Quentin Fisher leads Long Branch to a 28-20 win over Colts Neck

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Leading Long Branch to their first victory of the season was Quinton Fisher, junior quarterback. He had three rushing touchdowns and threw for another in the 28-20 win over Colts Neck.

Saturday, September 28, looked as if it was going to be a lousy day, with a constant rain falling and chilly temperatures. However, for the Long Branch High School Green Wave football team, it was the best day of their 2024 season. They traveled to Colts Neck where they faced and beat the Cougars 28-20 in a Shore Conference A North divisional battle.

Both schools entered the game winless. Colts Neck has had big losses this season; 34-0 to Marlboro, 41-0 to Wall, 21-0 to Middletown South, and 41-7 to Red Bank Catholic. Long Branch on the other hand have been very competitive in two of their four losses. They were beaten 38-32 by Holmdel, then 37-34 by Jackson Memorial. Red Bank Catholic beat the Wave 41-7 and then Rumson-Fair Haven shutout Long Branch 35-0.

“In those first two games we were down by 20 to Holmdel and Jackson and fought our way back, losing by six to Holmdel and three to Jackson Memorial. They are two good teams, and then we faced Red Bank Catholic and Rumson-Fair Haven, who are two of the best teams in the state,” said Ben Woolley, head coach at Long Branch.

This is the rookie season as head coach for Woolley, who has spent the past 11 years as the offensive coordinator for the Green Wave. “When I was an assistant coach all I focused on was the offensive line and offensive plays. Since 2019, I was on top of the stadium during game time,” said Woolley. That’s the position

Making an over the shoulder catch for the Green Wave for a touchdown is Havier Gonzalez (4), senior wide receiver. Long Branch beat the Colts Neck 28-20.

where the coordinators get a bird’s eye view of the field and using their radio system send plays down to the field. “As head coach, I have to be involved in every aspect of the game. It is much more stressful, as Long Branch has high expectations for results and winning.”

Woolley stated that the week following the RFH loss, he and the coaching staff gathered the players together for a meeting. “We told them what we expected from them and how we wanted them to act, and believe in themselves and that they were a better team than their record showed,” said Woolley. Whatever was said in that meeting, must have taken to the minds of the Green Wave players, as they showed a maturity, discipline and desire to win against Colts Neck.

“Colts Neck might have had a winless record, but they are a very good team. They scored first on us three times, but our guys came right back and answered that with our own touchdowns,” said Woolley. Colts Neck is one of a handful of schools that does not have artificial turf, so the field was muddy, slippery and the footballs were also muddy and slippery. That created some handling issues with both schools, fumbles and missed snaps. “Our guys were very supportive of each other today. If one guy made a mistake, there was no finger pointing. There was unity on the field today, and that gave us the ability to not only come back, but to take the lead and win.

“We scored three times in the fourth quarter. That just shows how much our guys wanted to win and how disciplined our defensive and offensive squads were,” said Woolley. In the final minute of the game, the Cougars had a fourth and long and were deep in their own zone, when Long Branch sacked their quarterback on the Colts Neck three-yard line. “Everyone wanted me to score with just seconds left in the game and we were already up by eight points. So, I said to myself what would Danny George do in this situation, and he would take a knee, so that is what I instructed our team to do.”

Woolley spent a majority of his coaching career under the tutelage of Danny George. “I talk with Danny a lot, as I do with Chad King and Gary Penta. In fact, Danny and I spoke a lot after the loss to Rumson-Fair Haven. I have tremendous respect for Danny, Chad and Greg,” Woolley said.

When George retired from coaching three years ago, Chad King, who was also an assistant for George took over the Green Wave football program for two years. He left this season to take the head coaching position at Ocean Township High School, where he attended and played. Penta was also an assistant under George who assisted Woolley in the offense at LB, but he also went to coach at Ocean this season.

Woolley is also the head coach of the Long Branch High School baseball team, which he took over in 2019. “Big difference between the two, with so many expectations for football, which really never has an off season. One of the changes I made this year was going back to what Coach George did when we had those back-to-back state championship seasons. We are playing Power I football with the quarterback under center more often and two running backs,” said Woolley.

The coach gave big credit to his junior quarterback, Quinton Fisher. In the win over Colts Neck he ran for three touchdowns and threw for an additional score. He had 137 passing yards and was the leading Long Branch rusher with 126 yards. In five games, Fisher has 750 passing yards with nine touchdowns and only two interceptions. His longest pass of the season was 61 yards. On the ground in 2024, he has 444 yards with five touchdowns, his longest run was 52 yards. “He is putting up some big numbers, and is only gaining more confidence with each game,” said Woolley.

Also having a big game against the Cougars was Havier Gonzalez, senior wide receiver and safety. “He made a huge tackle against Colts Neck on the goal line when they were going for a two-point conversion,” Woolley said. He also forced a fumble that was recovered by Long Branch and pulled in the 36-yard touchdown pass from Fisher.

On defense, Javier Guzman a junior linebacker, was all over the field. “If you saw his uniform at the end of the game it was completely covered in mud. He and Joseph Corley and Tyler Taylor, our other linebackers really stepped up in the win,” Woolley said.

Long Branch has three games remaining on their schedule, and Woolley is hoping that they can win all of them and make the playoffs. This coming weekend is a bye for the Green Wave. October 11, at 6:00 p.m. they will host Middletown South in their final home game of 2024.

The last two games are at Red Bank Regional on October 19, at 1:00 p.m., and then at Marlboro High School on October 26, for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.

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