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BRICK – The Monmouth County All-Stars made a 28-0 third quarter lead hold up and eventually defeated an undermanned but resourceful Ocean County squad, 28-14, in the 41st annual Gridiron Classic held at Brick Memorial High School.
The win was Monmouth County’s second straight over Ocean County and pushed its all-time record in the series to 22-18-1.
Leading up to the game all the talk centered on the offensive fire power Monmouth County was capable of unleashing in the game, including Freehold High School’s record-shattering All-State quarterback Ashante Worthy.
And Worthy didn’t disappoint. He earned the Monmouth County offensive MVP award rushing for 94 yards including a 16-yard TD on 10 carries (9.4 yards/rush) and passing for another 61 yards going 6-for-9 through the air while adding a 15-yard screen pass for a TD.
“I kind of knew we were going to get the W once I saw our roster,” Worthy said in a bold but accurate proclamation. “The coaches could’ve started any of us at quarterback but they chose to start me so I just felt like they put a lot of trust in my hands and I just wanted to show them that it was the right decision.”
Worthy, who broke the state’s single-season rushing record with 2,815 yards on the ground as a senior, became the first player in state history to both rush and throw for over 2000 yards in a single season while also setting the single-game record with 635 total yards, was overlooked – undeservedly so – by most DI programs on account of his modest 5-foot-8 height and will continue his football career at junior college football power Lackawanna College, which finished ranked No. 19 nationally a year ago.
“I’m going to go there and take care of business and don’t let anybody distract me or let anything get in my way and transfer to a DI program,” Worthy said. “I’m 100 percent confident in that.”
“Ashante’s a special talent and I just think he’s a super special kid and with that attitude he just spread it around,” Long Branch and Monmouth County head coach Dan George said. “He knew our goal was to get every single receiver a touch. He threw a few up there just trying to get guys the ball. That’s just the kind of kid he is.”.jpg)
Monmouth County scored on its first four possessions of the game and held a 28-0 lead through three quarters. They outgained Ocean County, 208-89, in the first half taking a 21-0 lead into halftime.
Ocean County received the opening kickoff and went nowhere before punting on fourth down with Monmouth County taking over at their own 35-yard line.
Worthy broke runs of 17 and 12 yards that included a face- mask penalty to give Monmouth County a first down at the Ocean County 24-yard line on their first possession of the game. Red Bank Catholic running back Zack Bair picked up eight yards before Worthy scored on a play that typified his stellar career.
After taking the snap from center he ran toward the left sidelines but found himself boxed in by a host of Ocean County defenders. Breaking numerous tackles to escape he reversed field and cut back across the entire width of the field outracing a host of pursuing tacklers into the end zone for a 16-yard TD run and a quick 7-0 lead.
Ocean County then drove to the Monmouth County 23-yard line in 11 plays and was in position to tie the game facing a fourth-and-four from the 23. However, Point Boro quarterback James Fara’s pass to teammate Brandon Cipriano in the end zone was knocked down, turning the ball back over to Monmouth County on downs. Fara rushed for 39 yards on four touches on the drive.
Monmouth County then drove 76 yards on 10 plays for a score and a 14-0 lead with Long Branch quarterback Juwan Wilkins (Susquehanna University) taking his turn under center. On the drive Wilkins went 4-for-4 for 52 yards including a five-yard touchdown strike to Marlboro’s 6-foot-5 receiver Justin Marcus, who made a pretty over the head catch in the far corner of the end zone.
On the drive he also found Howell wideout Naseim Brantley (Sacred Heart University) for a 31-yard pickup on a bubble screen. Unfortunately, Wilkins suffered a knee injury on the TD pass and did not return.
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“I knew I could play with these guys because I’ve done it since my freshman year,” Marcus said. “I was just glad I got to play with them and not against them. The whole week in practice, competing with and against these guys, some of the best talent around, got me ready not just for this game but moving on to Mommouth.”
