MIDD. SOUTH-WALL GAME AN ALL-TIMER/LAMIRANDE’S AMAZING RETURN

     As for the Middletown South-Wall game, that might be the best game I’ve seen since Jackson’s last-second win over Brick Memorial in the Central Jersey Group IV final two years ago, which is kind of the standard by which I measure all thrilling games at this point.
    I know some people will second guess Wall coach Chris Barnes for going for two and the win with 29 seconds remaining when he could’ve had Josh Shields boot the PAT and play for overtime. I agree with Barnes’ move. Wall’s defense was gassed, and South was moving up and down the field against them. I don’t think Wall had enough in the tank to win it in overtime, so it had to go for it there. Tim Wright was stopped literally inches before the goal line, and looking at the film, it might be argued that he got in on the conversion attempt.
    Wright was a non-factor in the running game, doing damage as a receiver as he lined up in the slot or split wide for nearly the whole game. A big loss for Wall was junior Blaze Caponegro, who had a big hit on the opening kickoff that left him a little dazed and eventually forced him to come out of the game after a strong start. The Crimson Knights essentially had no running game all night.
     While Middletown South quarterback Pat Campbell was absolutely outstanding with 202 yards rushing, four touchdowns and some huge fourth down runs, I expected him to play at a high level because he is a known star. That’s why I was definitely impressed with Wall quarterback Jim Louro, who made some clutch throws with two or three blitzers in his face on several occasions in the second half and threw for 195 yards. Wright was a force of nature in the passing game with four catches for 113 yards, proving emphatically that he is worthy of all the hype and that he can bring his ‘A’ game against a top opponent.
     I thought Josh Matthews had a nice game defensively for the Eagles, but the star of the future (or even present) is Campbell’s younger brother, Sean, a sophomore linebacker. He was up around 10 tackles and was always around the ball. As for Wall’s defense, it was a huge night for Kevin Orender, who had two fumble recoveries and a sack in the first half.
     Pat Campbell said that this was the best game he has every played in, and the only comparable experience was sitting in the stands with Sean and watching their older brother Ryan play at linebacker in the 28-27 comeback win the Eagles had over Wall on the road a few years back in the midst of their Shore Conference-record 43-game winning streak. South had 6 turnovers in that game but came back to win by giving the ball to some kid named Knowshon Moreno nine straight times in the final minutes.
     It was a huge crowd as expected and a great atmosphere at The Swamp, with Midd. South’s Hall of Fame induction at halftime and players from all over in attendance, including a good-sized crew from Long Branch, which will play Wall and could see both the Eagles and Crimson Knights in the state playoffs. Plus, when was the last time that you saw two defenses of that caliber give up a combined 69 points? That shows what level the offenses were at (either that or the defenses really aren’t anything to write home about this year).
    
    In other games, Rumson-Fair Haven worked out its frustration from a 21-14 overtime loss to Keansburg with a 37-14 win over Shore in the Patriot Division. On their first play, senior QB Matt Wassel threw a bubble screen to wideout Ryan Kirchner behind the line of scrimmage, and Kirchner promptly unloaded a touchdown pass to wideout John Lembeck. Bulldogs coach Shane Fallon said afterward that Kirchner joked that he never wants to throw a pass in a game again so that he can end his career with a perfect passer rating. Kirchner also caught a TD pass in the game, and Lembeck had two TD catches.

    My Brick Memorial pick went down in flames as the Southern offense really got on track in a 39-24 win over the Mustangs. Brad Gesser had five touchdowns in the game as the Rams are now 3-0 and deserving of an apology from me for doubting them…Manalapan picked up its first win with a 20-9 win over winless Toms River South in the Constitution Division…Interesting question when it comes to the Freehold-Neptune game that got postponed to Saturday because the lights at Memorial Field in Neptune were out – Freehold was leading the game 2-0 in the first quarter and was moving up and down the field on Neptune, so it begs the question of whether Neptune should be allowed to watch the film of those sequences to see everything the Colonials are trying to do offensively. I know what Bill Belichick would do in that situation, that’s for sure….Barnegat’s first game without injured running back Bob Fitzpatrick was no problem, as his replacement, senior Erik Smithman, scored four touchdowns (2 rushing, 2 receiving) in a 32-0 win over a winless Raritan team that has been shut out in consecutive games…Jackson is back at the .500 mark (2-2) after a 34-7 victory over winless Freehold Township…Point Boro opened its National Division slate with a 32-6 win over Msgr. Donovan.

Now, I leave you with two final questions heading into Saturday’s action.

Who gets offensive player of the week? Middletown South’s Pat Campbell, who ran for 202 yards and four touchdowns (not to mention making the game-saving tackle on defense) against Wall or Howell’s Tim Lamirande, who threw for a school-record 350 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Lacey? I’m almost inclined to have them share it because those are both big-time performances. Oh, and by the way, Southern’s Brad Gesser ran for five touchdowns.

Also, is Middletown South still the No. 1 team after narrowly avoiding the upset, or did that squeaker over Wall nudge Toms River East closer and closer to that top spot?

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