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MIDDLETOWN - For about 10 months, it's as if there has been one of those digital countdown clocks lodged in the minds of Middletown South's players when it came to finally vanquishing Freehold after three straight losses to the Colonials that included a setback in last year's NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III championship game.

"We've been counting - 299 days,'' said junior quarterback Scott Meeker. "Being six yards away last year (in a 21-14 loss in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III final) and having to hear it all during the offseason, we wanted this one.''

"It's like taking a refridgerator off your back,'' said senior linebacker Sean Campbell. "We always had that hanging over our head. Are we going to be that senior class that lets this team beat us four times in a row?''

Junior quarterback Scott Meeker and the Middletown South offense capitalized on Freehold's six turnovers to fuel a 21-10 win over the Colonials.

No they are not, as the Eagles, ranked No. 2 in the All Shore Media Top 10, prevailed 21-10 in a pivotal game against the two-time Federal Division champions on Friday night at "The Swamp'' thanks to a defense that came up with six turnovers and an offense that cashed in three of those turnovers for touchdowns. Meeker threw two touchdown passes, including a 20-yard strike on fourth down to a diving Scott Simonson with 3:25 left in the game that helped seal the win and also gave Simonson his first varsity touchdown.

"The defense did a good job, we were opportunistic, and we scored off the turnovers, which is the name of the game,'' said Middletown South head coach Steve Antonucci.

The Eagles (4-0, 2-0) also faced Freehold (2-2, 1-2) at its strongest, as senior fullback Tezzy Thorpe (16 carries, 60 yards), a 1,000-yard rusher last year, made his 2009 debut after undergoing minor knee surgery in the preseason and his cousin, standout senior linebacker Rakim Thorpe, made his debut as well after serving a suspension for a violation of school policy. In addition, senior linebacker Cody Olmo, who had quit the team in the preseason, is back and had a pair of hits for a loss in the defeat. Middletown South also overcame a strong game by Freehold wideout Rameer Wright, who had six catches for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown in the loss. There also was some additional emotion on the Freehold side as Sal Ciccotelli, the father of Colonials' head coach Mark Ciccotelli, passed away on Tuesday.

The epidemic of turnovers that has plagued Freehold in its uneven start continued on Friday night, and the Eagles made the Colonials pay dearly for them, starting with their first score of the night. A punt skipped off a Freehold player and the Eagles recovered it at Freehold's 36-yard line to set up a 9-play drive that included a 2-yard run on fourth down by Meeker that kept the drive alive long enough for Meeker to lob it up to wideout Taylor Rogers, who made a leaping, 13-yard touchdown catch to help supply a 7-0 lead with 47 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Colonials responded with a 15-play drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal by Mike Hembling that cut the lead to 7-3 with 4:49 left in the first half. During that drive, Freehold had a 12-yard touchdown pass to Richard Schwartz wiped out because of a penalty, allowing the Eagles to take a four-point lead into the locker room.

Freehold's defense was on its way to holding Middletown South's run-oriented flexbone offense to 109 yards rushing in the game, so it was up to the Eagles' passing game to do enough in the second half to help them seal the win.

"It was a so-so game until halftime and then coach Antonucci told us that we can't rely on the defense as much as we were doing,'' Simonson said.

"They have the best run defense we've faced so far,'' said Meeker, who is a first-year starter. "Those 'backers were coming all night. We were hitting plays every once in a while, but we knew we were going to have to go to the air some time and make a play.''

The third quarter began in sloppy fashion as Sterry Codrington picked off a pass by Meeker before Freehold fumbled the ball right back on its ensuing possession and Campbell pounced on it at the Eagles' 49-yard line. After a 44-yard run by junior Kyle Bunge put the ball at Freehold's 12-yard line, Meeker was intercepted one play later at the 1-yard line by Freehold junior Derrick Bender. However, on Freehold's first play following the pick, a fumbled snap was recovered by Middletown South senior defensive end Nick Bricker at the 2-yard line. That set up Bricker's 2-yard touchdown run for a 14-3 lead with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Eagles had a chance to drop the hammer when linebacker Connor Gilbert intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, but an illegal block on the return negated the six points. One play later, Meeker fumbled and it was recovered by Freehold at the Colonials' 24-yard line. On Freehold's first play after the turnover, strong-armed sophomore quarterback Kevin Phillips, who saw his first significant action of the season while rotating with senior Martin Corso and threw for a career-high 152 yards, unloaded a bomb down the right sideline to Wright for a 76-yard touchdown pass. That put Freehold right back into the game by cutting the score to 14-10 with 9:41 left in the fourth quarter and marked the first varsity touchdown pass for Phillips, who lined up in the shotgun in obvious passing plays most of the night while Corso handled the snaps under center in Freehold's run-based flexbone offense.

