Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 114

PAGE H10 ASBURY PARK PRESS SUNDAY, DEC. 15, 1996 ALL-SHORE FOOTBALL Titans are No. 1 Keansburg overcame the pressure II I flf 1 3 5 VT KEANSBURG 11-0: 94 points (7) The II Titans become the first Group I school to finish No. I in the Press Poll. Keansburg captured the Shore Con ference Class North championship ana went on to win its second Central Jersey Group I title in three years.

Quarter back Tom Dura scored on a sneak and threw a 41 -yard TD pass to Paul Carnal and Nick Knapp ran for 201 yards and a JO as Keansburg completed its tirst 11-u season wnen it halted South River in the CJ I linal, 2l)-b. NEPTUNE, 9-1: 90 points (3) The Scarlet is. Jr Fliers rolled to their third straight bhore conrerence 7T Class North championship and are 29-3 overall the last three years with three straight playoff berths including he 1995 CJ III title. Senior halfback Dennis Hubbard scored it Shore-leading 32 TDs and combined with quarterback De- By JOE ZEDAUS STAFF WRITER IT WAS a year to remember for the Keansburg High School football team. Exciting.

Exhilarating. Expected? "To a degree," said Keansburg coach Jon Schul-theis. "We felt like we had a shot at going 11-0. We had the talent, and the kids took the field expecting to win. "The pressure was self-imposed," Schultheis added.

"Anything less than 11-0 would have been great just not what we were looking for." Keansburg lived up to its own expectations. The Titans finished the season a perfect 11-0 the only unbeaten, untied team in the Shore Conference. They also became the first Group I school to be named No. 1 in the Asbury Park Press Football Poll. The Titans finished with 94 voting points, four ahead of No.

2 Neptune. Middletown North was No. 3. "We don't like to toot our own horn but there are a lot of coaches out there who will say we are not a typical Group I school," Schultheis said. "Most people don't realize our team speed is very good.

We didn't have a weak position. We're as physical as any team around. "I'd take our team into a game against anyone," Schultheis added. Keansburg won the Shore Conference Class North championship and then its second NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I title in the last three years. Shon Hardy to power the Hiers No.

1 ranked ollense. Neptune will carry a 21 -game winning streak vs. Shore opposi tion and coach John Amabile will be seeking his 199th 4 career wm in the 1997 opener vs. Brick Township. i 'V.

A 1 5 MIDDLETOWN NORTH, 9-2: 85 points "ji After winning four games by one TD or less, the Lions ended their season in spectacular fashion. Quarterback Mahaki Burns scored tour TDs, tailback Curt Monday blasted for 151 yards, and the North defense blanked Hillsborough in the air and picked off three passes in a resound PETER ACKERMANStaff Photoraphir The members of the 1996 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I champion Keansburg Titans. "As the year wore on the coaching staff became a No. 2 in offense with a 392.9 yards-per-game aver- bunch of basket cases, but the kids went out every age. week and just did their thing," Schultheis said.

Manasquan, the Class South champion, finished "Keansburg finished the regular-season with the No. 4. Manalapan, the Class A North champion was No. 1 defense in the Shore Conference, allowing No. 5 and Brick, the Class A South champion was 119.3 yards per game.

The Titans also finished No. 10. ing 33-8 trouncing or the previously unbeaten Raiders in the CJ IV final at Giants Stadium. Coach of the year FINAL STATISTICS MANASQUAN, 9-1: 64 points The Warriors boi made the move from Class South to Class South without a hitch, winning their sixth division title in the last seven years during which they are 64-1 1. Junior quarterback Jax Landfried proved to be the ultimate weapon throwing for 1,000 yards, rushing for over 500, accounting for 18 (10 passing, eight rushing) and kicked 22 extra points two field goals.

Keansburg's Schultheis completed his mission MANALAPAN, 8-2: 62 points The Braves won their first Shore Conference Class A North championship since 1987 and earned their fourth playoff berth, their first since 1991. Quarterback Marc Pollifrone threw for over 1,500 yards and connected for 14 TD passes. He kicked 26 extra points and five field goals. Halfbacks Glenn Bland and Maurice Simmons led a balanced ground game behind the crushing blocks of big Mike Esposito. By TONY GRAHAM STAFF WRITER JON SCHULTHEIS was a man with a mission when he took over the Keansburg High School football program five years ago.

