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Locked in a tense, scoreless game with Southern in the third quarter after watching a touchdown get called back because of a penalty, Toms River North went to a play that had been in mothballs all season until it made its 2009 debut at just the right time.

Mariners coach Chip LaBarca Jr. dialed up a halfback option, and senior Drew Kollman took the handoff from junior quarterback Demetri Davis and lofted a 20-yard touchdown pass to wideout Nick Saglimbene to break the ice and send the Mariners on their way to a 14-0 victory over the Rams (2-3, 2-2) in a Shore Conference American Division game at Gernerd Field. Kollman has played quarterback at times this season when Davis has been banged up, and his pass came one play after a 10-yard touchdown run by Davis, who ran for a game-high 128 yards in the win, had been negated because of a holding penalty.

Junior quarterback Demetri Davis (#24 taking snap) ran for a game-high 128 yards and senior John Hafner (#2) had a big 40-yard catch that set up a touchdown in Toms River North's 14-0 win over Southern.

"We've been practicing it for a while now, and I just couldn't wait to do it,'' Kollman said. "I knew it would work.''

"We've been practicing that one for a long time, and we just didn't know when we would call it,'' LaBarca said. "It seemed like the perfect time.''

That play, combined with the usual stellar effort of the Mariners' rugged defense, helped them at least gain some measure of satisfaction against Southern and pick up some valuable power points after being knocked out of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV playoffs in the first round last year by the Rams. Kollman, who also ran for 78 yards on 11 carries, helped lead the way with a two-yard touchdown run and his third interception of the season on defense in addition to his first career touchdown pass. The Mariners produced 388 total yards of offense, including 280 on the ground, while limiting the Rams to 180 total yards and only 16 on the ground.

"The taste in our mouth from last year wasn't good, so we knew it was redemption,'' Kollman said.

The Mariners (4-1, 3-1), who are ranked No. 4 in the All Shore Media Top 10, recorded their second shutout of the season thanks to a defense led by Kollman, senior linebacker Steve Barroso and senior cornerback Nick Saglimbene. Barroso made one of the most game-changing plays of the night when he ran about 40 yards downfield in the third quarter to chase Southern receiver Dave Troutman, who had caught the ricochet of a pass that Kollman tipped and raced all the way to Toms River North's 10-yard line before Barroso stripped him of the ball. Senior defensive back John Hafner pounced on the football to end Southern's biggest threat of the night with the Mariners still leading only 7-0 with 5:48 left in the third quarter.

"I thought that was the turning point,'' LaBarca said. "That was one of the biggest plays of the game.''

Hafner was also involved in one of the other major plays of the game when he hauled in a 40-yard bomb in the fourth quarter from Davis on third down following a blown coverage by Southern to set up a two-yard touchdown run by Kollman, who had replaced Davis after Davis had been kicked in the shin and had to leave the game. That provided a 14-0 lead with 3:33 left in the game and killed any last-minute suspense.

"That ball hung up there for a while, and I just did the best I could to get to the end zone,'' Hafner said. "Last year we lost to them and it ended our season, but we weren't losing to them again.''

Hafner was not a member of the team last year as he played as a freshman, didn't come out for the team for two years, and then returned as a senior.

"I regret it,'' he said. "I really missed it, and I felt like I could help out the team this year.''

Southern had the momentum at the half despite the fact that the game was scoreless, because the Rams had come up with two big stops on fourth down inside their red zone to thwart first-quarter drives by the Mariners. Junior defensive lineman Rob Boyle, who had a strong game with two hits for a loss and four more tackles on gains of two yards or less, stuffed Davis for a one-yard gain on fourth-and-2 from the Southern 14-yard line to halt the opening drive of the game. After Kollman picked off a pass on third down on Southern's first possession of the game, the Mariners marched right back down to Southern's 9-yard line, but senior linebacker Brian Abbey stood up Toms River North's John Brennan for a one-yard loss on fourth-and-inches to crush another promising drive.

"It's a little different ballgame if we get some points early, and as the game goes on, you breathe life into Southern with that,'' LaBarca said.

Senior Drew Kollman threw his first career touchdown pass, ran for a two-yard touchdown and had his third interception of the season on defense in Toms River North's 14-0 win over Southern.

The Rams showed some guts early on, calling for a fake punt on their own 22-yard line and converting it when senior quarterback Mike Balak, who doubles as the punter, hit senior wideout Nick Tampone with an 18-yard pass for a first down on fourth-and-9 in the second quarter. However, the Mariners' defense forced a punt three downs later to end the threat.

In the second half, Southern never got closer than Toms River North's 30-yard line, and that was on the final drive when the game was all but decided. The key was jamming up the running game against the new-look Rams, who are much more of a passing team than they have been in years with Balak (164 yards passing) under center. Toms River North held Southern to 16 yards rushing in the game, including minus-5 in the second half, and the Mariners' secondary never let Balak, one of the Shore Conference's leading passers, to hit the big play for a touchdown.

"I think the key to them not scoring was they couldn't run the football,'' LaBarca said. "We made them one-dimensional. We thought that if we could stop the run, we would be able to stop them because if we knew the pass was coming, we would be OK.''

"We knew we had to win on defense because if they can't score, they can't win,'' Kollman said. "(Southern) has two great receivers, so I have to give them credit, but we stopped them.''

Saglimbene was outstanding with four pass break-ups, several of them on deep balls down the sidelines, and it helped compensate for a night when Toms River North's offense was plagued by penalties in addition to a fumble on a punt.

"It was one of those things where it was Murphy's Law there for a while, and we were getting a little frustrated,'' LaBarca said.

A little trickery and a heavy dose of their usual outstanding defense helped ease that frustration and give the Mariners their second straight win since a 7-3 setback to Howell for their only loss.

"In a long season, you're going to have to win some games like this, where it isn't always pretty,'' LaBarca said.

Box score

Toms River North 14, Southern 0

.                                  T                    S

First downs              20                     9

Rushes-yards        51-280             15-16

Passing                   7-10-0           14-30-1

Passing yards            108               164

Penalties                 10-63               4-25

Fumbles-lost             1-1                 1-1

Southern (2-3, 2-2) 0 0 0 0 - 0

TR North (4-1, 3-1) 0 0 7 7 - 14

Scoring summary

Saglimbene 20-yd pass from Kollman (Borrelli kick).

Kollman 2-yd run (Borrelli kick).

Individual statistics:

Rushing - T: Davis 23-128, Kollman 11-78, Hafner 1-2, Brennan 15-73, Barroso 1-2. S: Cox 3-11, Abbey 7-10, Balak 2-(-5), Shimko 3-0.

Passing - T: Davis 6-9-0 88, Kollman 1-1-0 20. S: Balak 14-30-1 164.

Receiving - T: Kollman 1-6, Saglimbene 2-33, Hafner 3-65, Kastner 1-4. S: Troutman 3-55, Tampone 6-63, Abbey 2-15, Shimko 2-25, Gesicki 1-6.

Interceptions - T: Kollman 1-10.