games to be broadcast on 105.7FM and 1160/1310AM)

Fri 9/7 Brick at Brick Memorial (7pm)Fri 9/14 Toms River South at Southern (7pm)Fri 9/21 Toms River North at Southern (7pm)Fri 9/28 Jackson Memorial at Toms River North (7pm)Fri 10/5 Neptune at Brick Memorial (7pm)Fri 10/14 Barnegat at Central (7pm)Fri 10/19 Toms River South at Toms River East (7pm)Fri 10/26 TO BE DETERMINEDFri 11/2 Lacey at Brick Memorial (7pm)Sat 11/9 NJSIAA Playoff GamesSat 11/16 NJSIAA Playoff GamesThr 11/22 Wall at Manaquan (11am)

11/30-12-2 NJSIAA Championship Weekend

BROADCAST CREW

Kevin Williams, Matt Harmon, Ed Sarluca

Visit www.shoresportsnetwork for details

Prominent Shore Teams ChangeBrackets in NJSIAA RealignmentBy Scott Stump Managing Editor

After reaching the Central Jersey Group III finals the past two seasons, Neptune will now be inCentral Jersey Group IV under the latest NJSIAA football classifications for the 2013 season.

Photos by: Cliff Lavellewww.c learedge.zenfo l i o .com

One of the biggest problemswhen coaching an al l s targame is get t ing al l of the coachesand players to understand the newsystem they have to learn and doi t in a short period of t ime.

Monmouth County and Colts Neck head coachGreg Lacava were no exception this year, but hewas able to work through this with the help of hisfive assistant coaches on his staff and fouroffensive players in key positions. The Cougarswere well-represented and made their presence feltin Monmouth County's 19-7 win at the 36th annualU.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic at TomsRiver North's Gernerd Field. It was a fitting way tostamp the year for the seniors after they led ColtsNeck to a school-record nine wins in the fall andtheir first state playoff victory in 12 years.

"Having all of them with me makes its a loteasier,'' LaCava said. "The players can be teacherson the field and extend us as a staff."QuarterbackMike Campbell, wide receiver and Monmouthoffensive MVP Tim Vangelas, fullback GioZefferino and tight end Connor Canonico all startedfor the Monmouth County all-stars. They wereaided all week by a staff that included defensivecoordinator Tom Letson, special teams and

defensive backs coach Greg Hope, widereceivers coach K.C. Keenan, offensiveline coach Sam Kinningham and specialassistant John Andl.

Looking at the results of the game, hewas certainly right with Vangelas beingnamed MVP with six catches for 78 yardsand two touchdowns, Campbell throwingfor a game-high 120 yards and atouchdown, and Neptune quarterbackAjee Patterson throwing a pair oftouchdown passes. Canonico also had a pair ofcatches and Zefferino was a factor running the balland as a receiver.

"Kids come from all differentschools, with different offensivesystems with completely differentterminology, so it is a credit totheir hard work and determinationto learn it and a credit to a greatstaff," LaCava said.

"It is a definite advantage to come in and know allthe plays that we ran in practice all season, and itdoesn't get much better having Mike under center,''Vangelas said. "

Patterson was thankful for the extra help hereceived from Campbell and the staff.

"The first two days I was rocky and shaky, butthen coach gave me a playbook and with Mike'shelp, I was able to pick up everything,'' Pattersonsaid. "We worked together and constantlycommunicated with each other. There was notension between us, and we supported each other. Itwas great playing with them."

"An example of what a great job they did was thatwe actually had a coin toss to see who would startat quarterback,'' LaCava said.

Griridon Classic:Cougar ConnectionB y A r t G o r d o n - A l l S h o r e M e d i a c o n t r i b u t o r

Quarterback Mike Campbell and his Colts Neck teammates made theirpresence felt in the 19-7 victory for Monmouth County, which was

coached by Cougars head man Greg LaCava and his staff.

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After this year's U.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic ,Brick defensive end Dan Watsonclutched his defensive Most ValuablePlayer award for Ocean County andsoaked in a bi t tersweet moment .On a f ie ld f i l led with al l -s tars , he had done

what he always did best during his careerwith the Green Dragons - get af ter thequarterback. However, Thursday night a lsomarked the f inal game of Watson 's s tandoutfootbal l career, as he said he wil l not beplaying in col lege.

"I wish I could play in col lege, but I didn ' tget what I real ly wanted, ' ' he said. "I t a tleast fe l t good to come out and play herewith these great players . ' '

Watson was a br ight spot in Ocean County 's

19-7 loss to Monmouth County at TomsRiver North 's Gernerd Field, regis ter ingtwo sacks and four quarterback pressuerswith his re lent less play off the edge. I tcapped a senior year in which he led theShore Conference with 18 sacks to goalong with 74 tackles . He was named theClass A South Co-Defensive Player of theYear and also earned f i rs t - team All-Shorehonors f rom All Shore Media.

On Thursday night , he showed thosenumbers were legi t imate by get t ing af ter apair of e lusive quarterbacks in Neptune 'sAjee Pat terson and Colts Neck 's MikeCampbel l .

"They are a lot quicker than I 'm used to , ' 'Watson said. "My teammates have messedwith me saying (Brick) doesn ' t real ly playanyone that good, so i t was great to comeout here and show I can do i t againstplayers as good as these guys."

Finishing Strong:Brick's Dan Watson B y S c o t t S t u m p M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

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playing footbal l s incehe was f ive years old,and remembered rough-and-tumble games atthe youth level againstteams from Carteretand Newark that helpedmold him into the hard-nosed player hebecame.When askedwhat he wil l miss most ,he said, "Hit t ing peopleand get t ing sacks."

