RED BANK – Senior running backs Makai Mickens and Nigel Mitchell combined to rush for 237 yards and four touchdowns Friday night helping Red Bank Regional pickup its first playoff win since 2015.
However, it took a strong second half after escaping with a 7-7 tie at the half for the Bucs to get by Allentown, 30-13, in a NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III first-round game played in Red Bank.
Allentown controlled the second quarter and threatened to score on a three different possessions, driving deep into Red Bank territory. But the Bucs made two critical fourth-down stops halting Allentown drives and a missed field goal kept the score knotted at intermission.
“Coach (Red Bank head coach Nick Giglio) told us to keep doing what we were doing on defense,” said Mickens. “They only scored seven points. They kept getting down there, and we kept getting stops. Coach said to keep our heads up, keep focused and keep grinding on every play.”
“In the locker room everybody was just down,” said Mitchell. “I’m like we’ve got to pick it up, we’ve been here before and we’re going to do it again. No matter what the score was we were going to play like it was 0-0 and use that same intensity on every play and we’re going to come out on top like we did today.”
Things didn’t get any easier for the Bucs at the start of the second half with Allentown taking a quick 13-7 lead, marching 80 yards in four plays.
A 77-yard bomb from sophomore quarterback Dan Merkel to sophomore wide receiver Ramsey Ben Flah down to the one-yard line set up senior running back Rahsaan Emory’s one-yard plunge.
A missed extra-point kick by Chris McCrea kept it a six-point game, 13-7, with 10:39 left in the third quarter.
The Bucs answered on their ensuing possession with a time-consuming 58 yard, 10-play scoring drive that took over five minutes off the clock.
Keeping the ball on the ground and in the hands of Mickens and Mitchell for eight of the first nine plays of the drive, the Bucs advanced to the Allentown 14-yard line. On second-and-10, junior quarterback Jack Chamberlain went to the air lobbing a ball to Mitchell who made a fantastic catch keeping one foot in bounds as he was forced out of the corner of the end zone.
Nick Ferrogine, who had a stellar game on both defense and special teams, kicked the extra point giving the Bucs a 14-13 lead with 5:25 left in the quarter.
However, Merkel got the Red Birds rolling again, completing a 39-yard pass to McCrea down to the Bucs 30-yard line on the first play of the possession and Allentown was back in business.
Two plays later on third-and-4 from the 24-yard line, senior defensive back Robbie DeMarco stepped in front of intended receiver Peter Pinto at the three-yard line for the pick and raced down to the Red Bird 35-yard line turning the game and momentum back in the Bucs favor.
On the play, senior linebacker Colin Chatto, who had a monster game with double-digit tackles and a sack, came in off the edge with intense pressure forcing Merkel to get rid of the ball which then hit DeMarco in stride.
“They had a single back set and they like to do their R.P.O. (run, pass, option) there,” said Chatto describing the play. “I saw which way the quarterback was opening up and sprinted outside and kind of got off the block and got the hit on the quarterback and Robbie picked it off and almost ran it back.”
A block in the back penalty on the interception brought the ball back to the 46-yard line where the Bucs took over on first-and-10 with a little over five minutes left in the third quarter.
Red Bank’s offense stalled at the 30-yard line after a third-down incompletion and Ferrogine came in to punt on fourth-and-7.
Taking a high snap from center in punt formation, Ferrogine then tucked the ball in and took off picking up 13 yards and a first down at the 17-yard line.
Two plays later on second-and-8 from the 15, Mickens took Chamberlain’s handoff and bolted up the middle virtually untouched for a 15-yard score and a 21-13 lead after Ferrogine’s extra-point kick with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.
On Allentown’s ensuing possession the Bucs defense came up big again with another interception.
Taking over at the 30-yard line following the kickoff, Allentown picked up a first down at the 41-yard line. On first down, Merkel went deep looking for a quick strike, but Mickens had McCrea blanketed in coverage and made a pretty leaping grab for the pick at the 30-yard line as the third quarter ended.
Mickens then cashed in on his interception. Picking up key blocks from Tyquan Crawford and Brian Navitsky, Mickens found some space up the middle and broke it to the outside before bolting down the right sidelines for a game-breaking 70-yard touchdown run for 28-13 lead with 11:29 remaining.
