Howell, Manalapan score football playoff victories
Rebels shock Sayreville, record first-ever state playoff win
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Above, Howell’s Ryan McGuinness breaks away from the Sayreville kicker to return a kickoff for a touchdown during the Rebels’ playoff win in Sayreville on Saturday. At right, Howell QB Kyle Bujowiec celebrates the Rebel win.

Howell will take the same attitude into Friday night’s Central Jersey Group IV playoff game against Brick Memorial that it did at Sayreville Saturday.

“We’re in it to win it,” said coach Corey Davies. “We aren’t just happy to be there. That was the case in ’96 when we made the playoffs. The kids were just happy to be there.”

The 2005 Rebels (7-2) want to be more than in it, and Saturday’s 32-31 overtime thriller against Sayreville was the first step, and it provided them with a little history. It was Howell’s first-ever state playoff win.

Manalapan is no stranger to playoff wins (just two years ago the Braves reached the Central Jersey Group IV final) and the Braves advanced to the semifinals with Howell, beating Old Bridge in another nail-biter, 24-21. A 33-yard field goal by Dave Sarner in the final 40 seconds capped a comeback from 14-0 down for the Braves (7-2).

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff

Manalapan earned a rematch with undefeated Jackson (8-0), the top seed, on Friday night.

Howell received the ball first in the overtime session at Sayreville and scored on a six-yard run by senior Ryan McGuinness. It was a third-down catch by McGuinness from Sean O’Reilly that set up the score. It was a 17-yard reception by McGuinness that put the ball on the Bomber 6.

Chance Carrick made the extra point kick to give Howell at 32-25 lead. The extra point would prove to be decisive.

Sayreville came right back and scored on Rasheem Clarke’s two-yard burst. However, the point-after-touchdown kick was wide right and Howell was moving on.

O’Reilly accounted for 232 total yards from scrimmage, passing for 131 (13-23) and running for 97 more on draw plays. He scored twice on short runs of one and two yards.

The passing success was a product of Sayreville’s defense against Howell’s spread offense.

Howell’s EricFeehan staves off Sayreville’s Patrick Monaco during Saturday’s CJGroup IV opener in Sayreville.

“They were playing us man-to-man and our receivers were better athletes than their defenders,” he said.

McGuinness pulled down five aerials for a total of 74 yards.

“We’ve been getting Ryan the ball a little more,” said Davies.

In addition to his overtime touchdown run, McGuinness opened the scoring with a three-yard touchdown run and scored in the fourth quarter on an 85-yard kickoff return (a trick play where he took a lateral from Gus Borden).

The quarterback draw has become a big part of the Howell offense. Davies said that sometimes the call for the draw comes directly from the sidelines; other times, he runs on his own. Regardless of where the decision comes from, it has gained big chunks of yardage for Howell.

While Howell had the more balanced attack, 124 yards rushing and 131 passing, Sayreville relied on the run and picked up 278 yards on the ground. Clarke had 121 of them on 21 carries.

Second-seeded Brick Memorial (8-1) is next for Howell. The Mustangs beat Franklin Township, 38-12, in their first-round game.

While many people throughout Central Jersey were shocked by Howell’s win over Sayreville, Brick Memorial head coach Fred Sprengel was not one of them.

“To be quite honest, I expected it to happen,” said Sprengel as Brick Memorial improved to 8-1, its third straight eight-win season, while Howell is 7-2. “Sayreville was coming off a big upset over highly ranked Piscataway, and Howell took them by surprise. Sayreville was ripe for the taking.”

Howell now enters what Mustangs quarterback Chris James and his Brick Memorial teammates call “warlord territory” for their showdown as the Shore Conference semifinals features all Shore Conference teams. Howell already has a 20-17 victory over Brick Township on its résumé.

“I’m a little surprised, but a lot of us [players] went to the game, and they look like a good team,” said Brick Memorial wide receiver Mike Lepore, who had a big touchdown on an end-around against Franklin in the second quarter that spotted the Mustangs to a 21-0 lead.

Manalapan rides offensive line

to comeback win

Manalapan picked up its seventh straight win in rallying against Old Bridge (6-3). The Braves turned to their running game in the second half and beat the Knights with smash-mouth football. Trailing 21-7 at the half, the Braves began took control of the line of scrimmage and rode the legs of Anthony Mujica to 17 points and the comeback win. Mujica gained 121 yards in the second half to bring his game total to 176 on 18 carries. The Braves picked up 259 for the game.

Coach Ed Gurrieri said that at halftime his offensive line went up to the coaching staff.

“We ran the ball well in the first half, but we were dropping a lot of balls,” said Gurrieri. “That was putting us in second and long. It’s not like they were stopping us.

“At halftime, our offensive line told us that they were not having any problem with them [Old Bridge defensive line] and we said, ‘Let’s go,’ ” he added. “We [coaching staff] sat down and realized that we were being too cut, going for the home-run ball. We knew we could run the ball. We said, ‘Let’s establish the run and wear them down.’ ”

Which is exactly what the Braves did. Mujica and fullback Rocco Lamagna (seven carries for 82 yards) ran through some gaping holes created by center Mike White, tackles Mike Mendez and Matt Orr, and guards Pat Burns, Chris Brandefine and David Presby.

On its first drive of the second half, the Braves’ offensive line took charge and Manalapan marched right down the field. A 25-yard touchdown run by Mujica ended the drive.

“The momentum swung toward us,” Gurrieri said of that TD drive.

The Braves tied the game later on a Lamagna 24-yard run and won it late on Sarner’s foot.

Equally dominant in the second half was Manalapan’s defense, which held the Knights scoreless in the final 24 minutes.

“In the first half we struggled with our assignments against the option,” said Gurrieri. “We hadn’t seen a team that runs the option like they do all year, and it just took time for the kids to adjust to their assignments.”

Manalapan knows how good Jackson is, having lost in the opening game to the Jags. But the Braves are a better team and won’t be intimated by their opponent.

“One thing about our kids, they have no fear,” said Gurrieri.

Jackson beat Hillsborough 23-21 in its first-round game.

Colts Neck, along with Howell, has been the comeback team of the season, gave undefeated No. 1 seed West Windsor-South more than it wanted in Central Jersey Group III. The Pirates had to get a 67-yard touchdown run from Ryan Lupo to beat the Cougars, 24-21.

The Cougars (5-4) looked headed for an upset win midway through the fourth quarter when Ashton “Action” Jackson returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown. His run made it 21-17 Colts Neck.

But the Pirates (9-0) remained poised and answered with their own big play from Lupo to pull the game out.

Lupo had 258 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns on the day.

Jackson scored all three touchdowns for the Cougars and ran for 73 yards on 18 carries as injured running back Pat Six was limited to just two carries (although he did gain 38 yards on them). Jackson’s runs from scrimmage were two and six yards.

Colts Neck’s defense set up the team’s second TD on a blocked punt by Brandon Emenike. His block was picked up by Lamar Griffin, who ran the ball down to the Pirate 10-yard line.

In the consolation games played on Saturday, Freehold Borough (3-6) beat Hightstown, 34-7; Marlboro (3-6) outscored Hamilton East, 47-41; and Freehold Township (1-8) lost to Middletown North, 26-23.