Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 94

"I i. Asbury Park PressFriday, Nov. 26, 1 993 1 1 Defense dees job for Red Bank Catholic For Siclari, it was day of thanks IDDLETOWN TOWN- I Vll SHIP Brian Siclari I off the navy blue shirt and shoulder pads and paused for a second, almost as if to take one final breath of the atmosphere about him. Siclari, Middletown South High School's senior fullback, was thankful yesterday not for his 16-yard touchdown run, not for the 15-yard scamper that set up the Eagles' second touchdown, not for the IVi-yard burst that provided the decisive two-point conversion in a 15-13 victory. Siclari was thankful to be playing in his final high school game; thankful for Rumson closed its season at 6-4 and the Shore Conference Class North title.

The Caseys opened the scoring with 4:27 left in the first quarter on a three-yard plunge by Farro. The score came shortly after Bob Bowie returned Brian Paulson's 40-yard field goal try 60 yards to the Bulldogs' 30. Bowie hit Gabe Roonan with a 23-yard pass on first down and then Farro gained four before scoring. Roonan kicked the first of four straight extra points. Rumson then drove 48 yards in eight plays to tie the score, John Meyers scoring from the six.

Paulson kicked the extra point. Meyers closed out a fine season, rushing 16 times for 101 yards and moving his season rushing total to 1,021 yards. The Caseys broke the tie with a 69-yard drive from the ensuing kick-off. Farro gained all the yardage on nine carries. The longest run was for 25 yards, moving the ball to the four, from where he scored.

Two plays later, the Caseys recovered a fumble at the Bulldogs' 28, setting up their third touchdown. A 10-yard holding penalty set them back before Bowie threw a screen pass to Roonan, who collared the ball behind the line of scrimmage and raced untouched down the center of the field. opening moments of the third quarter. This was not to say the RBC offense was stagnant. The Caseys put together scoring drives of 69 and 99 yards and tacked on a 78-yard march in the final quarter.

Gary Farro led the way with two touchdowns and 171 yards on 32 carries, carrying the ball on all 15 Caseys' running plays for 81 yards in the first half. "I'm always proud of my kids," Caseys' coach Lou Montanaro said. "We've been knocking heads against the best all year." The Caseys finished 2-7 with four of their losses coming against top 10 Shore Conference teams. 0 "That's a Penn State play," Mon- tanaro said. "We call it a split end screen middle.

It gives us nine block- ers downfield against three, but our' man has to catch the ball behind the line or it's illegal." Rumson took the second-half kick-off. Helped by a 41-yard pass comple-. tion from Beattie to John Saxe that moved the ball to the Caseys' two, the Bulldogs had a first down at that point but two plays later Beattie fumbled the snap. The Caseys recovered six inches from their goal and then drove the 1 length of the field for the clinching-touchdown, Jon Jacubecy scoring from the four. ((: Stevens rescues Falcons i A 11 i ii ii rk -i' 1 By JOE HINTELMANN PRESS CORRESPONDENT RED BANK It's often said that defense wins football games, and such was the case yesterday when Red Bank Catholic upset Rumson 28-7 in non-divisional RB CATHOLIC 28 RUMSON 7 game.

The Ca- iMH seys scored touchdowns following a partially deflected field goal attempt by the Purple Bulldogs and a fumble recovery at the Rumson 28 in the first half and prevented a Rumson score with a fumble recovery six inches from its own goal line ia the Marlboro From page D9 the greatest thing ever." The Braves had a similar goal in mind entering yesterday's contest, coming into the game with a 3-4-1 record under first-year coach Steve Bush and hoping to even their record. But Marlboro's first-year coach Larry Zdilla knew that his program may have hinged on a win yesterday. "We've done a lot of good things this year," Zdilla said. "But had we lost it would have been just another losing team. There's a big difference between 4-5 and 5-4 when you haven't won in 20 years.

We felt we had to win to turn the corner. "When you've had losing for 20 years, it's all these kids know. It's pretty hard for these kids to believe they could do anything else. This is certainly the biggest thing that could happen. Our kids believe now that they can play with anybody.

We're not a great football team, but we're getting to the point where we can be competitive with anybody." The Mustangs looked more than just competitive yesterday. The Braves mounted a long opening drive, running off 6V2 minutes behind the running of Chris Saunders. But when that drive stalled at the Marlboro 35-yard line, that was the end of the highlights for Manalapan. After a scoreless first quarter, the Mustangs struck on the first play of the second quarter when junior quarterback Russ Farscht floated a pass to Tarrick Grace, who had slipped behind McNulty, 1 the opportunity to finish a career with a class that helped Middletown South establish the high water mark for football teams in the Shore Conference during that span. "Football is my life," Siclari said JOE ZEDALIS with glassy eyes.

"I love the game. I love this team. It just all went by so fast. I don't know what I'm going to do with all my free time." Siclari had good reason to be thankful for his final appearance. He was lucky to be playing at all.

The beginning of the 1993 season was nearly the end for Siclari. He scored Middletown South's first touchdown in the season-opening game against Matawan. Two quarters later his season was put in jeopardy by a knee injury. "My knee was going to the left and somebody hit me from the right," Siclari recalled. "My goal was to finish with more yardage than (Lou) D'Ales-sio.

