Chaotic Finish Overshadows Manalapan's Gritty Win Over Caseys

Photos courtesy of Tom Smith https://www.tspsportsimages.com/

MANALAPAN – If you took your eyes off the field for a split second you probably missed it and then asked yourself, ‘What just happened.’”

In one of the wildest finishes to a game in recent memory, Manalapan got the break it needed on the Caseys final play of the game to cap off an epic 20-14 comeback victory over Red Bank Catholic.

It was a crushing defeat for the Caseys that left its players as bewildered as the fans after the referee signaled Braves ball on an attempted spike to stop the clock.

Following a Manalapan field goal that pushed their lead to 20-14 with 2:20 left in the game, the Caseys took over at their own 35 after the kickoff went out of bounds.

On second-and-11 senior quarterback Ryan Edgerly found senior tight end Kevin Bauman over the middle for 17 yards and a first down at the Braves 49-yard line.

With time winding down, Edgerly narrowly avoided a Gavin Claro sack before stepping up and firing a 30-yard strike to Jack Pollackov at the 19-yard line.

Here’s where things got dicey.

Red Bank Catholic scrambled to the line of scrimmage with about a minute to play and no timeouts left and Edgerly attempted to spike the ball to stop the clock. But replays showed he never really got control of the snap and instead of spiking the ball it looked as though he pushed the ball to the ground in an apparent effort to simulate a spike.

The referees, ruling it a fumble, kept the play alive and Manalapan senior linebacker Jake Freedman alertly pounced on the ball and the Braves took over as chaos reigned down on the field.

“I thought he fumbled immediately,” said Freedman. “I didn’t see the snap go down; I didn’t see him spike it. So, the first thing that came to my mind, I didn’t hear the whistle so I got to jump on this right now and I just jumped on it; it was crazy.”

“I think the center snapped the ball before the quarterback was ready,” said Manalapan head coach Ed Gurrieri. “The ball hit his hands and fell to the ground.”

Calm was finally restored as the stunned Caseys made their way to the sidelines and the Braves went into victory formation sealing a hard-fought 20-14 victory.

“We felt pretty good about the situation,” added Gurrieri. “They had no timeouts left and they had to score a touchdown. Even though they were deep in our territory a field goal wouldn’t help. When we recovered the fumble, that was it right there. I’ll take that every day of the week.”

Red Bank Catholic jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead on two long scoring plays.

On Manalapan’s first possession of the game, senior linebacker Charlie Gordinier tipped a Sean Kehley pass into the hands of senior cornerback Sean Rossback. On second-and-10 senior running back Elijah Jules ran off right tackle and broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run and 7-0 lead.

Following a Manalapan punt, the Casey were facing a second-and-16 at their own 15-yard line when senior running back Billy Geidetti took a handoff up the middle before running through a couple tackles and breaking free down the left sideline for an 85-yard touchdown run that gave RBC a quick 14-0 lead with 2:45 still left in the first quarter.

“We got to the bench, looked at the film, fixed our mistakes and just got to it,” said Freedman.

“Our fits were a little bit off, but give them credit they ran two good plays,” Gurrieri said. “We thought if we could correct that and be in the right spots we would be fine. We did and the rest of the night we were good. We settled that down and I thought we played good defense the rest of the way.”

The Caseys would not score again in the game.

Trailing by two touchdowns, the Braves needed a spark and junior Ethan Rodriquez gave it to them. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound speedster gobbled up a bouncing kickoff at the 10-yard line, found a huge lane down the right sidelines and took it to the house for a 90-yard kickoff return with 2:32 left in the first quarter.

That turned out to be the turning point of the game.

“He’s a baseball player and we didn’t get him until right before camp,” said Gurrieri. “He’s a very good athlete that has good hands and good instincts and he’s only scratching the surface of how good he’s going to be down the road.”

In the middle of the second quarter Kehley hit Matt Benedetti on a swing pass and Benedetti went 61 yards for a score. However, the play was brought back on an illegal block in the back penalty and the Braves would eventually be forced to punt pinning the Caseys deep in their own territory.

An Edgerly to Kevin Degnan 14-yard completion set up a third-and-2 at Red Bank Catholics 26-yard line. On the next play, the Caseys attempt at a hook-and-ladder went terribly wrong when the Braves senior linebacker Hayden Hess tipped and recovered Rossbacks attempted pitch back to Jules.

