SECOND HALF ONSLAUGHT PUSHES RED BANK CATHOLIC OVER LONG BRANCH By Mike Ready

RED BANK – The Caseys broke open a tight 14-14 game in the third quarter scoring 27 unanswered points, including 13 in a span of 2:12 late in the third, to pull away from Long Branch for a 41-14 win at Count Basie Field in Red Bank.  

With the win over No. 3 Long Branch (4-1, 3-1), the top-ranked Caseys (6-0, 5-0) remained undefeated and clinched the Freedom Division championship.

“It definitely feels good,” said senior quarterback Steve Lubischer. “We came out a little shaky in the first half but we got it together in the locker room and dialed up the running game because we knew that would help us in the second half. We just had to play hard-nosed football. Billy (Guidetti) and our line did a great job in the second half. I think we wore them down in the second half.”

The Caseys were held to minus 14-yards rushing on seven attempts in the first half but gained 143 yards on the ground on 16 attempts in the second half.

“The difference in the first half is we were getting behind the sticks, which we never do,” Red Bank Catholic head coach Frank Edgerly said. “We were kind of pressing a little bit there. In the second half, we kind of regrouped, settled down and were able to get back on track. To score 34 points in the second half is a testament to these kids getting it done to be honest with you.”

After the first half ended knotted at 7-7, Red Bank Catholic went up, 14-7, on their first possession of the second half. The Boston College-bound Lubischer scrambled for 23 yards and a first down then lofted a pass to senior M.J. Wright in the backfield and Wright went 21-yards untouched for the score.

Long Branch tied the game at 14-14 with 5:58 left in the third quarter on a 50-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Marc Dennis to a wide open Jayon Farrar. However, on the drive, star running back Jermaine Corbett, who had rushed for 90 yards on 15 attempts up to that point, injured his leg on a 31-yard run and did not return to the game.

Junior Sean Rossback then gave the Caseys the spark they needed and opened the flood gates when he returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to the Long Branch 31-yard line.

“I’ll say this much to you, ’Sean Rossback’s return I think was the difference tonight,’” said Edgerly. “You can point to a number of plays all you want but Sean’s return ignited us and we converted into another score and I think that was the difference. And that impacts both sidelines, not just ours. For us to be able to capitalize on that went a long way to this game going the way it did.”

On second-and-14 from the 35-yard line, Lubischer found junior tight end and Notre Dame commit Kevin Bauman down the right sidelines for a 29-yard pickup to the six-yard line.

Two plays later, Guidetti, who ran for 67 yards on 15 attempts, took it in from four yards out giving the Caseys a 21-14 lead. Including that score, Guidetti rushed for three touchdowns in a span of 10:11 to help the Caseys put the game away.

“It started with our offensive line,” said Guidetti when asked about the running game in the second half. “At halftime the coaches told us we had to establish the run and that’s what we did – establish the run.”

On the ensuing kickoff, Long Branch’s Jah Kwan Gordon made a poor decision trying to field Ryan O’Hara’s kickoff instead of letting go for touchback, failing to catch the ball then and having it bounce off his hands and out of bounds at the one-yard line.

“That was a huge momentum break for us,” said Giudetti. “That helped turn the game around.”

Three plays later on third-and-10 from the one-yard line, Wright snuffed out a screen pass and pulled down Niles Montgomery after a four-yard gain forcing Long Branch to punt out of their own end zone.

Taking over at the 41-yard line, Lubischer, who went 9-of-15 for 203 yards and two TDs and ran for another score, again found Bauman down the right sidelines with Bauman making a sensational catch over a defender for a first down at the two-yard line. Guidetti leaped over the pile on the next play for a 27-14 lead after a bad snap from center resulted in a failed extra point. 

Following an O’Hara touchback, Long Branch took over at the 20-yard line and on second-and-9, Dennis hit Matt Clark, who had a big game with five receptions for 118 yards, for a 50-yard completion down the left sidelines.