"Keansburg definitely has a football tradition but we wanted to take it up another step," said Schultheis. HOWELL 7-3: 51 points After winning 3 QUARTERBACK RATINGS Minimum 60 attempts Name, School Art Comp TD Int Yards Rating Cerminaro, Howell 63 121 11 1 1360 174.8 Pollifrone, Manalapan 79 143 10 1429 155.3 Hardy, Neptune 58 109 14 7 895 151.7 Burns, Midd. North 44 73 6 4 653 151.6 Landfried, Manasquan 67 127 10 5 1077 142.1 Klein, Shore 44 88 9 7 693 134.0 Ackerman, Free Twp. 84 177 13 7 1464 133.3 Rankin, TR South 57 112 7 6 871 126.1 Pierce, Memorial 53 127 10 7 956 119.9 Corneliusen, Mater Dei 33 63 4 3 401 1173 Spalliero, Holmdel 43 85 6 5 533 114.8 Racioppi. Red Bank 60 132 7 6 1007 112.2 Toner.

Lacey 44 86 4 7 592 108.1 Postell, Matawan 33 67 4 8 468 103.7 Levy, Long Branch 37 111 7 6 781 102.4 Farrell, TR East 36 79 3 3 483 101.9 Glenn, Asbury Park 27 76 4 7 604 101.2 DePalma, SJ Vianney 38 82 2 5 563 99.9 Hall, Middletown South 33 76 5 5 417 98.1 Luick, Wall 41 90 4 12 672 96.3 Miseje, Keyport 46 106 7 9 602 95.9 Devlin, Raritan 61 121 2 7 738 95.5 Woodring. Pinelands 36 95 3 5 623 92.9 Fredrickson, Southern 50 120 6 2 529 91.9 B. Finer, Jackson 65 129 5 13 745 91.5 Emken, Ocean 41 91 5 7 445 88.9 McCarthy, RBC 43 110 6 8 592 87.8 Garrison, TR North 68 140 3 8 650 83.2 Tiniakos, Marlboro 51 117 4 7 559 830 Boesch, Point Boro 26 64 2 7 396 81.0 Perry, Donovan 42 98 4 9 477 78.8 Ficetola, Brick 29 65 1 6 363 78.1 Ciccone, Manchester 52 154 6 10 798 77.2 Danyo, TR East 43 84 1 7 347 73.2 McDonough, Rumson 23 75 3 7 421 72.4 DiCorcia, Point Beach 43 97 0 6 397 66.3 Grogan, Rumson-FH 26 72 0 8 333 52.7 Gayda. Allentown 25 97 1 6 341 46.3 Mesi. Monmouth 42 107 0 13 352 42.6 Ratings compiled using the NCAA formula for passing efficiency.

Add completion percent seven games in 1995 the Rebels roared back with an other seven-win season, finished in a three-way tie for ihis year the Titans reached the highest plateau, an 11-0 record and the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I with a 20-6 victory over South River in the To say that the home-grown Schultheis, a former Division 1-AA All-America guard at Princeton and a 1983 seventh round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, has the respect and admiration of his players, is like saying there's some water in the Pacific. "He's a man, he stands tall," said Keansburg star running back-linebacker Bill Shea. "He's somebody that represents this town, he's probably gone the furthest of anyone in this town." Keansburg teams under Schultheis, now 35-14-2, have won or shared the last three Shore Conference Class North championships. "He represents the best for the town, he tries to bring it to this program," said Shea. Schultheis said he is looking forward to the future as the Titans coach.

"I'm not looking to go anywhere, we've got a pretty good thing going," he said. "Certainly this program is where we want it to be right now. "We're going to be very young next year but that'll be another challenge unto itself," said the coach. Keansburg will return just one of 22 starters in 1997, free safety Tom Stanzione. But 34 players, good numbers for a small school, suited up for the freshmen.

