A FEW LEFTOVERS FROM WEEK FIVE, WEEK SIX ON THE WAY

Before I get to a few things that are on the way, I just wanted to get to a few notes from last weekend.
      First, congrats again to Southern for its huge 14-6 victory over Toms River East. I believe Rams head coach Chuck Donohue got the Lou Rettino Coach of the Week from the New York Giants for the win as well, according to a televised report, although the Giants’ website hasn’t caught up from Week Three to Week Five yet.
     Speaking of Southern, I know there was a big outcry of how the Rams didn’t jump to No. 2 with the win, and I could see that reasoning, although there are fans of eight other undefeated teams who probably think their team should be right behind Middletown South. I will have the fan top 10 voting up next week, as, with anything else that’s brand new, we just needed to test it first. That way everyone can weigh in with their Top 10 choices, which should be interesting with the Long Branch-Wall and Middletown South-Toms River North games being highlighted this weekend.
     If you haven’t gotten your picks in for this week’s Schwartz Chrysler Mazda Pick ‘Em contest, you can do so here.
     Also, our Fifth Down highlights will be rolling out earlier in the week from now on, as we will be adding the highlights as we get the footage from the games that we didn’t cover, so check “The Fifth Down” section on the homepage early and often next week after about Monday night or so.
     The Fifth Down football notebook will be up on Friday morning with plenty of stuff about this weekend’s games, and I have to say that one game that interests me outside of the monster ones that everyone is talking about is Asbury Park-Matawan. I caught the Blue Bishops in their 42-26 win over previously unbeaten Keansburg in the Patriot Division, and they just have so many weapons offensively – Will Johnson, George Stephens, Derrell Bell, Kaeshon McMillan and Rashawn Roberts just off the top of my head. I’ll say the one huge difference in this year’s Asbury team and last year’s is composure. They give up a big play or a fourth-down conversion and they don’t complain and don’t point fingers. Also, they have done an excellent job thus far on avoiding the ****** penalties.
     I think Rumson-Fair Haven dodged a bullet by playing Asbury Park in Week One, when they beat the Bishops 35-14 despite giving up over 300 yards rushing. Rumson is obviously a good team that is headed to the state playoffs, but the Blue Bishops have gotten better and better each week, and standout wideout Derrell Bell did not play in the game as he joined the team just before Week Two.
     Now we’ll see if they can keep it up against Matawan, which needs this game to stay in the hunt for a state playoff berth, while it would be a bonanza for the Group I Bishops. I’m always curious when teams jump up from a lower division to face an opponent that has a little size advantage. I still like the Bishops and their ability to run the ball here, although one of the most fun match-ups could be Matawan defensive back Kyle Hardy against Bell, both of them juniors. Bell has the ability to go up in traffic and come down with the catch against most Patriot Division defensive backs, but Hardy is a different story because he can leap and run with Bell.
    I’ll be back with the Shore football alumni update, which will have some pictures this week, as well as notes/thoughts on Week Six.

E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com