Howell and Manalapan pick up important wins
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Manalapan's David Presby looks for some running room during the Braves' win over Brick on Thursday in Brick Township.

Manalapan seems to have found its legs, just as it did at this time last year, and the Howell Rebels appear to be clicking on both sides of the ball.

Manalapan (1-2) and Howell (2-1) were the lone teams from the Freehold District to pick up wins on the gridiron Thursday night. Ed Gurrieri's Braves got their badly needed first win of the season on the road, beating Brick Township (1-2) 19-7, by scoring all 19 points in the second half after trailing the Green Dragons 7-0 after two quarters.

Howell won its second straight game, routing Middletown North, 46-6, at home.

The good news for Howell is that for the second straight week, the defense allowed just a single touchdown, and the offense had the breakout game the Rebels have been expecting.

"I'm happy where we're at," said coach Cory Davies. "Things are coming along quite well. I thought we played very well offensively and got a nice job from our defense."

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Manalapan's Jordan Whitehead makes a catch in front of the Brick bench during Thursday night's game in Brick.

The offensive explosion was welcomed, a week after a 7-6 win over Manalapan. Quarterback Sean O'Reilly was a tidy 8-for-15 for 237 yards and four touchdowns and showed his pass-receiving skills as well.

Junior Tim Lamirande got some snaps at quarterback and completed five passes, one 18 yards to O'Reilly for a TD. O'Reilly caught three passes for 41 yards.

Brian Battaglia caught two passes from O'Reilly, both for big-play touchdowns. One was 33 yards and the second was 67 yards.

The Rebels spread the wealth with seven different receivers pulling down passes. Eric Feehan had the most, four for 39 yards. Feehan scored his touchdown, however, on a 36-yard run. On the other side of the ball, the Howell defense has continued its weekly improvement.

"The defense kept us in the game again this week," said Davies. "We've improved against the run."

Davies credits the Rebels' defensive line for helping the team become better at stopping the run.

"The defensive line has been playing aggressive and getting off the ball better," noted Davies.

One position change has been key - moving Chris Tash from linebacker to defensive end, where he is playing well against the run.

Howell's improving run defense will certainly be tested on Saturday when the Rebels travel to Lacey for an important Constitution Division game. The undefeated Lions (3-0) are coming off a 35-20 win over Long Branch in which the Lions rolled up 331 yards on the ground.

"Lacey has the best running game we may see this year," said Davies.

Kickoff down in Ocean County is 1 p.m.

Manalapan finds itself where it was last year at this time, 1-2, after opening the season at 0-2. Last fall the Braves reeled off six straight wins to qualify for the state playoffs and ended up 8-3. Coach Ed Gurrieri said that it was "absolutely amazing" that this year's start has mirrored 2005. The good news is that the Braves have been through it before.

Running behind the Braves' experienced offensive line, David Presby continued to make a case for himself as one of the Shore's best runners. He rushed for 176 yards on 36 carries and scored two touchdowns on runs of 36 and 9 yards in the third quarter, which gave Manalapan a 12-7 lead. That came on the heels of 164 yards against Howell.

"He's 200 pounds," said Gurrieri. "He's a physical, hard-nosed runner who finishes off runs. He wears down defenses."

After softening Brick up with a big dose of Presby, the Braves took to the air to finish off the Dragons. A seven-yard touchdown pass from Craig Peterson to tight end Billy Dokouslis brought the score to 19-7 midway through the fourth quarter.

Peterson had his best game of the season, going 11-for-16 for 139 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. Down 7-0 at the half, Gurrieri said his club was not in need of a pep talk.

"We were running the ball well, there was never any anxiety," he pointed out.

The difference in the second half and the previous two games: the Braves finished their drives off.

"In our first game against Lacey, we had a lot of turnovers, five," said Gurrieri. "In our second game [Howell], we played great. We kept them off the field and controlled the time of possession. We had an 84-yard drive and a 97-yard drive. It was disappointing we only scored one touchdown."

Despite the loss, the Braves were going in the right direction and were a confident team heading down to Brick.

"We improved week one to two, and as good as Brick is, we're not afraid to go down there," said Gurrieri.

The Braves presented a balanced attack at Brick, accumulating 311 yards on 172 running and 139 passing.

On defense, Dokouslis has been as unblockable as ever at end. He had three quarterback sacks against the Dragons.

The unsung heroes on defense have been the inside tackles, James Burgess, Chris Scalgione and Anthony Zaharakis.

"Our defensive line has played well," noted Gurrieri.

The Green Dragons were held to just 67 yards rushing, a week after Howell rushed for just 32 yards.

Manalapan will look to ride the momentum and confidence of their win at Brick when the Braves host Toms River South (1-2) Friday night. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Elsewhere in the Freehold District on Thursday, Toms River South became the first team to slow down Colts Neck, handing the Cougars their first loss of the year, 9-7, in Toms River.

A safety midway through the final period provided the decisive points. With the game tied at 7-7, quarterback Kevin Kelly was called for a penalty when his pass out of his own end zone was ruled intentional grounding.

The Cougars' punishing ground game did produce 203 yards with Ashton Jackson picking up 131 on 22 carries. But, two turnovers slowed the down the Cougar attack.

Colts Neck's lone score in the third quarter tied the game at 7-7. It was a one-yard plunge by Kelly.

Toms River South (1-2) picked up its first win of the season despite four turnovers and a 17-7 deficit in first downs.

The Cougars (2-1) go into their bye week this weekend, and they will have two weeks to mull the loss over. They return to the field on Oct. 6, when they travel to Freehold Township (0-3) for a 7 p.m. start.

Freehold Township got its offensive on track, but couldn't slow down undefeated Toms River North (3-0) on the road, falling 42-28.

Kyle Ramos-Herrara ran for 85 yards on 12 carries and scored three touchdowns. The senior helped his club get back into the game when he returned the second-half kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown. That cut the Indians' lead to 21-14. Ramos-Herrara would score again before the quarter was over on a three-yard run that sliced the lead to 28-21. But TR South tacked on 14 more points before the end of the quarter to take back control of the game, 41-21.

Ramos-Herrara scored the only goal of the fourth quarter on a three-yard run.

Freehold Township's other touchdown was a three-yard run by Alan Frost (12 carries 50 yards).

John Hancock was 4-for-4 on extra point kicks.

After opening the season with a come-from-behind 20-12 win over Lakewood, Freehold Borough (1-1) had to journey to Ocean Township and take on last year's Central Jersey Group III champions. The Spartans (2-1) had their running game in high gear, rolling up 276 yards on the way to a 34-6 win. Alex Levy scored on TD runs of 76 and 26 yards. Quarterback Yinka Soda tossed three touchdown passes for the home team.

Freehold Borough's lone score was a fourth-quarter 19-yard run by Jahquan Fenn, who was the team's leading rusher with 66 yards on 14 carries. Robert James rushed for 44 on 13.

The Colonials will look to get over .500 Saturday when they host Neptune (2-1) at 1 p.m. The Scarlet Fliers are coming off a 32-21 win over Pinelands.

Marlboro (0-2) will be in search of its first win when the Mustangs travel to undefeated TR North Friday night. The Mustangs lost at Southern Regional, 41-6, on Thursday night.

Marlboro quarterbacks Nick Tyson (9-20, 77) and Gerard Cicero (8-12, 83) combined for 160 yards in the air. A Cicero to Josh Sewald connection for three yards in the fourth quarter accounted for Marlboro's score.