"That (76-yard touchdown) just shows their athleticism,'' Campbell said. "(Middletown South cornerback) Taylor Rogers is a great athlete who runs a 4.5 40 and that kid (Wright) just smoked him down the sidelines. That just shows how dangerous they can really be. You slip up once against them, and they're going to capitalize.''

"They had big-play potential and I said it from the beginning of the week,'' Antonucci said. "They've got athletes all over the place. It's not about stopping one kid, it's about being sharp on every snap.''

The Eagles were on their heels after going three-and-out on their next possession, but a muffed punt gave them new life and the ball at their own 49-yard line. They then marched to Freehold's 20-yard line in nine plays before deciding to go for it on fourth-and-13.

"I didn't know if we would make the field goal to be quite honest with you,'' Antonucci said. "We had to take a shot there. We're trying to win the game. I was thinking that we've got to get past this right now. We've got to end it.''

"We had too much pride not to go for it,'' Meeker said. "We weren't about to punt it or go for a field goal.''

Meeker pump faked and then lofted a pass toward the corner of the end zone for Simonson, who used all of his 6-foot-3 frame and long arms to come down with the ball for a game-clinching touchdown with 3:25 remaining.

"I got caught up at the line at first, but then I was open, (Meeker) made an all right throw and I just got under it and caught it,'' Simonson said. "We knew we wanted to put the game away. This is a huge win for us. They took our state final from us last year, we wanted revenge, and we pretty much got it tonight.''

"Scotty got jammed at the line, but he's a physical kid,'' Meeker said. "I knew he was going to get off there and he's tall and lanky. I threw it out to him and he came up with it.''

Middletown South linebacker Kyle Tsarksis, who played as a freshman and then didn't come out for the team for two years before returning as a senior, added one for the scrapbook when he ended any suspense with an interception on Freehold's next possession to wrap up the win. It concluded a solid game by Middletown South's defense, including junior defensive lineman Tom Masi, who had two sacks and two hits for a loss in the win. Middletown South also held Freehold's vaunted running attack to 73 yards.

While Middletown South certainly savored its first win over the Colonials since 2006, the Eagles know that it may not be the last time that the two rivals meet this season as Freehold is too talented to not be considered a contender to defend its Central Jersey Group III crown.

"They are as good as any team around,'' Antonucci said. "We could see them down the road.''

"Getting a win here is not good enough,'' Meeker said. "We've got to go all the way now and go 12-0. They are the best team we've faced so far and coach 'Cicc' is a good coach, so you've got to believe there's a chance we'll see them again.''

Middletown South 21, Freehold 10

.                                M                 F

Rushes-yards          35-109          29-73

Passing                   10-16-2         10-19-2

Passing yards          104               181

Penalties                 9-60               7-35

Fumbles-lost          2-1                  4-4

Freehold (2-2, 1-2)         0 3 0 7 - 10

Midd. South (4-0, 2-0)   7 0 7 7 - 21

Scoring summary:

M: Rogers 13-yd pass from Meeker (Ryan kick).

F: Hembling 33-yd field goal.

M: Bricker 2-yd run (Ryan kick).

F: Wright 76-yd pass from Phillips (Hembling kick).

M: Simonson 20-yd pass from Meeker (Ryan kick).

Individual statistics:

Rushing - M: Bunge 11-73, McArdle 12-23, Meeker 8-4, Campbell 3-7, Bricker 1-2. F: T. Thorpe 16-60, Phillips 2-(-6), R. Thorpe 1-0, Bender 3-23, Corso 7-(-4).

Passing - M: Meeker 10-16-2 104. F: Phillips 7-13-2 152, Corso 3-6-0 29.

Receiving - M: Campbell 2-0, Simsonson 3-40, Rogers 5-64. F: Wright 6-152, Thomas 3-20, Schwartz 1-9.

Interceptions - M: Gilbert 1-10, Tsarksis 1-12. F: Bender 1-0, Codrington 1-13.