Disappointing last minute loss for Shore

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Seeing a big hole in front of him was Shore Regional junior quarterback Logan Clark (14), who threw two touchdowns in 14-13 loss to Red Bank Regional.

Friday night the Bucs of Red Bank Regional held a 14-7 lead on the Blue Devils of Shore Regional. With 1:10 to play in the game, the Devils were 70 yards away from the end zone. It looked as if the game was over as the stands started to empty.

However, Logan Clark, junior quarterback for Shore Regional, dropped back deep in the pocket and fired off a rocket downfield. Vincent “Vinny” Sasso, senior wide receiver, caught the ball and ran 70 yards for the touchdown. Shore Regional fans were shouting with excitement as the Blue Devils were just an extra point away from tying the game.

Don Klein, who is in his second year as head coach of the Blue Devils, wanted the win. His decision was to go for two points with a minute to play and hopefully take the victory. Clark took the snap and rolled to his right and fired off a perfect pass into the Red Bank Regional end zone for the two-point conversion. Players and fans were celebrating as Shore jumped ahead with a 15-14 lead.

The celebration didn’t last long. An official threw a flag for an illegal shift, which nullified the score. Shore Regional now had the ball moved back five yards and Klein decided to go for the extra point and overtime. Kicking the extra point was senior John Mazzacco, who is very accurate. The snap was good and Mazzacco got the kick off, but the Bucs were able to rush and block the kick.

Shore Regional had plenty of opportunities in the game. Their opening drive had them going for a field goal but the snap was off and they turned over on downs. In fact, both teams had some issues with fourth downs throughout the game.

“It’s a disappointing loss on many levels as we had opportunities throughout the game to make plays and didn’t capitalize. I thought we played with good effort and competed hard,” said Klein. Last week in their loss to Manasquan, the Devils defense had a horrible game as they were not tackling. Against Red Bank Regional, the defense was better, but the offense sputtered.

Clark had two big passes dropped that more than likely would have led to Blue Devil points. “Our defense did a good job in the second half with multiple stops on fourth down and giving the offense field position,” Klein said. When questioned about the two-point try, Klein was optimistic. “Felt good about the decision to go for two and the play call. We came to win. Executed the play well but the conversion came back on a penalty.”

Clark completed 9 of 15 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Mazzacco scored the first Shore Regional touchdown on a 10-yard pass and also kicked the extra point. Sasso had the big 70-yard catch for the touchdown and also had an interception. Shore, which has been known as a hard running team, didn’t get much on the ground against Red Bank Regional. Cole Torres, junior, was top rusher with 48 yards on 12 carries.

“We will learn from the adversity that we have faced the past two weeks and be a stronger team moving forward,” said Klein. With the loss, the Blue Devils drop to 2-2 on the season and are 1-2 in the C North division of the Shore Conference. Up next for the Blue Devils are the Garnett Gulls of Point Beach on October 3, with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.

Red Bank Regional had Matthew Huss running for 139 yards and Brett Laude threw for 91 yards in the victory. The Bucs improve to 3-1 overall, with the only loss  on opening night and a 13-7 defeat at Neptune. In the C North, Red Bank Regional is perfect at 3-0. The Bucs will host Ocean Township on October 3, at 6:30 p.m.

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