"We're looking forward to working with these kids for the next couple of years," Schultheis said. second place in Class A North, and made it to the playoffs Tor the first time since 1976. Quarterback Mike Cerminaro threw for 1,500 yards and fired 13 TD passes while suffering just one interception. Wide out Dave O'Neill hauled in 33 of Cerminaro 's passes, eight for TDs. 7 RED BANK, 7-2: 40 points The Bucs one of the Shore's most exciting backs in Eric McCoo as well as the passing of quarterback Tony Racioppi.

Red Bank fans can look forward to more dazzling lcCoo runs next year. Under coach Barry Sullivan, Red ank has quietly become one of the Shore's more solid programs winning 33 games over the last five years. Schultheis age, yards per attempted pass (times 8.4) and percent of passes for touchdowns (times 3.3) and total. Subtract percent of passes intercepted (times 2) and round off. JOHN VIANNEY.

7-3: 30 points jo; st. Halfl Halfback Vinnie Springvloed headed a four-man back- title game. "We wanted to be able to compete with the likes of a South River," said Schultheis. "They've been playing football forever. It's an honor to be on the field with them, and then to beat them, you've got to give all the credit to the kids." It would seem Schultheis, who also coached Keansburg to the CJ I title in 1994 and played on its 1976 championship team, deserves some of the credit as well.

Today he is honored as the 1996 Asbury Park Press Coach of the Year. held that rushed tor over 2,400 yards as the Lancers 0 TO XP 9 33 2 LEADING SCORERS Nam, school D. Hubbard, Neptun McCoo, Red Bank Dunn. Brick Shea, Keansburg 'Cerminaro, Howell 23 2 23 0 20 2 Ptl 202 142 138 124 98 96 94 92 90 A. Lee, Keyport Chafer.

RBC Corbett, Long Branch 10 35 16 0 15 2 15 1 15 0 14 1 Nixon. Wall Wilson, Asbury Park jmade the playoffs for the first time since 1987. They were another team to make an impact move from one Shore Conference division to another. After a stint in Class South ihey returned to Class North with a third place finish. 9LAKEW00D, 6-4: 2 1 points Years of suf-fering came to a dramatic end as the Piners earned their first playoff berth since 1986 led by defensive taack David Ellis and running back Robert Glover.

After a start the Piners caught fire registering key victories over perennial powers Brick and Middletown South, and ended a 0-year Thanksgiving Day losing streak to Toms River South. 'Includes field goals PUNT RETURNS Five returns, 15yard avg. to qualify Name, School Ret. Yds. Avg.

TD McCoo, Red Bank 8 272 34.0 3 Wilson, Asbury Park 5 133 266 1 Cerminaro, Howell 7 158 22.5 1 A Lee. Keyport 9 160 17.7 0 Morris, TR South 9 154 17.1 1 Quigley. Manalapan 9 144 16.0 0 Dillard. Central 6 95 15.8 1 Concilio, Pinelands 22 330 15.0 2 Ivers. Holmdel 6 91 15.1 0 KICKOFF RETURNS Eight returns, 20-yard avg.

to qualify Name, School Ret. Yds. Avg. TD Bennett. Midd South 10 278 27.8 0 Roberts, Ocean 9 246 27.3 1 Popp.

Memorial 13 332 25.5 0 Henfey.TRN 9 250 27.7 1 Shea, Allentown 14 352 25.1 1 Calderise. Donovan 19 493 25.9 2 Rizzo, SJV 8 202 25.2 0 A Lee. Keyport 8 197 24.6 1 Corbett, LB 8 192 24.0 1 Herr, Holmdel 9 198 22.0 0 Diaz, TR East 11 237 21.5 0 Rhody, Rumson-FH 11 235 21.3 0 Costello.TRS 12 246 20.5 0 PUNT RETURNS FOR TOUCHDOWNS LEADING RUSHERS Name, school Corbett, Long Branch Dunn, Brick Shea. Keansburg D. Hubbard, Neptune Edwards, Jackson Murray.

Brick Memorial PRESS FOURCASTERS The final Asbury Park Press Football Fourcaster standings: 1. Bob Considine 2. JoeZedalis 140-57-1 3. Tony ......1 39-58-1 4. JoeAdelizzi 132-65-1 Yard! TD 1464 13 1456 23 1303 20 1170 29 1072 6 1061 11 1011 6 936 6 Car.

