FREEHOLD,
NEW JERSEY – Earning a spot in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III playoffs was
on the minds of the Wall Township Crimson Knights as they entered Cal D. Wilson
Field on Saturday. The Crimson Knights took a giant leap toward making this
dream come true with a 12-6 victory over the Freehold Boro Colonials.
For
the Colonials, the loss snaps their 9-game home winning streak. Monroe Township
was the last team to beat Freehold Boro at Cal D. Wilson Field in Nov. 2007.
The Wall Township
defense stepped up against the high-powered Colonial offense. The Crimson Knights held Freehold Boro’s potent
running game to just 92 yards, and came up with three interceptions late in the
game to prevent a fourth quarter comeback.
Maurice Washington of Wall Township.
Photo by Steve Goldberg
Maurice
Washington led the charge for the Crimson Knights. The game was scoreless at
halftime, but on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Washington found a hole
in the defense and ran 64 yards to the Freehold Boro 8-yard line. This silenced
the Freehold Boro crowd and set the tone for the rest of the half.
“It
was a great momentum builder for my team. We really picked it up from there,” Washington said.
The
Freehold Boro defense held the Crimson Knights to only a field goal, but Wall Township
tacked on another field goal later in the quarter to give them a 6-0 lead.
Early
in the fourth quarter, Washington
ran for a 5-yard touchdown. Wall
Township quarterback
Steve Cluley was sacked on the 2-point conversion attempt, so the score
remained 12-0.
Following
the touchdown, Freehold Boro running back Willie Thomas had an 18-yard run,
which gave the Colonials possession at their own 43. The Colonials continued to
move the ball until Washington
made his first interception of the game at the Wall Township 11.
The
Crimson Knights failed to pick up a first down on their next drive, so Freehold
Boro was given another chance to score. Backup quarterback Kevin Phillips
entered the game and shared playing time with starting quarterback Damar
Bivins. Bivins rushed for 106 yards in Freehold Boro’s 40-10 victory over
Central Regional last week, but he only managed to pick up 34 yards on the
ground against Wall
Township.
Facing
fourth-and-8 with 5:18 remaining, Phillips fired a 25-yard touchdown pass to
Tezzy Thorpe. Kicker Mike Hembling missed the extra point, and the Wall Township
lead was 12-6.
The
Freehold Boro defense forced Wall Township to punt again, but the Colonials drive was
stopped by another Washington
interception.
“This
was my first game back at safety,” Washington
said. “I played safety last year. At practice, I was just working hard to get
the safety in me back, and it came back. I got those two picks, and it was
great.”
The
Crimson Knights punted the ball back to the Colonials after a third defensive
stop. Phillips threw an 11-yard pass to
Thorpe with 43 seconds to go, which moved the Colonials into Wall Township
territory.
Two
plays later, Phillips was intercepted by Matt Mancino on a pass intended for
wide receiver Rameer Wright at the 5-yard line, and Wall Township
ran out the clock for a 12-6 victory. Mancino is now tied for the lead in the
Shore Conference with seven interceptions. He also tied his brother’s Wall Township
High School record for
interceptions in season.
“Nothing
was really going through my head because it was pounding when I slammed the
ground,” Mancino said about the interception. “But right when I caught the
ball, I had the biggest smile on my face because I knew we were going to the
playoffs, and we got a win.”
Wall
Township (5-2 overall, 4-2 Shore Conference-Federal Division) will try to fight
their way into the playoffs when they play an out-of-conference game against
Colonia (1-6, 1-3 Greater Middlesex Conference-Blue Division) at home on
Friday.
“We
hope we’re going to the playoffs, but we still have one more to play, and our
concern now is Colonia,” Wall Township Head Coach Chris Barnes said. “But
today, our seniors played great, and our defense played championship caliber
defense. Bouncing back from that Neptune loss
and the way we’ve played since then, well, we’re proud of them.”
Freehold
Boro (4-3, 3-3 Federal Division) could possibly gain a spot in the playoffs on
Friday if they can win on the road against Lacey Township
(5-2, 5-1 Constitution Division).
“We’ll
see what happens,” Freehold Boro Head Coach Mark Ciccotelli said. “If we have a
good week at practice, we have a shot.”
