Beyond The X: Hurricane Sandy doesn't foil Point Pleasant Beach's dream season

The glue of the community
Point Pleasant Beach made its return to the field on Nov. 16, with the win over Keyport 20 days earlier seemingly belonging to a different season. The Garnet Gulls hosted the first home playoff game in their history when they welcomed South River High School for a Central Jersey Group I quarterfinal.

Wagner stayed up late the night before the game composing a pregame speech to be delivered over the loudspeaker to the communities of Point Pleasant Beach and South River, which was also hit hard by the storm. Wagner led Roselle Park in northern New Jersey to titles in 1992-93 and won 150 games from 1981-2005, but he never felt as nervous as he did composing that speech.

"That was probably one of the games I really was unnerved about and really felt of all the games, we have to win this,'' Wagner said.

"I think the town was more emotional than we were,'' Kusma said. "We were ready to go do our business.'' 

The Garnet Gulls picked up right where they left off, thrashing South River 44-6 to win just their third state playoff game in school history and their second in the last two seasons. There were tears and hugs in the stands from a weary community looking for anything positive to grab on to.

"The team was like the glue of the community,'' Fioretti said. "It brought everyone back together.''

Less than a week later, Point Pleasant Beach faced rival Shore Regional in a highly anticipated showdown in their homecoming game on Thanksgiving Day. The Garnet Gulls halted Shore's eight-game winning streak and clinched their first Shore Conference division title since 1997 with a hard-fought, 19-7 victory.

"That was an unbelievable day,'' Morris said. "I've never felt better in my life.''

It looked like nothing was going to stop Point Pleasant Beach's magical run to an undefeated season. It fit the narrative perfectly of a team taking its devastated area on a ride for the ages.

Next up was a Central Jersey Group I semifinal game against Florence High School, a gritty and well-coached team that had reached the championship game a year earlier and had plenty of big-game experience.