189 258 130 203 174 176 119 144 154 169 Lawrence, Asbury Park La Salle. Shore 915 12 910 6 McCoo. Red Bank Nkwo, Free. Township BRICK 6-4: 7 POintS Demetrius Dunn's 3.0 1,600 rushing yards powered the Dragons to their 35th winning season in 39 years, all under coach LEADING RECEIVERS Name, school Cegerenko, TR Noth Quigley, Manalapan R. Schirripa, Freehold Twp.

Whrte. Raritan Ruggerio, Jackson No. Yds 40 411 35 619 33 638 33 304 30 483 28 837 27 559 27 463 26 400 26 390 Neil. HoweH Connelly. Memorial Storch.

Manasquan Dowens, Holmdel Chtsholm. Shore LEADING KICKERS Name, school Morris (TR South) 90 yards vs. Southern; McCoo (Red Bank) 87 yards vs. Wall; Concilio (Pinelands) 79 yards vs. Wall; Cerminaro (Howell) 77 yards vs.

Freehold Twp Wilson (Asbury Park) 70 yards vs. Mater Dei; McCoo (Red Bank) 65 yards vs. Wad; Bennett (Middletown South) 62 yards vs. Freehold Bennett (Middletown South) 55 yards vs. Monmouth; McCoo (Red Bank) 49 yards vs.

Matawan; DeFilippo (Point Boro) 48 yards vs. Freehold; Concilio (Pinelands) 45 yards vs. Donovan. KICKOFF RETURNS FOR TOUCHDOWNS Cerminaro, Howell Pollifrone. Manalapan Fawcett.

Shore Nordt. Red Bank Muscitto, Branch Feeney. Pinelands TEAM DEFENSE TEAM OFFENSE Basad on yardag Bsd on yardago Team Rush Pass Total Avg. Taam Rush Pass Total Avg. Keansburg 624 450 1074 119.3 Neptune 2625 911 3536 392.9 Central 886 508 1394 1549 Keansburg 2879 369 3248 3609 Neptune 703 692 1395 155.0 SJ Vianney 2451 543 2994 3327 Manasquan 1121 465 1586 1762 Long Branch 2174 775 2949 327.7 Manalapan 775 816 1591 1768 Shore 2213 697 2910 323.3 Lakewood 1007 666 1673 1859 Howell 1555 1324 2879 3199 Lacey 1092 677 1769 1966 Manalapan 1397 1438 2835 315.0 Raritan 1290 505 1795 199.4 Asbury Par 2200 631 2831 3146 Midd.

North 867 1063 1930 2144 Manasquan 1598 1077 2675 2972 Shore 1369 563 1932 214.7 Red Bank 1676 900 2576 2862 Matawan 1302 653 1955 2172 Freehold Twp. 1079 1465 2544 282 7 Ocean 1229 775 2004 227 Jackson 1799 700 2499 277.7 Southern 1301 752 2053 2281 Brick Mem. 1457 997 2454 2727 Brick 1317 783 2100 2333 Lacey 1643 792 2435 2706 RB Catholic 1492 619 2111 234.6 Central 1 1982 415 2397 2663 Point Beach 1570 546 2116 235.1 Wall 1646 724 2370 2613 SJ Vianney 1278 847 2125 236.1 RB Catholic 1726 624 2350 261.1 Wall 1335 796 2131 2368 Midd. North 1684 653 2337 2597 Midd South 1338 819 2157 239 7 Brick 1812 524 2336 2596 TR North 1485 691 2176 241.8 Ocean 1800 523 2323 258 1 Brick Mem. 1678 517 2195 2439 Raritan 1322 904 2226 2473 Jackson 1311 899 2210 245.6 Lakewood 1596 547 2143 238.1 Pinelands 1444 770 2214 2460 Keyport 1512 602 2114 2349 Holmdel 1640 625 2265 251.7 Point Boro 1362 744 2106 2340 Asbury Park 1495 853 2348 2609 Mater Del 1366 712 2078 2309 Point Boro 1762 587 2349 261.0 Pinelands 1437 631 2068 2298 TR East 1464 898 2362 262.4 Marlboro 1468 553 2021 2246 Long Branch 1805 S2 2367 2610 TR North 1082 914 1996 221.8 Rumson-FH Z061 3o2 2423 2692 Point Beach 1516 423 1939 2154 Howell 1395 1063 2458 2731 Midd South 1074 843 1917 2130 Mater Dei 2098 478 2576 2862 Holmdel 1260 590 1850 2056 Marlboro 1453 1139 2592 2880 Matawan 1259 582 1841 2046 Red Bank 2054 556 2610 2900 Southern 1219 593 1812 201J TR South 1912 750 2662 2958 Manchester 973 829 1802 200.2 Allentown 2384 405 2789 3099 TR South 857 872 1729 1921 Freehold 2056 771 2827 314.1 Allentown 1303 385 1688 1876 Keyport 2050 924 2974 3304 Mon.

