Raritan football still in hunt for division title
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent

ERIC SUCAR staff Middletown High School South running back Matt Martino tries to break free from the grips of a Lakewood defender during the second quarter of his team's 35-0 victory on Nov. 1. The Eagles will face Lacey Township on Saturday.

Back in September, Raritan High School head football coach Bob Generelli hinted that he expected his team to be vastly improved over last year's 2-8 campaign.

"I really think it was just a matter of this team growing up and taking its lumps last year," he said, pointing to the slew of returning players on both sides of the ball to justify his expectations.

On Saturday, Raritan continued to prove its coach prophetic, winning the kind of game that can help define a season in traveling to Manasquan and defeating the host Warriors, 13-12, thanks to a superb defensive effort down the stretch.

With the win, the Rockets improved to 5-2 on the year (4-1 in the National Division), and kept alive their hopes for a piece of the division title.

They are currently tied with Manasquan (5-2, 5-1), while Point Boro (6-1, 5-1) also sits atop the division.

The win also marked a personal milestone for Generelli, who improved to 100- 45-2 during his tenure at Raritan.

However, the coach will tell you that winning a game in Manasquan that gives his team the opportunity to play for that share of the divisional crown when it takes on a struggling Holmdel team on Thanksgiving Day is the most satisfying part of the win.

Just the fact that Raritan is in the divisional mix is a testament to how quickly this program is able to reload after what can only be called a rebuilding season.

Seasons like the one the Rockets struggled through a year ago are the exception rather than the norm, and with his program's re-emergence this season, Generelli has his team on the verge of regaining its swagger.

On Saturday, Raritan took the lead in the second quarter. Bennett Jackson took a reverse handoff and raced 29 yards to the Manasquan 39. Five plays later, quarterback Mark Stancati hit sophomore Tim Pizanie with a 23-yard pass play that got the ball down to the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Jerome Dean found the end zone from the 1, and with Jackson's PAT, it was 7-0 Raritan.

Manasquan bounced back to score the next 12 points, with their second score coming on a 10-yard pass from QB Mike LaSala to Chaz Bush with just 4:03 showing in the third quarter. However, the lead was shortlived, as Raritan responded with what proved to be the game-winning score when Stancati hit Jackson with a 10-yard TD with 7:36 to play in the game.

From there, it was the Rocket defense that preserved the win, stopping Manasquan twice deep in its own territory in the final four minutes. First, senior defensive end Cliff Gabriel and Dean combined to stop Lorenzo Vanable on a fourth-and-2 at the Raritan 24-yard line.

After the Warriors got the ball back, they swiftly got down to the Raritan 4-yard line with 42 seconds to play. While most of the hometown fans in attendance where in a frenzy, anticipating Manasquan stealing the win, the Raritan defense had other plans. On second down, Dean and Marc Cogliano combined to sack LaSala, knocking the Warriors back to the 16. On third down, Carlo Caponetta batted down a pass attempt. That left just a fourth down play, and when LaSala's high-arching pass fell in the end zone, Raritan celebrated a hard-fought victory and a return to prominence.

On Saturday, Raritan will travel to Matawan to take on a Huskies team that has struggled a bit of late after getting off to a fast start.

Matawan lost a tough 6-0 affair to rival Long Branch on Friday, as the Green Wave got a five-yard TD pass from Miles Shuler to tight end Ben Kanach on the first play of the second quarter and made it stand up.

It wasn't easy though, as Matawan fought hard to the very end, threatening to steal the game with a late drive. The Huskies reached the Long Branch 3-yard line when Nate King broke free for a 43-yard run with eight minutes to play. However, the Long Branch defense stiffened and ended the threat with four consecutive stellar defensive plays.

With the loss, Matawan fell to 4-2 (3-2 in the Liberty Division), and desperately needs to bounce back with a win over Raritan to keep its playoff hopes alive. Both Matawan and Raritan find themselves in the thick of the Central Jersey Group II playoff race, needing a win this week to solidify their spots. On paper, this is one of the more intriguing games of the week, as both teams are extremely well coached and have similar playmaking ability. This should be a battle. Game time is 7 p.m. Saturday in Matawan.

Middletown South was the only other local team to post a win this past weekend, and head coach Steve Antonucci's once again team did it in impressive fashion.

The Eagles, who have been steadily improving with each week and now feature the type of shutdown defense that was the foundation of their recent championship teams, avoided a letdown in beating winless Lakewood, 35-0, on Saturday to improve to 7-1 on the year.

Early on, it appeared the Eagles had fallen into the typical "trap game", leading just 6-0 at halftime. But whatever Antonucci said to his team at the half certainly worked, as South came out and scored 28 points in the second half to post another lopsided victory.

The Eagles, who have certainly bounced back from their opening-week loss to secondranked Freehold Borough with a vengeance, will look to keep the pedal down on Saturday when they host a Lacey team that is coming off a big win over the Eagles crosstown rivals from Middletown North.

The Lions fought hard in this one, taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Uly Gibson scored from nine yards out. Lacey tied the game later in the first quarter, and added to its lead with another TD with just under 11 minutes to play in the first half.

North's Dylan Maresca brought his team with 14-10 with a 20-yard field goal just before the break, however, Lacey padded to the early in the fourth with its third TD of the game. The Lions responded with a Joe Dickey TD pass to Connor Delepine from eight yards out, and then added the two-point conversion when Dickey again found Delepine.

That was as close as the Lions would get however; as Lacey gave the Lions' playoff hopes a serious blow with the loss. Now the Lions must hope to beat a good Brick Township team (5-2, 4-1) on Saturday afternoon in Brick. This is an absolute must-win game for the Lions if they hope to earn a spot in the CJ Group IV bracket. Game time is 1 p.m.

Lacey also needs a win to help solidify its place in the South Jersey Group IV tournament; however, the Eagles can likely lock up a home game with a win on Friday. Game time is 7 p.m. in the Swamp.

The Keyport Red Raiders were hoping to make a statement when they faced the top-ranked team in the Shore from Asbury Park on Saturday. Unfortunately, head coach Mike Ciccotelli's team found out what everyone else the Blue Bishops have faced this season already knew - this team simply has too many weapons.

Asbury Park featured several different playmakers in a 32-10 win over the Red Raiders on Saturday, improving to 7-0 on the year. Keyport (4-3) did try to keep the game close, thanks in large part to the efforts of Aaron Lee, who rushed for 153 of his team's 216 yards on the day, but simply couldn't match Asbury Park's play-making ability. The Red Raiders need to win at Manasquan on Saturday to qualify for the CJ Group I playoffs. The Warriors have assured themselves a spot in the CJ Group II bracket with a 5-2 mark, but will be playing for a potential top seed. In other words, the Red Raiders can expect a hungry Manasquan team on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.

Holmdel also suffered a loss this past weekend, dropping a 21-14 affair to Pinelands to fall to 0-7 on the year. The Hornets will try once again to get that elusive first win on Saturday, but it won't be easy, as they will face the aforementioned top-ranked Asbury Park Blue Bishops. Game time is noon in Asbury.

Both St. John Vianney (3-4) and Mater Dei (0-7) will also be back in action this weekend after enjoying their bye weeks. SJV will face a Shore Regional team (6-1) that has been surprisingly good this season and is in the thick of the CJ Group I playoff race. Meanwhile, Mater Dei will get an up-close-and-personal look at another of the Shore's most dominant teams in Red Bank Catholic. The Caseys (7- 0) have outscored their opponents 264-20 this year, and have not truly been tested. Game time is 1 p.m. in Middletown.