| Back on Top: Matawan 28, Manasquan 12 | ||||
|
|
EWING -- The final minute was the best part for Jared Allison. He had already done the heavy lifting, already whipped the crowd into a frenzy and already secured his team's place among the Shore Conference's elite once again. Now all he had to do was sit back and watch.
"When I took that knee it was like, 'Wow'," Allison said. "I think back to when I started as a freshman to now being a junior and winning a state title. It's unbelievable."
After Allison took one final kneel down on the turf at the College of New Jersey on Friday night it kicked off a celebration that is sure to last for days in Matawan as the Huskies brought home the 2009 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II championship, their first sectional title since 1992, with a 28-12 victory over defending champion Manasquan. Allison had one rushing touchdown and one passing touchdown, and also intercepted two passes on defense as top-seeded Matawan (11-1) finished the season on an eight-game winning streak to put the proud program back on top.
"It's been a great team to play on all year," said senior safety Johnny Short, who had a few big hits and also intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble. "Our coaches talked about how the only team that could beat us was ourselves. We all came together and did something great for this program."
"It feels really good," said junior running back Keith Beaty, who had a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Huskies. "This team believed in each other all year and we believed we could beat this team (Manasquan) and win a state title."
Allison finished with 148 passing yards and 55 rushing yards, scoring on a 22-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and firing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jon Smith in the fourth quarter. Beaty had the other two scores, a six-yard run in the first quarter and a five-yard run in the third quarter. Manasquan's touchdowns both came in the second quarter on a nine-yard run by quarterback C.J. Davis and then a one-yard plunge by senior Dan Sullivan. Injuries crushed the Warriors (9-3) as the game progressed, as Davis had to leave the game with a hip pointer, Sullivan was knocked out of the game in the second half with a concussion and linebacker Chris Ariante was out with a leg injury.
Manasquan usually has enough depth and brilliant coaching to overcome just about anything, but this Matawan team was just too fast and too good all over the field. Not only did the offense put up 28 points for the fifth consecutive game and ninth time this season, but the Huskies' defense proved that it should be considered a top unit by allowing just 12 points and pitching a shutout in the second half. Penalties hurt Matawan (11-1), but the Huskies simply had too much firepower and playmakers on both sides of the ball for it to matter.
"I'm telling you it was a real slugfest to get through this bracket," said Huskies head coach Joe Martucci. "It was like going from the frying pan to the fire week after week. The kids matured throughout the season and the competition we played throughout the year helped us get better."
Most 11-1 teams will inevitably look at their one loss and think about the possibilities of finishing undefeated, but in this case Matawan's loss was huge for its season. The Huskies were flying high after three weeks before being upended by Red Bank Catholic. The doubters were quick to jump off the Matawan bandwagon, but the Huskies only used that loss to make them better instead of starting to slide. They finished with eight wins in a row after losing to Caseys, and looked scarier and scarier each week. The Warriors were probably favored to win the bracket when the playoffs started, but by the time the final rolled around it was starting to look like Matawan's game to lose.
"After the RBC game it just let us know we will lose if we don't play hard and stay focused," Beaty said. "After that we just put it all together and kept coming out with victories."
"There's no doubt that after the Raritan win the first time our kids thought the season was going to be an easy walk through," Martucci said. "We went out there lightly against RBC and they played very well and took it to us. Our kids found out that they have to bring it every play and every game and no one is going to roll over for you. It was a big factor in helping ourselves focus and get better."
The coaching staff behind Martucici also deserves a ton of credit for guiding this team to a state title. Veteran Sam Turner was the defensive coordinator for a unit that was among the Shore's best in 2009 and former National Football League players Jay Bellamy (secondary) and Charlie Rogers (offense) were no doubt instrumental in teaching the finer points of the game to their players.
The Huskies were trying to get their feet wet quickly to shake off any butterflies they might have had playing in a state final, and they were able to accomplish that by scoring just 1:37 into the game on their first drive. Allison made Sullivan miss a tackle in the backfield before finding Rich Agosto for 14 yards to help set the tone early before Greg Neal took a shovel pass and went 30 yards down to the Manasquan 22-yard line. On the next play, Allison danced around defenders for a 22-yard touchdown run. Sean Gleason, who was one of the best kickers in the Shore this season, nailed the extra point for a 7-0 lead at 10:23 of the first quarter.
