Photo: Marcus Borden
My Thursday night game in Middlesex against Manville was two offenses diametrically opposed to each other as the Blue Jays are an uptempo, NASCAR, no-huddle offense, while the Mustangs are a Wing-T offense that relies on grinding it out while using the play action pass to surprise their opponent’s defense.
Middlesex would win the toss and defer to the second half. They would find themselves down 7-0 after the visitors would milk the clock on a nearly eight-minute drive with Elijah Bennett scoring on a one-yard run from the fullback spot as the Mustangs were without Sophomore Matthew Gorbatuk.
Middlesex would waste little time getting on the board with Quarterback Matthew Petti, Jr. scoring on a seven-yard scamper at the 1:57 mark of the first quarter however the PAT would fail making the score 7-6. The Mustangs would run four plays as the first stanza came to an end with a one-point advantage.
Run-happy Manville would set up the Blue Jays with a Belly and Sweep before Senior QB Jonathan Gosh faked the handoff on the waggle and then hit speedster Cassius Carter on a 59-yard bomb down the middle of the field for a touchdown and a 14-6 lead with 10:17 on the clock in the second quarter.
Both teams would move the ball into each other’s territory but the defenses were up to the challenge thwarting each others’ offenses on fourth down as the both headed to the locker room with Manville having a 14-6 lead.
Middlesex would come out of the locker fired up as the combination of Petti, Jr. and the physical running back Brian Cilento would use their legs to get the Blue Jays to within 14-12 as Cilento would score on a three-yard run with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter.
Gosk and Manville would go to the air again this time the senior signal caller would hook up with running back Aidan Johnson on an 18-yard play action touchdown pass for a 21-12 lead with 3:27 remaining in the 3rd quarter.
Middlesex would move the ball but be forced to punt at the 11:06 mark of the fourth quarter. They would then proceed to get the ball back as Manville would get to the Blue Jays eleven yard line but a touchdown was called back and then they were stopped on 4th down with 6:28 remaining in the game.
The home team would waste little time as Senior JoJo Pham would score on a 40-yard jet sweep followed by a Cilento two-point conversion drawing the Blue Jays to within 21-20 with 5:31 remaining in the game.
The run-heavy Mustangs would rely on their stable of backs to take time off the clock before Carter would score his 2nd touchdown of the night on a 25-yard burst to the end zone for a 28-20 lead with 2:10 remaining in the game.
Middlesex would not give up and drive to the Manville 5-yard line with 18 seconds remaining in the game. On 4th down they would roll left and proceed to lateral the ball back and forth like a Rugby scrum with the Mustangs tackling the final ball carrier for a hard-fought 28-20 win.
Friday night, I was in East Brunswick to see the Bears host South Brunswick under the Vikings new head coach Mike Gerst.
South Brunswick would win the toss and defer the choice to the second half. Vikings Jaylen Brundidge would intercept a Bears’ tipped pass at the 9:37 mark of the first quarter at around midfield.
The Vikings would only need four plays to score quickly as Brundidge in the wildcat would show his athleticism by reversing field on a 21-yard sweep to pay dirt for a 7-0 lead.
The Bears would turn the ball over on downs on their next series while subsequently giving the visitors great field position. They would stiffen defensively forcing the Vikings Greg Schifrin to kick a 30-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 3:42 remaining in the 1st quarter.
East Brunswick would be forced to punt on their next series as South’s Senior Terry Bynes would lead the way for an aggressive Vikings defense that kept the Bears at bay with a 10-point lead as the 1st quarter came to a close.
Quarterback Brenden Shearstone would engineer a drive by scoring on a 7-yard run up the middle of the Bears defense for a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.
A stifling South Brunswick defense would force the Bears to punt four times while their offense would score twice on an 11-yard run from the wildcat by Zi’yon Collins and a Shearstone 93-yard quick screen to Kamari Toney for a 31-0 advantage with 4:20 remaining before intermission.
The Bears would score on a seven-yard pass from Senior quarterback Sean Christie to fellow classmate Ezra Franklin making the score 31-6 at halftime.
South Brunswick would spoil the Bears homecoming celebration by forcing a running clock at the 4:35 mark of the third quarter as Brundidge would score from three yards and run in the two-point conversion for a 39-6 advantage for the Vikings. Toney would make the score 45-6 on a 26-yard run with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
East Brunswick’s Jayden Charles would return the ensuing kickoff 94-yards followed by a Christie run for the two-point conversion making 45-14 at the end of the third quarter.
The home team would make the final score 45-22 as Christie would find Franklin for a diving 18-yard fade pattern followed by a two-point conversion to Gabe Marquez. East Brunswick would fall to 3-4 while the Vikings would improve to 3-4 with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Here are my Week 7 Top Tens for the entire Big Central Conference, plus the BCC West, Middlesex County and Union County:
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