But the Green Wave’s drive stalled after that. Hunter Metzler stopped Gordon for a one-yard loss on first down, then sacked Dennis for a five-yard loss on third down forcing a Long Branch punt.

Starting on their own 23-yard line after a holding penalty on first down, the Caseys then drove 77 yards in four plays with Lubischer finishing off the drive with an unbelievable 49-yard scramble for a touchdown where he basically covered the whole width of the field twice on his way to the end zone.

Now up, 34-14, with 8:10 left in the game, the Caseys forced another Long Branch turnover that was the final blow to Long Branch’s chances.

Three critical second-half errors cost Long Branch any chance of victory and to the Caseys’ credit, they cashed in on all three – that’s what good football teams do.  

On second-and-10 from their own 20-yard line, Caseys linebacker Steve Cmielewski sacked Dennis for a five-yard loss. Then on third down, linebacker Jack Zenkert stripped sacked Dennis with John Columbia recovering at the 16-yard line.

Guidetti picked up one yard on first down then sealed the win for the Caseys taking it in from 15 yards out on second down for a 41-14 lead with 6:03 left in the game.

In the first half, the Caseys defense came up with big stops when needed and the special teams came through with a big turnover.

The two teams traded punts on their first possessions of the game after going three-and-out.

On the Caseys’ second possession of the game, they drove to the Long Branch 23-yard line thanks to a Lubischer 46-yard completion to senior wide receiver Jaden Key on first down. However, the Caseys went nowhere and brought in O’Hara to attempt a 40-yard field goal that had the distance but sailed left.

Long Branch took over at the 20 and marched to the Caseys 19-yard with Dennis converting on a third-and-7 from their own 49, completing a 19-yard pass to Montgomery for the first down and keeping the drive alive.

Four plays later with Long Branch looking at a first-and-10 at the 19-yard line, Wright came in on a blitz unabated and sacked Dennis for an eight-yard loss. Columbia then stopped Dennis after a four-yard pickup, followed by an incompletion that set up a fourth-and-14 from the 23.

Deciding to go for it, Dennis got the ball to Farrar on a screen pass but Bauman was there to pull him down for a one-yard loss turning the ball over to the Caseys on downs.

But the Caseys went nowhere after Jayson Glasper recorded two consecutive TFL on Lubischer runs, and an incompletion led to a punt.

Long Branch took over at the 19 after a fair catch before a Dennis-to-Clarke 19-yard completion gave them a first down at the 42-yard line. But two incompletions and a Columbia tackle for no gain set up another punt.

The Caseys again came up empty on the possession, but Jerrell Sherin muffed the punt. Zenkert recovered at the Long Branch 40 for the first big break of the game and the Caseys cashed in with the help of a little trickery.

On first down, Lubischer handed off to Guidetti, who pitched the ball back to Lubischer as he was about hit the line. Lubischer then avoided pressure from Long Branch linebacker Luke Arnold and rolled left to extend the play. He then found Wright all alone down the left sidelines at about 25 and Wright coasted home the rest of the way for a 7-0 lead with 2:09 left in the first half.

Wright had a nice night catching five passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns.

Long Branch answered right back marching 80 yards in nine plays. With 15 seconds showing on the clock until halftime, Dennis connected with Clark on a 28-yard completion on third-and-9 to the one-yard line. Dennis took it in from there with no time left on the clock to knot the game 7-7 at the half.

Dennis finished 14-of-22 for 219 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a touchdown.

Friday night was really the Caseys’ first real test since opening night when they easily took care of Saint John Vianney in a battle that featured the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the preseason polls.

“It feels great, it’s a huge win for the team,” Guidetti said after the game. “Everybody’s  been saying we hadn’t really played anybody yet, so to beat a team like that is great, just a great feeling.”

Red Bank Catholic has outscored its five opponents by a margin of 244-48, scoring over 40 points in all but one game this season.

“Anytime you can win a championship on any level says a lot about a team,” said Edgerly. “The thing too is that we have a bye at the back end of this so if we win it feels good but if you lose you have to sit on it for two weeks. So this one was important on a number of levels but getting the division championship is important.”

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