The Huskies added to their lead late in the first quarter after taking advantage of a Manasquan turnover - one of five that Matawan would force on the night. Allison intercepted Davis and returned it 25 yards to midfield, where the Huskies started a four-play scoring drive that finished with Beatty running in from six yards out. On a third-and-seven, Allison hit Beatty for 42 yards down inside the 10-yard line to set up the score for a 14-0 advantage.
Just as the Huskies owned the first quarter, Manasquan came back on fire in the second quarter. Davis and wide receiver Neal Sterling were carving up the Matawan secondary in the first half and the pair hooked up a few times on the Warriors' irst scoring drive. Directly after the touchdown that put Matawan up by two scores, the Warriors embarked on a 12-play, 78-yard drive that was capped by a nine-yard touchdown run by Davis. It was a costly drive, however, as Davis came up limping after scoring the touchdown and had to be helped off the field. Since the rules state he could not participate in the next play and Davis is the team's kicker, a replacement had to be summoned and the kick was blocked.
Manasquan quickly got the ball back after Sterling recovered a fumble off a backward pass at the 45-yard line. Davis would last just one more play, though, as he was hit hard on a first down incompletion and left the game not to return with a hip pointer. In stepped sophomore Tyler Saito, who helped engineer a six-play scoring drive that pulled the Warriors within two points. A roughing-the-passer penalty helped the Warriors move into Matawan territory and then Saito hit Sterling for 30 yards down to the four-yard line. Two plays later, Sullivan crossed the goal line from the one to make it 14-12. The Warriors had to go for two but the pass was deflected and fell incomplete.
Matawan had a shot at points at the end of the first half but had no timeouts and didn't manage the clock efficiently enough to get off a field goal attempt. Manasquan went into the half having scored two straight touchdowns and prevented atawan from adding to its lead. It all seemed set up for a veteran Manasquan team to build the momentum in the second half and find a way to win state title No. 12.
But it didn't happen like that.
The Huskies' defense played biggest when it was needed most as it forced three turnovers and shut out the Warriors over the final two quarters. Sterling, who had five catches for 116 yards in the first half, had zero catches in the second half while Allison and Short both had big interceptions and Dave Incle forced a fumble that led to a touchdown for Matawan. The Huskies rotated their coverage toward Sterling in the second half and asked Allison to stay with him. He did more than that by allowing zero catches and intercepting a pass.
"At halftime coach came up to me and said, 'Jared, I need you to shut down 83,'" Allison said. "And I said, 'I got you coach.'"
"Sterling is a great player," said junior running back/defensive back MacArthur Underwood. "He has good hands, he's tall, he can do it all. We had to put our best d-backs on his side to lock him down."
The teams traded punts to begin the second half, and it was a great punt by Gleason that pinned Manasquan at its own seven-yard line and set up a huge play in the game. On the first play, Saito hit senior receiver Ryland McTighe in the left flat and Incle laid a hit on him to force a fumble. Matawan's John Faccas recovered at the 15-yard line and two plays later Beaty scored from five yards out for a 21-12 lead. On the next Manasquan drive, Matawan was able to force another turnover when Short came up with an interception that short-circuited the drive at midfield.
The Huskies didn't get any points off that turnover, but scored again early in the fourth quarter to take a 28-12 lead. The drive started at the Manasquan 42 and took seven plays to reach the end zone. After a holding penalty made it first-and-goal from the 17, Allison hit Jon Smith in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. Smith was wide open but the ball was sailing on him, forcing him to make a leaping catch just in bounds on the right side.
Allison would intercept Saito on the second play of Manasquan's next drive as the sophomore was trying to get the ball to Sterling down the left sideline, and Manasquan's final effort was stopped on a fourth-and-six from the Matawan 24 to clinch the state championship for the Huskies.
The promise everyone saw from Allison when he entered as a freshman and the potential many saw from an ultra-talented group of kids was finally realized on Friday night at The College of New Jersey. The Huskies did it all this season, winning the Liberty Division title and their first state title in almost 20 years. They did it with offense and defense, speed and physicality. Over the final month of the season they were arguably the best team in the Shore Conference. Now they've got the rings to prove it.
"This Matawan team might go down as one of the best or even the best at Matawan," Allison said. "With all the talent we have, we just picked up our heads and said, 'Let's go.'"
Senior Staff Writer Bob Badders can be reached at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
| Last Updated ( Monday, 07 December 2009 02:04 ) |