“I just saw green grass,” Mickens said of his dynamic run. “That’s all I saw. My offensive linemen, my fullback, everybody did an amazing job on that play, and I got in there.”
Mickens finished with 129 yards rushing with two touchdowns on 16 carries.
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Ferrogine squibbed the ensuing kickoff and Allentown’s Cameron Moore had a hard time getting a handle on it with Tucker Cochrane bearing down on him. Moore tried to elude Cochrane but was pulled down at the 10-yard line.
Ferrogine then made two stops on first and second down before batting down a third-down Merkel pass attempt forcing an Allentown punt from their own end zone. The snap on the punt attempt then sailed high out of the end zone for a safety and a 30-13 lead with a little over nine minutes left in the game.
DeMarco’s second interception, and the Bucs’ third of the second half, all but sealed the win with 3:43 remaining as junior David Hicks then ran the ball on seven straight plays picking up 34 yards, including a 24-yard burst, to run out the clock.
“We’ve been waiting for this all our lives,” said Chatto. “We’ve always talked about playing a playoff game here and it finally feels good to play one. So we’re just looking to get rolling for what I assume will be RFH next week. We all know what happened in 2015 so that’s definitely going to be in the back of our heads.”
The Bucs scored on the first play on the first possession of the game to take a quick 7-0 lead, but did little else in the first half.
Ferrogine took a squib kick to open the game all the way to the Allentown 46-yard line. Then on first down, Mitchell took a direct snap out of the wild-cat formation up the middle for a 46-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead.
Mitchell had a tremendous all-around game rushing for 122 yards and one touchdown on 14 attempts and had two receptions for 18 yards and a touchdown.
Jha’Quel Brown took the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Bucs 36-yard line and moved to the 17 but a 10-yard Chatto sack of Merkel pushed the ball back to the 27. A fourth-down Merkel incompletion then turned the ball back over to the Bucs on downs.
The two teams traded punts on consecutive three-and-out possessions and following another three-and-out by Red Bank, the Red Birds got something going.
Taking over at the Red Bank 46 following a Ferrogine punt, the Red Birds traveled 54 yards in 12 plays with Emory finishing off the drive with a four-yard run to tie the game, 7-7.
Merkel’s 15-yard run on fourth-and-1 down to the 31-yard line kept the drive alive.
Following a Red Bank punt, Allentown moved down to the seven-yard line after Merkel, who finished with 95-yards rushing, ran for 23 down to the seven.
But the Bucs defense stiffened after Merkel moved the ball to the one-yard line picking up six yards on second down. On third-and-1, Ka’Shaun Turner and Justin Gooding combined to stop Emory for a two-yard loss, setting up a fourth-and-goal at the three-yard line.
Emory then tried to plow his way up the middle but Ferrogine dropped him just short of the goal line.
“We were really getting driven on that drive,” said Chatto. “They were getting big plays driving with their running game and we just said, ‘let’s buckle down and take one play at a time.’ So that’s what we did when they got down to the 10-yard line and we got the stop.”
Red Bank took over at the one but went nowhere and was forced to punt out of their own end zone.
Allentown then drove to the Bucs 17-yard line but a fourth-and-9 play picked up just two yards and McCrea’s 32-yard field-goal attempt was wide right.
The Bucs went three-and-out on the following possession with Allentown taking over their own 38 after letting the punt roll.
A flea-flicker with Merkel (7-of-21 for 213 yards, three interceptions) eventually completing a long pass to McCrae down to the 20-yard line gave the Red Birds a first down with under three minutes left in the half. A holding penalty on third down pushed the ball back to the 25 and a fourth-and-12 pass attempt fell incomplete and the half ended at 7-7.
“Once we got to halftime we knew it wasn’t our best half of the year, but we kind of took a deep breath and played some of best football in the second half,” said Chatto. “Our defense has been quietly doing well and besides the RBC game we haven’t given up many points and we take pride in that.”
Rumson-Fair Haven beat Ocean Township, 28-7, without star running back Alex Maldjian, so the ‘Battle of Ridge Road’ will take place Friday at Rumson in a CJG III semifinal game.
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