Donovan 1167 462 1619 1799 Monmouth 2426 575 3001 3334 Rumson-FH 863 750 1613 1792 Manchester 1937 1079 3016 3351 TR East 795 797 1592 1769 Freehold Twp. 2121 997 ill 8 3464 Freehold 8tt 498 1378 153k Mon. Donovan 2148 1008 3156 350 7 Monmouth 896 406 1302 144.7 PAT 35 23 26 24 26 19 21 24 21 25 10 26 19 FO 1 4 2 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 6 0 2 Connelly. Brick Memorial Warren Wolf (287-75-11). They won their 22nd division championship, made their their 13th post-season trip since jthe onset of the playoffs in 1974, and appeared in their 23rd playoff game.

receiving votes: Asbury Park, Lacey, Long Branch. 0 Hie Asbury Park Press Top 10 football poll is selected by Press sports writers end by coaches representing each division of the Shore Conference. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Eric McCoo, Red Bank: After McCoo returned two punts for TDs vs. Wall and another soon after vs. Matawan, Shore coaches devised a means of halting McCoo's return yardage.

They stopped kicking to him. Still, WcCoo rushed for 1,109 yards and 16 TDs, and caught three TD passes including 69-yard game winner in the final minute vs. St. John Vianney. McCoo averaged eight yards per carry and 18.7 yards per pass reception.

He also returned a pass interception 102 yards for a score. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Bi(ly Shea, Keansburg: Better known for his offensive exploits. Shea was else the spearhead of the Shore's top ranked defense which allowed as many as JwdTDs in just three games. At outside linebacker Shea made 93 tackles and registered a team-best eight sacks. Shea intercepted three passes, recovered two fumbles, and caused two more as the Keansburg first unit defense never allowed sectary-half TD all year.

On offense Shea ruV.ied for over 1,600 yarJ and scored 25 TDs. 1 Reilly. Lacey Landfrted, Manasquan Babbit, Brick Herr, TR East Maughmer. Neptune Bascom. Ocean aid arise (Donovan) 95 yards vs.

Ocean Township: A Lee (Keyport) 94 yards vs. Asbury Park; Monday (Mtdd. North) 92 yards vs. Jackson; Donne (Raritan) 90 yards vs. Red Bank; Roach (Manchester) 90 yards vs.

Pinelands; CakJerise (Donovan) 88 yards vs. Manchester: Roberts (Ocean Twp.) 86 yards vs. Marlboro; Henfey (TRN) 85 yards vs. Freehold Twp; Randford (Freehold Twp.) 84 yards vs. Mfddletown North; Boyd (Rumson) 84 yards vs.

Holmdel; Corbett (Long Branch) 82 yards vs. Shore Regional; Foote (Pinelands) 80 yards vs. Wall; O'Donnell (Raritan) 79 yards vs. Matawan. LONGEST FIELD GOALS Connetty, Brick Mmortat Babrtt.

Brick Canon, Latowood. SchmeKll, Wall Bascom, Ocaan Brigham. Rumon Mi. Monmouth -46 yards -42 yards 40 yards 37 yards 37 yards -36 yards -35 yards -34 yards -34 yards -33 yards -33 yards Statistics are based on nine regular nr. TRE Landfried.

Manasquan. Landfried. Manasquan. season games as they appeared in The Asbury Park Press. Bascom.

Ocean.