Monmouth County pushed the score to 21-0 just before the half traveling 67 yards in 12 plays culminating in a Worthy 15-yard screen pass in the right flats for a touchdown to Red Bank Catholic and Stonehill College-bound Brandon Lombana. Bair had 19 yards on the ground on three carries on the scoring drive.
On the first play of the second half, Worthy found Howell’s Ryan Mazik (Rowan University) for a 26-yard gainer to the Monmouth County 47-yard line. After a six-yard pickup by Matawan running back Devonte Spann (New Haven University) Worthy again hooked up with Mazik to the Ocean County 35.
An 11-yard Worthy scamper gave Monmouth County a first down at the 24 and a Worthy nine-yard completion to Long Branch’s T.J. Fosque (Monmouth University) placed the ball at the 14-yard line. Worthy was then stopped just short of the goal line for 10 yards before Bair finished off the drive with a one-yard burst up the middle for the score and a 28-0 lead a little over four minutes into the third quarter.
The Dartmouth-bound Bair finished with 52 yards on nine attempts for the game and was awarded the Sam Mills award for Monmouth County and Brick Memorial’s Willie Garner (Lycoming College) picked up the award for Ocean County.
The two teams traded punts before Ocean County put together its first scoring drive of the night going 79 yards in 11 plays to pull within 28-7.
The big gainer on the drive was a 42-yard run by Manchester’s 5-foot-7 running back Jalen Glenn (Montclair State University) that gave Ocean County a first down at the Monmouth County 15-yard line. Lacey’s Jason Giresi (Kean University) finished off the drive with a four-yard run.
Under the Gridiron Classic rules, Ocean County received the kickoff following their score but on Manalapan kicker David Gelb’s squib kick down the left sideline, Long Branch’s Kevin Porch (Stonehill University) recovered what essentially was an onside kick, taking over at the Ocean County 31-yard line.
Porch also had a key pass deflection in the first quarter and was named the Monmouth County defensive MVP.
Three Worthy incompletions and one-yard loss gave the ball back to Ocean County at their own 32-yard line and they drove 68 yards in 11 plays to make the game interesting by pulling within 28-14 with a little over six minutes left in the game.
At this point the Coastal Carolina-bound Fara and Glenn put the game on their shoulders. After Central running back Lino Delgiudice picked up a first down on two rushes, Fara ripped off a nifty 27-yard run to their own 31-yard line.
Three plays later facing a fourth-and-six, with Freehold defensive lineman Damian Rybaltowski in his face, Fara found Glenn for a first down at the 19-yard line. Three straight runs by Glenn set up a second-and-goal from the three when Glenn looked to be stopped in his tracks by the Monmouth County defensive front but Glenn somehow escaped into the end zone for the score.
Fara finished with a game-high 100-yards rushing on 14 attempts and was clearly the team leader on the field.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Fara. “We were down at half and talked things over and switched some things up. It was nice to turn it around in the second half.”
Fara was also impressed with Glenn’s performance. “I knew him from playing against him in the same division. In my junior year he was the X-factor in Manchester almost upsetting us. He’s an outstanding player that I compare to Ashante Worthy on the other side. They’re the same type of player but he just doesn’t get enough touches. Watching him in practice all week I knew he would have a big game, I knew he could be MVP.”
Glenn was voted the Ocean County offensive MVP while Jackson Liberty’s Nick Johnson garnered the defensive MVP with two tackles for a loss.
Ocean County then attempted an onside kick but Howell’s Matt Mazauskas (U.S. Coast Guard Academy) recovered at the 43-yard line and Monmouth County then drove to the five-yard line before Worthy was picked off by Brick Memorial’s Blaine Netterman (Delaware Valley University) at the five-yard line with 59.9 seconds remaining in the game.
Ocean County then fumbled and Monmouth County ran out the clock for a 28-14 win in a game that started out as a blowout but actually turned out to be a fairly entertaining game.
“I believe this was one of the best games in history,” Worthy said, comparing it to past Gridiron Classic games. “I still think we had the best Monmouth County team ever.”
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