Lions hold LB scoreless

By Walter O’Neill

It was a lousy Friday night with wind, colder temps and rain that was off and on. It was also a crummy night for Long Branch High School football fans as the Green Wave were held scoreless for the second consecutive week.

Long Branch, which started the season upsetting a ranked Middletown South 14-10. That win propelled the Wave into the top 10 of the Shore Conference. Then last week, they faced the powerful Bulldogs of Rumson Fair-Haven, who were ranked second. They shutout Long Branch 28-0.

Week three had the winless Lions of Middletown North visiting the Wave on that cold, miserable Friday night. The only score of the game occurred early in the game when Tommy Giannone threw a 40-yard score to Brian Haddow. Those six points were all Middletown North needed to upset the ranked Green Wave for the second time in two years.

Weather had a lot to do with turnovers that plagued both teams during the game. Long Branch did have a late surge in the fourth quarter where they made it into the Lions red zone, but Middletown North stopped the Wave and took over on downs.

In the final seconds of the game Long Branch was intercepted by Quention Soler preserving the Middletown North victory.

With only three regular season games left, it does not get any easier for Long Branch. They face another top ranked team when they visit Mater Dei on Saturday, October 24, for a 1:00 p.m. game. Mater Dei lost their first game 10-3 to Red Bank Catholic, then beat both Middletown North 28-17 and Middletown South 10-3.

Week five has Long Branch playing at Count Basie Field on Halloween night for a 7:00 p.m. game against Red Bank Catholic. The Caseys started the season with the 10-3 win over Mater Dei, then lost 32-25 to Middletown South and upset Rumson Fair-Haven 21-14.

The last regular season game for Long Branch will be the annual Thanksgiving Day game with Red Bank Regional. However, it will be played on November 6, at 7:00 p.m. in Long Branch.