I really dreamed of having a great season." The hit resulted in a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament. "No one knew for certain if he would be back or not," said Middle-town South assistant coach Greg La-Cava. "But one thing about Brian, if vou take awav something he loves i By STEVE SMITH PRESS CORRESPONDENT TINTON FALLS Senior de-' fensive back Sean Stevens' intercep- tion at the Monmouth 15-yard line with 17 seconds remaining in the game thwarted a Shore Regional rally and preserved Monmouth Regional's 7-6 non-divi- MONMOUTH 7 sional tri" SHORE 6 umPn over mmmmmmm the Blue Devils at' Falcon Field. With the victory, Monmouth cap-, tured the J. Russell Woolley Trophy for the fourth consecutive year.

Mon- mouth finished 4-5 and knotted the overall series at 16-all. The Blue Devils, who were coming off their New Jersey State Interscho- lastic Athletic Association Group I i playoff loss to Dunellen last Saturday, ended 5-4. "Four years in a row," said a smil-. ing and relieved Mosca after the game. "This is a great way to end our season.

Shore played a really good game. They were tough. I give them Marlboro's Terrick Grace (right) rushes past Manalapan's Scott MICHAEL RAFFERTYAsbury Park Piesi Anderson. we had to be that way to beat Manalapan. We came out like crazy." The Mustangs pounded the ball on the ground all day, running 45 times for 258 yards.

In addition to Grace's 97 yards, Scott rumbled for 87 yards on 14 carries. "We never said we'd go 9-0," perman said. "When coach (Zdilla) came in he brought the attitude to a different level." Tom Giordano. As Grace caught the pass, he slipped inside a tackle by Eric Zaleski at the 20-yard line and coasted in untouched for a 40-yard score. Grace, who carried 15 times for 97 yards, added a 28-yard scoring run in the second quarter to give Marlboro a 14-0 lead at halftime.

They killed the Braves' spirits by coming out with a 10-play, 57-yard scoring drive to start the second half with sophomore Mar i tu: Keansburg sack Mater Dei Three sacks In fourth quarter preserve Titans' victory. tin Scott powering in from three yards out. Keeperman then caught a 15-yard scoring toss from Farscht later on in the third quarter as Marlboro moved ahead 28-0. "Our kids were ready," Zdilla said. "Defense has been our strength all year, but offensively we controlled the line today.

It was fun to watch." "We try to play with intensity," Wilner said. "That's the key. We knew MICHAEL GOLDFINGERAsbury Park Pr.ii Mater the start of first and goal one on fourth stopped short defenders, and Tom "I grabbed the stop," play." "I couldn't that play," on that. We stop." Mater Dei driving But the sacked on "Our kids "We knew with them up a bit. real good a good job By STAN GOLDSTEIN PRESS CORRESPONDENT MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP Keansburg assistant football coach Brian Kmak leaned over into his team's huddle at the end of the game and shouted, "I only want to say one name: John McNulty." McNulty, a junior, He's an intelligent kid but he just doesn't have football sense because he's never played.

But he has really thrived in that spot." "I really didn't care what position I played, I just wanted to play football," said McNulty, who is 6-2. "This was my best game this year. I was tired physically but mentally I wanted to stop them and that kept me going." Keansburg (4-4-1, 3-2-1) scored the game's only touchdown with 7:11 to go in the fourth quarter when quarterback Gavin Breyer sneaked in on fourth and goal from the one. The score capped an 11-play, 69-yard drive. "Once we got within striking distance we really tried to pack everyone in," said Schultheis.

"We thought with our size we might be able to move them off the ball. "I got to give credit on that touchdown to our center, Giulio Bertoli and Gavin Breyer. They had two guys standing over them and they moved it in." Mater Dei (4-6, 3-3) responded with a drive of its own, marching to the Keansburg 24. However, the Titans' defense held, including a key sack by McNulty on Seraphs' quarterback Dan Kowsaluk for an eight-yard loss. Dei squandered a scoring opportunity at the second quarter.

The Seraphs had from the eight and had the ball on the down. But a run by Jay Stroppoli was of the goal line by a swarm of Keansburg including John Petrucelli, Bill Shea Iacouzzi. the kid's leg and someone else made said McNulty. "That right there was a big even tell you who made the stop on said Schultheis. "It was just mass bedlam packed everybody in and made the had another chance in the third quarter, for a first down on the Keansburg 18.

Seraphs got no further and Kowsaluk was fourth down by McNulty and Bertoli. did a great job today," said Schultheis. we were going to have some problems throwing the ball so we tried to mixed it Chris Knapp at defensive tackle got some pressure on them and Tommy Iacouzzi did coming from the other side." KEANSBURG MATER DEI 7 0 sparked the Titans' defense with three sacks in the fourth quarter, leading credit and I give our guys credit too for being tough in the end." Monmouth's defensive unit came up big twice in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils had pulled within 7-6 with 10:43 left in the contest when quar- "-terback Sean Burrough fired a 52-yard scoring strike to Andy Ilvento. Ilvento, I who broke the school record for car-' eer receptions during the game, grabbed the spiral at the Monmouth 25 and raced into the end zone.