The Braves took over at the Red Bank Catholic 11-yard line and on fourth-and-1 from the two they decided to attempt a field goal with 3.7 seconds left in the half and Rea nailed it from 18-yards out to get within 14-10 at the half.

"I didn't want to take the chance and not make the first down and break our momentum," said Gurrieri. "We have an outstanding kicker so I just said lets just get the three and keep the momentum the way its going and have them runninf off the field on a fourth down stop. And they defered so we got the ball to start the second half."

On the Caseys first possession of the second half after a Manalapan punt, they took over in excellent field position at the Braves 41-yard line.

On first down, junior safety Anthony Matrone made a touchdown saving tackle on Jules after a 13-yard pickup giving RBC a first down at the 28. Hess then stopped Guidetti for a 2-yard tackle for loss and Freedman brought down Jules after a 7-yard gain setting up a third-and-5 at the 23.

Jules was stopped for a 1-yard loss by a host of Manalapan tacklers and following an illegal procedure penalty the Caseys went for it on a fourth-and-11 at the 29 but Edgerly’s pass was incomplete turning the ball over to the Braves.

On the very next play from the 29-yard line, Andre Johnson broke through the right side of the line and raced virtually untouched 71 yards into the end zone for the Braves first lead of the game, 17-14 with 6:25 left in the third quarter.

“I saw a hole and no one there my line blocked for me perfectly,” said Johnson. “And I knew I had to book it fast and keep going. I heard my coaches saying it’s open and hit that and I did.”

Up to that point, Johnson had rushed for just 23 yards on nine carries but the elusive scatback finished with 157 yards rushing on 19 carries. He had a number of key third-down runs for first downs on the Braves final drive of the night, a 14-play, 76-yard drive that took eight minutes off the clock and resulted in a Rea 21-yard field goal for a 20-14 lead with just over two minutes left in the game.

Johnson’s third down runs were for 24-yards on third-and-9 and 22 yards on third-and-3 giving the Braves a first down at the 11. Johnson accounted for 69 yards on seven carries on the drive.

“Red Bank Catholic is a big, proud, physical team but we just kept at it,” Gurrieri said of the Braves final drive. “I think we kind of leaned on them and they got a little tired at the end and we kept getting better and getting some holes. And Andre started hitting them tight and downhill and he had some big runs at the end. I think that was an eight minute drive there at the end.’

Kehley had a key 10-yard scramble for a first down on a third-and-7 from their own 26 to keep the drive alive.

“He’s an outstanding young man and he made a great decision to pull it down and go,” said Gurrieri. “He doesn’t do that often and when he does he makes positive yards and that was a big play in the game.”

Johnson also recovered a crucial fumble that kept the drive alive.

“It was amazing, I saw the ball and I knew if we didn’t get it the game would be over,” said Johnson.

“Andre never comes off the field; he’s a throwback,” said Gurrieri. “He just a workhorse and a hardnosed player. He did an outstanding job tonight.”

The Braves defense forced RBC punts on two consecutive possessions late in the fourth quarter with Benedetti and Freedman each recording two tackles for loss to spearhead the defensive effort.

Freedman finished with double-digit tackles, including three tackles for loss.

“Jake’s a great player,” said Gurrieri. “He’s also our fullback playing both ways. He’s another senior who waited four years to be a starter and is just a real good program kid.”

Manalapan moves to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the American Division. With Rumson-Fair Haven’s loss to Middletown South (2-4, 2-3) Friday night, the Bulldogs fall to 4-3 and 3-2 in the division and if Long Branch (2-4, 1-3) can beat Toms River North (5-1, 3-1) on Saturday it would create a three-way tie for the American Division title. RBC slips to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the American Division.

It was about time the Braves came out on the long end of the stick after absorbing consecutive excruciating losses to Toms River North (42-40) and Rumson-Fair Haven (23-20 OT).

“We’re 4-2 and we’re five points from being 6-0,” said Gurrieri. “Our kids fought hard and stayed in it all night. I’m just happy we’re finally getting healthy and as long as our defense plays like this we’re going to be fine and it will give us chance to win every game we play.”

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