A bi t undersized as adefensive end, Watsonsaid he was not able togenerate the col legeoffers he wanted andmay t ry to go thejunior col lege route .

"I t was def ini te ly f rustrat ingbecause I didn ' t get any offers a t a l l ,and I don ' t want to have my ski l ls gofor nothing, ' ' he said. "I thought Iworked hard enough to gosomewhere."

If Thursday night was t ruly the endafter a great three-year vars i ty careerwith the Green Dragons, Watson cantake solace in the fact that he provedhe more than belonged on a f ie ldf i l led with col lege players and theShore Conference 's top ta lent .

Brick's Dan Watson ended his football career on a high note by earning defensiveMVP honors for Ocean County. Presenting award is LTC Davis



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Domingo Perez had many different addressesduring his high school career at Asbury Park,but there was only one place he cal led home.

With his parents battling personal demons that caused them to lose custody ofhim, the Asbury Park two-way lineman has lived with foster families, in grouphomes, with relatives, and even with his own head coach in the past four years.

Through it all, Asbury Park Stadium right off Sunset Avenue was perhaps his moststable address.

Football has kept myhead clear, it's kept mefocused, and it's kept mein shape, Perez said. Itkept me off the streets ofAsbury and being aroundthe wrong people. It's justhelped me a lot to realizethe bigger picture.

His reward for stickingwith the sport despiteconstant turbulence off thefield is a spot on the rosterat Division III powerWesley College in Dover,Del. He also had one finalopportunity to shine at thehigh school level when heserved as a captain forMonmouth County in its19-7 win over OceanCounty in the 36th annualU.S. Army All-ShoreGridiron Classic on July18.

I'm proud of myself,and I'm just going to keeppushing forward like I always have, he said. You have to have a lot of ambitionand hunger to want to do better. I saw people going downhill and thought, Thatsnot for me.

However, it wasnt always that way. The 280-pound lineman was on the varsityteam as a freshman when the Blue Bishops won their third straight NJSIAA CentralJersey Group I title in 2009, but nearly derailed his career before it even began.

I got into trouble and stopped going to school for about three months at the endof my freshman year, he said. I was just out there with the wrong people. I playedvarsity, but that didn't really matter if I was doing the wrong thing. That wasprobably my lowest point, when I realized that this wasn't me and I could do waybetter.

Just as he began to pull his life together that summer, it was uprooted when heabruptly moved to Florida with his father in the preseason before his sophomoreyear. After the living situation down there became unstable, he was back in AsburyPark seven months later. He bounced around several homes, many of them in someof the roughest neighborhoods on the west side of a town plagued by gun violence.

I've been in situations where my aunt's house has gotten shot up, Perez said.It's not a great experience, but it just teaches you that life is short. You have to putyourself in a situation where you want the best for yourself.

Perezs living situation was so chaotic that in January of his junior year he movedin with Asbury Park coach Matt Ardizzone, who was granted temporary custody byPerezs father. The two forged a tight bond through Perezs circumstances.

It's been like father-son, Perez said. It's phenomenal to know that he is mycoach, my friend and a father figure.

He was able to keep an even keel through it all, Ardizzone said. If he wasntsucceeding in football or wrestling, he would just get motivated to work harder.

As a junior, Perez was a starting lineman on the Blue Bishops team that finished10-2 and won its fourth Central Jersey Group I title in five years during the 2011season. He also blossomed on the wrestling mat, helping to resurrect a once-

dormant Asbury Park program while starring as a heavyweight. In his juniorseason, he became the Blue Bishops first district champion since 1971. As asenior this past winter, he went 18-6 and repeated as District 23 champion beforefinishing fourth in Region VI.

Following his senior football season this past fall, Perez was an All-Class BCentral pick by the coaches after helping the Blue Bishops finish 6-4 with a playoffappearance despite heavy graduation losses. Since December of 2012, he has beenliving at Beacon House in Neptune, a transitional living program for men ages 17 to21 that teaches life skills like money management, personal health and homemaintenance.

By staying focused, Perez was able to do what many of the players from AsburyParks recent run of championships could not move on to college. While the BlueBishops have won four state sectional titles since 2007, only a handful of playershave moved on to the next level, with many failing to qualify academically orgetting caught up in the streets.

Monmouth University senior wide receiver Lamar Davenport, Texas Southernjunior quarterback Jamar Small and 2011 Hamilton College graduate Paul Zarella, aformer Blue Bishops lineman, are believed to be the only players from those teamswho went on to college and stuck with a program. Perez now joins that short list.

When you talk to people around here and they ask about some of your biggestdisappointments, its not wins and losses on field, it's about kids getting to the nextlevel and staying, Ardizzone said. Domingo had the grades and knew what hisabilities were. He was realistic about everything, and he achieved his goal.

Perez may not be going to a flashy FBS program, but he is a symbol of whatAsbury Park hopes to add to its championship trophies solid program kids who goon to play at the next level and give themselves a chance in life.

It definitely was my dream to play college ball, Perez said. I want to set anexample for the younger guys and even the guys who graduated with me. It's nevertoo late to go to college, and hopefully they get the chance to play on a college teamas well. I definitely want to create a legacy for myself and also represent Asbury.

When Perez returns from his freshman year at Wesley, he said he will be living ina group home in Elizabeth. However, his heart will remain in Asbury Park.

I can see Domingo one day giving back to us by coming back and coachinghere, Ardizzone said. Thats the type of person he is, and he would be a greatmentor to the other kids.

That is my goal, Perez said. I want to give back to all the people who helpedme, and show the younger guys that no matter how bad it gets, you just need to stayfocused and want something more for yourself.

P h o t o b y :B i l l N o rm i l e

www.b i l l no rmi le .zenfo l i o .com

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all shore media high school sports 8-5-13 issue -14 volume v

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