Long Branch football raises record to 4-0
Green Wave takes on 4-1 Wall Friday night
BY DOUG McKENZIE Staff Writer
Over the next two weeks, we will see just how good this year's Long Branch High School football team really is.

The Green Wave, which has looked downright dominant through four games, will take on 4-1 Wall Township on Friday in Wall, and then follow that with a match-up against undefeated Red Bank Catholic (assuming the Caseys get past Keyport unscathed this weekend) next Friday night.

In other words, while Long Branch has certainly looked like one of the very best teams in the Shore Conference thus far, they'll have a chance to further prove their might against the two teams they're battling for the Liberty Division title.

On Saturday, the Green Wave got to 4- 0 by running all over Monmouth Regional en route to a 40-7 win. After suffering a lopsided 42-7 loss to the Golden Falcons last year, head coach Dan George's team had a little extra motivation when they took the field on Saturday, and it showed. Led by the three-headed monster of Travis Patterson, Shawn Brown and Isaiah Hall, all of whom rushed for 100 yards, the Green Wave took control of the game from the very start, racing out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and never looking back.

Leading 28-0 at the half, Long Branch continued to pour it on in the second half, building a 40-0 lead before Monmouth quarterback Anthony Fruncillo found the end zone to cap the Golden Falcons' lone successful drive late in the fourth quarter.

With the loss, Monmouth fell to 2-3 on the year, with all three of their losses coming to the Liberty Division's elite (Long Branch, Wall and RBC).

Monmouth head coach Sal Spampanato expects the next three weeks to feature some outstanding contests between those three teams, starting with this weekend's game between Long Branch and Wall.

"When we played Wall they were without Timmy Wright, so I don't think it's fair to really assess them," Spampanato said. "But I'll tell you this, Long Branch has a very explosive offense. Isaiah Hall can take it the distance from anywhere on the field, and Patterson is a very tough runner to get down, and so is Brown. And they've got some very talented wide receivers as well."

Spampanato expects another battle the following week when the wave visit RBC.

"I think RBC has the athletes to match up with Long Branch, offensively," he said. "The quarterback, Lou Bianchini, is a very good player, and the running back Michael Wilbur is very tough, along with David Reeves. And they also have a very good receiver in (Peter) Batesco. I think RBC's line is a little bigger than Long Branch's in terms of strength and size, but they're really pretty even. I can't tell you who's going to win that game, but I think it will come down to which ever defense plays better."

Regardless of the outcome of those games, the Liberty Division has clearly proven to be the toughest division in the Shore this year, which is something Spampanato expected when he came over from Ocean Township this year.

"You've got those three teams at the top, who are all excellent, and then you've got a dangerous Matawan team, a much-improved Manchester team, and us. It really is a very tough division this year," he said.

While Monmouth will look to get back on the winning track with a game against Matawan on Oct. 20, the Green Wave will certainly need to bring its "A" game against a Crimson Knights team that is firing on all cylinders.

Wall, who fell to top-ranked Middletown South by a single point two weeks ago, took out their frustrations against Red Bank Regional on Saturday, blanking the Bucs, 48-0. It won't get much easier for Red Bank (0-4) this week, as they take on 4-0 Freehold Borough.

As for Wall, with Wright back in the fold, the Crimson Knights appear poised to give the Green Wave their first big test of the year.

Then, in two weeks, Wall will face RBC in a game that will likely decide the Liberty Division title. The Caseys are coming off their bye week and will take on a Keyport team that got its first win over the weekend (50-0 over winless Mater Dei) but has struggled defensively thus far. Assuming RBC avoids falling into the trap of looking ahead to next week's showdown with Long Branch, the Caseys should roll over the Red Raiders this Friday night in Red Bank. Game time is 7 p.m.

Rumson-Fair Haven kept its playoff hopes alive on Saturday with an impressive 17-0 win over Manasquan in Rumson. While the Bulldogs got on the board with a Ryan Korn scoring run in the first quarter, the RFH defense was in control throughout. In fact, the Bulldog defense even set up that Korn touchdown when Dan Ryan scooped up a Manasquan fumble and returned it to the Warriors' eightyard line in the first quarter. RFH added a 22-yard field goal from Eric DiReda in the second quarter, and then capped the scoring in the fourth when quarterback Matt Wassel (12-for-19 for 137 yards) found Ryan Kirchner from 28 yards out for a TD.

But it was more scoring than necessary, as the Bulldog defense held Manasquan to just 153 yards of total offense, keying a victory, which effectively kept RFH in the state playoff hunt. With minimal power points available for them over the next three weeks, the Bulldogs will need to run the table against Mater Dei, Raritan and Point Beach in order to qualify.

It starts Saturday in Middletown against the struggling Seraphs, who are being coached by RFH head coach Shane Fallon's longtime assistant, Nick Varanelli. Game time is 1 p.m.

Shore Regional also posted a big win on Friday, beating Point Beach, 20-14, in overtime. After opening up a 14-0 lead on a Shawn Metz six-yard scoring run in the first quarter and a Erik Chiarella nineyard run on the first play of the second half, the Blue Devils watched the Garnet Gulls battle back to tie the game with scores in the third and fourth quarters. Then, in overtime, Point Beach had a shot at stealing the game with a 32-yard field goal attempt, but the kick missed. On their ensuing possession, Shore won the game when Chiarella (20 rushes for 166 yards) took the ball down the left side on second-and-5 from the 10 to end the contest.

With the win, Shore improved to 2-3 on the year, and will look to get back to the .500 mark with a win over Neptune tomorrow in West Long Branch. Game time is 7 p.m.

The Scarlet Fliers come in at 3-2, having posted a 15-14 win over Ocean Township on Friday when they converted a two-point conversion in double-overtime.

With the two teams tied at 7-7 at the end of regulation, Ocean immediately scored on its first possession of the second overtime when Barfour Anim raced into the end zone from 25 yards out. Shaun Goodwin added the extra point, and left it up to the Spartan defense.

The defense was one play away from ending it before Neptune converted on a miracle fourth-and-21 play by completing a pass to the Ocean 12-yard line.

Neptune then scored a touchdown of its own on a 12-yard run from Michael Peavy. After Ocean called a time-out prior to the PAT attempt, Neptune first-year coach John Fiore decided to go for the win, and called for a fake PAT, with quarterback Lem Walker taking the snap and immediately hitting K'von Shaw for the winning two-point conversion. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Spartans who had several chances to win this game, but could not get the big stop when it counted.

With the loss, Ocean fell to 2-3 on the year, and will look to get back to the .500 mark with a win at Lakewood (2-2) Saturday at 1 p.m.