However, Dave Meehan's point-after attempt sailed wide left. 1 Monmouth scored its lone touch- down late in the second quarter on Marsh's eight-yard scoring strike to Jung Yoo. That play completed an 11-play, 79-yard drive. Monmouth's first huge defensive play occured after Monmouth quar terback Robert Marsh was intercepted by Bill Taylor at the Monmouth 36. On the next play, Jabari Brewer picked off Burrough's pass over the middle to stifle Shore's rally attempt.

Meehan then missed a 40-yard field goal attempt that would hive given, Shore the lead. Then, following a Monmouth punt, the Blue Devils took, over at their own 48 with just 57 sec- onds remaining. They drove to the Golden Falcons' 35 in four plays be-fore Stevens intercepted Burrough's pass near the left sideline as the Mon-, mouth bench erupted in delight. Despite the setback, Shore coach Mark Costantino was elated with his squad's effort. "Our kids never quit and I'm proud of them," he said.

"We had a shot at the end. Both teams played well. No one picked us to do anything this year but the kids did a nice job qualifying- for the states. We hung tough all year." Keansburg to a 7-0 win over Mater Dei in a Shore Conference Class North game yesterday. "This is John's first year playing football, he's a baseball player and he decided in September that he was going to go out for the team," said Keansburg coach Jon Schultheis.

"He's a good athlete. "We thought that defensive end was a position where he could use his speed and his natural ability. anu lie iuvcs iius game ne win uu anything he has to in order to get it back." The tear, however, was corrected by rehabilitation and not surgery. He missed the next five games. "I had put so much into this season," Siclari explained, "I went to camp.

I spent a lot of time lifting (weights). I really thought my season was over. "I wanted to get back for my teammates. I felt like I let the team down. And sitting on the sideline watching, well it stunk." What increased Siclari's misery was watching his injury-riddled team struggle.

"The first day he came back to practice, he was out of his mind," La-Cava said. "Brian is one of those kids who plays at 1,000 miles per hour all the time." "My parents were scared and they didn't want me to play again," Siclari said. "But I had to finish the season." And finish it he did with style. He slashed through a gaping hole on a quick opener in the middle and ran over three Middletown North defenders capping the Eagles' first scoring drive. His 15-yard gain on third and eight set up Middletown South's second touchdown.

He then scored the two-point conversion on a toss play with the Eagles' in a spread formation. "This game is filled with tradition," Siclari said. "It was important for me to be out there with my buddies." "For Brian to score a touchdown, in his final game against Middletown North, had to be one of the best feelings in the world for him," LaCava said. It didn't feel too bad for the rest of the Eagles, either. And, by game's end, Middletown South was thankful, too, that Siclari had battled back.

"This is a great program," he said. "Great coaches." Obviously, great players, too. And as he climed the hill leading out of South's fabled Swamp, Siclari reflected. "I guess half a season was better than none at all," he said. he Zedalis is scholastic sports editor of the Asbury Park Press.

Rose From page D9 On the first play of the second half, North fumbled again on its own 29 and Mike Heale recovered for the Raiders. Eight plays later, Kevin Holt passed four yards to Dan Carney for the touchdown. The penalty after the score turned out to be a key play of the game as East missed the conversion and a 13-7 lead. With time running out in the game and after TR North had moved in front, the Raiders put on one last drive in an attempt to win the game. Holt raced 29 yards on one play as East went from its own 20 to the Mariners' 14.

On fourth and five from the North 14 with just 1:05 remaining, Schenck tried a field goal. Kicking 31 yards into a strong head wind, the ball had the distance but tailed off to the left leaving the Mariners with the victory. Rose led the Mariners on the ground with 106 yards, including one run of 75 yards. From page D9 when the snap was too high, but Ma-nasquan led 13-12. Manasquan went on a 50-yard drive at the end of the third quarter, with Bryan Price scoring from the one at the start of the fourth quarter.

Price, who ran 13 times for 156 yards, had a 60-yard run in the drive after a penalty had sent the Big Blue back to their own 36. McCormack's kick into the wind was wide, so Manasquan led 19-12. Three plays later, the Panthers jumped back on top as Hatch scored from five yards out. He set up the score with a 56-yard run on the previous play. "I wanted to score against Manasquan," Hatch said.

"They're a great team. It feels great to beat them." Hatch finished with 140 yards rushing on 26 carries. Lisooey, who ran for 157 yards on 31 carries, ran the ball in for the two-point conversion to give the Panthers the points needed for the victory. "(''- mt Marlboro looking for opponent PRESS STAFF REPORT MARLBORO HIGH School seeks a varsity girls basketball opponent for either Dec. 19, 20 or 21.

Marlboro will travel, if necessary. Interested opponents should contact athletic director Rap Reinhardt at (908) 431-8430. 4 A Point Boro's Chris Lisooey (28) drives straight ahead for yardage as Manasquan's James Hanusek attempts to slow him down during their Class South game yesterday. Point Boro pulled the upset, 20-19..