PISCATAWAY – For the first time since 1999, the Long Branch Green Wave can call themselves state champions as they edged Freehold Boro, 43-42, in an overtime thriller at High Point Solutions Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Long Branch won the overtime toss and elected to defer. Freehold senior Ashante Worthy scored his sixth rushing touchdown of the game to give them a seven-point lead. But the Green Wave answered with a six-yard touchdown pass from Juwan Wilkins to Pasa Fields, and then Wilkins found Elijah Sherin for the title-clinching two-point conversion.
“Football in Long Branch is alive and well,” Long Branch head coach Dan George said. “We’re doing the right things. We’re winning football games. Now we’re winning championships.”
Worthy followed a 31-yard run with a one-yard score to open the scoring and give the Colonials a 7-0 lead with 6:18 in the first quarter. Sophomore Jermaine Corbett got the Green Wave on the board late in the opening quarter with a two-yard score with 54 seconds left, tying the game at seven.
Corbett found the end zone a second time on a run to the left, untouched, for 29 yards to give the Green Wave a 14-7 lead with 9:21 left in the first half.
But Worthy took over for the rest of the half after Freehold junior Matt Krauss recovered a fumble, capping the ensuing drive with a six-yard scramble to the left pylon for a score that ended with a leap into the end zone tying the game at 14 with 3:39 remaining. Another fumble recovery by Krauss set up the Freehold offense at the nine-yard line and a 
two-yard score from Worthy gave Freehold a 21-14 lead with 2:54 in the opening half.
Long Branch put together a scoring drive to tie the game in the final seconds of the first half, and senior Juwan Wilkins connected with a wide open junior Matt Clark down the right sideline for a 22-yard score. The two teams entered the locker room tied at 21.
Freehold struck first out of the locker room as Worthy’s fourth rushing touchdown gave the Colonials a 28-21 lead with 6:34 in the third quarter. They added to that on a five-yard scamper from Worthy which was set up after he connected with Krauss for a 29-yard gain, giving Freehold a 35-21 lead with 3:15 in the third quarter.
But Long Branch responded with a seven-yard touchdown reception by Kaymar Mimes early in the fourth quarter, cutting the Freehold lead to 35-28. Late in the quarter, the Green Wave took advantage of three Freehold penalties and Wilkins punched it in himself from a yard out, tying the game at 35 with 1:07 in regulation and ultimately forcing overtime.
Wilkins finished 18-25 for 260 yards and three touchdowns passing and recorded a rushing touchdown. TJ Fosque, who will attend Monmouth University next season, led the Green Wave with 8 catches for 88 yards, and Corbett ran for 152 yards and two scores on 29 carries.
Worthy put together arguably the greatest single season in New Jersey football history. He ended this game with 271 yards rushing and six touchdowns, plus 141 yards through the air. He broke single-season records for rushing yards (2,860), total touchdowns (61) and total yards (4,966).
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