Devils have impressive 35-19 win over Matawan

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Shore Regional junior running back Cole Torres (10) had 128 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the 35-19 win over Matawan.

There was a lot riding on the results on Friday night’s football game between the Huskies of Matawan and the Blue Devils of Shore Regional. Both schools are the in C North division of the Shore Conference and Matawan needed a win to get a share of the divisional title. It was their last chance as it was the last game of the regular season.

Huskies came into West Long Branch with a 5-3 overall record and were 3-1 in the division. The Blue Devils started the game with a 5-2 overall record and were 2-2 in the division. Leading the C North was Manasquan, who also started the night at 3-1.

Matawan started the night off with a big bang as they took their first offensive series downfield, and scored taking a 7-0 lead with 7:03 left in the opening quarter. Then, on the Blue Devils first offensive series they had to punt.

The Huskies took over, and were intercepted by the Blue Devils. Logan Clark, the junior quarterback for Shore, then threw a perfect 59-yard touchdown pass. John Mazzacco was good on the extra point and Shore and Matawan were tied at seven with 4:48 left in the first quarter. That was the score going into the halftime break.

Shore dominated the second half, scoring 28 points. With 4:47 left in the third quarter, Clark ran the ball in from about seven yards out to give the Devils a 14-7 lead. On the next offensive series for Matawan, a player was hit by a Blue Devil defender and fumbled the ball. Cole Torres, junior at Shore, picked it up and ran 69 yards for the touchdown.

Making one of his game-high seven tackles for Shore Regional is John Mazzacco (15). He also made every extra point kick in the 35-19 victory over the Huskies of Matawan. He is 33 of 34 on the season for extra point kicks.

Mazzacco was good for the third time in the game and the Devils increased their lead 21-7 with 1:34 left in the third quarter.

With 7:04 to play, Matawan scored on a third and one from the Shore Regional one. They cut into the Blue Devils lead 21-13, as they missed the extra point.

Torres didn’t waste time in getting the Blue Devils on the scoreboard again. This time he ran 67 untouched yards for the touchdown. Mazzacco made the kick and Shore was up 28-13.

Matawan took over on their own 12-yard line after a great punt by Torres. Matawan quarterback dropped back to pass and it was picked off by Vincent Sasso, who ran through the Huskies for the final Shore Regional touchdown. After, Mazzacco was perfect on the extra point, Shore was up 35-13 with 6:21 to play.

With 2:02 to play, Matawan ripped off a 56-yard touchdown run. They attempted a two-point conversion, but missed. The Blue Devils took the victory, improved to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the division, which put them into third place.

Matawan dropped to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the division. However, they went from getting a share of the title to fourth place as Manasquan stayed on top at 4-1, and Red Bank Regional in second at 4-1. The team that beat Manasquan was Matawan, and the lone Red Bank Regional loss was to Manasquan.

Clark finished the game completing four of 11 passes for 80 yards. Besides his rushing touchdown, he threw for one, and one interception. He finishes the regular season going 73 for 123 for 971 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.

On the ground, Torres ran the ball 15 times for 126 yards, and had the two touchdowns. For the season, he has 144 carries for 1,168 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Defensively, Mike Marotta had seven tackles, Mazzacco and Anthony Perince had seven. “I’m really excited about the level of competitive spirit we brought to this game,” said Donald Klein, head coach. This is his second season as head coach of the Blue Devils, who went undefeated and division champs last season but lost in the NJSIAA finals. “We executed well on both sides and played with energy and enthusiasm.”

Klein stated that Matawan had a very talented team. “They had some big wins during the season so for us to come out on homecoming and play the way we did is very encouraging as we move into the playoffs next week,” said Klein.

Shore earned the two seed out of the eight teams in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 1 bracket. They will host New Egypt on Halloween night. Over the past two years these two teams have faced off three times. The Blue Devils have won all three outscoring New Egypt 95-14. “It’s really been an unbelievable start to my career at Shore. The level of success we have had and the culture we have built has us in a really good place as a program,” said Klein. He added that the players have bought in and are preparing at a high level. “I truly believe that we have the best coaching staff in the Shore, so I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by great professionals.”

Top seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 1 bracket is Burlington City who will play eighth seed Bound Brook. The other game in that part of the bracket has fourth seed Manville hosting fifth seed Asbury Park.

The other game in the Shore Regional side of the bracket has third seed Riverside hosting sixth seed Point Pleasant Beach.

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