Manalapan Flexes Its Muscle In The A North Behind Mayfield's Five Touchdowns

Photos by Tom Smith: #5 Naim Mayfield, #15 Scott Scherzer, #10 Symir Blackwell, #12 Luke Corcione, #13 Dale Siexzkowski and #45 Justin Reilly

MANALAPAN – Manalapan senior running back Naim Mayfield put on a show for the SRO crowd on his home turf Friday night rushing for 274 yards and five touchdowns on 25 carries leading the Braves –ranked No. 1 in the Shore and 10th in the state - to a 49-28 win over previously undefeated and fifth-ranked Howell.

Mayfield – who recently committed to Fordham University - came into the game averaging 14.9 yards per carry while rushing for 1,135 yards on 76 attempts and 19 touchdowns. His yardage Friday night gives him 1,409 yards and 24 touchdowns on 101 carries for the season.

“Coach said that I was going to have a big game today because we were going to run it down their throats and I did today,” said Mayfield. “That gets me motivated to help my team any way I can. Our fullback did a great job, out tight ends did a great job and our offensive line did a great job and it all work very well.”

He scored on runs of 16, 33 and nine yards in the first half and 73 and seven yards in the second half. His 62-yard punt return set up his 33-yard score on the next play breaking an early 7-7 tie.

Manalapan head coach Ed Gurrieri couldn’t say enough about his star running back. “His brother Imamu was a great power back but he’s different. He can run away from people, make you miss and he breaks a lot of tackles. He can be elusive yet he can be a real hard-nosed runner and wear you down. He’s a combination of everything. We feel every time we take the field he’s the best player on the field. We’ve had some great one’s here, but when it’s all said and done, he might be the best.”

The Braves (6-0, 4-0) scored on all four of their possession in the first half and seven of nine in the game. They did not punt all night as the only possessions they failed to score on were one that ended in an interception and one that ended the game when their second string ran out the clock.

Manalapan took the opening kickoff and drove 79 yards in just under four minutes to take a 7-0 lead on Mayfield’s first touchdown of the night – a 16 yarder. A Luke Corcione to Symir Blackwell 21-yard pass play gave the Braves a first down at the 24 before Corcione found senior fullback Chris Maksimik for another eight to the 16 setting up Mayfield’s TD run on the next play.

Howell (5-1, 3-1)countered with a nine play, 80-yard drive to even the game at 7-7 four minutes later. Senior quarterback Eddie Morales avoided heavy pressure on second-and-11 from the 21, rolled right and found senior Ryan Mazik all alone in the back of the end zone for the score. Patrick Handy’s extra-point kick was good tied the game at seven.

Morales, who is also committed to Fordham University, had a big night for the Rebels in defeat. He threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns, caught a TD pass on a flea-flicker and ran for 126 yards for 439 yards of total offense – most of it while playing catch up. He also recorded an interception on defense.

The Braves answered right back to take a 14-7 lead on Mayfield’s first down 33-yard scamper then forced a Howell punt on their next possession. Senior defensive end Antonio Deieso had a nine-yard sack and senior free safety Scott Scherzer added a tackle for a loss leading to the punt.

“Our game plan was to make them one dimensional,” Deieso said. “We had to stop the run first then stop the pass. It was a big win but we just have to take it week-by-week, we have Neptune next week and we never overlook an opponent.”

Taking over at their own 45 following Handy’s punt the Braves then went 55 yards in 10 plays with Maksimik bulling his way in from one-yard out to take a 21-7 lead after David Gelb’s extra-point kick. Blackwell had a 24-yard reception from Corcione for the big play of the drive.

Howell then drove to the Manalapan 43 where they faced a fourth-and-3 with just under five minutes left in the first half. Feeling the pressure to put points up on the board fearing their defense would be unable to stop the Manalapan offensive machine, the Rebels felt they needed to go for it on fourth down. But Morales’ fourth-down pass intended for Handy fell incomplete.

It seemed like a panic move by Howell at the time taking a chance so early in the game, but on the flip side, when you have a quarterback as good as Morales, who just makes plays, you’re chances of converting increase considerably.

However, seven plays later, Mayfield took it in from the nine for his third score of the first half handing the Braves a commanding 28-7 lead with 1:17 left in the half.

“I was happy with the way we responded all night,” Gurrieri said of his offense’s ability to score. “Every time they scored we came right back and scored again. So we never let it get under two touchdowns. It was between two and three scores all-night long so that pressure was kind of off of us.”

But the Rebels regrouped to pull to within 28-14 going 80 yards in just over a minute. On first-and-10 from the Manalapan 35 senior Ryan Mazik found a seam between two defenders and Morales delivered a perfect ball for a 32-yard completion to the three-yard line. Mazik took hard hit on the play and stayed down before being helped off the field and never returned.

On first-and-goal from the three with 2.8 seconds on the clock Morales then rolled right and looked and looked until Handy broke free in the end zone and Morales hit him for the score.

Howell received the second-half kickoff and on third-and-8 from their own 22 Morales scrambled all the way to the Manalapan 30 and appeared headed for a score. However, Blackwell – younger brother of former Manalapan star and current Penn State wide receiver Saeed Blackwell – tracked down Morales and stripped him of the ball with Braves linebacker junior Dale Sieczkowski recovering at the 27-yard line.

That was a huge turning point in the game for on the next play Mayfield took a Corcione handoff off right tackle for 73 yards and a touchdown. So instead of possibly being down only seven points if Morales scores on the play, the Rebels found themselves now trailing 35-14 after Mayfield’s fourth TD of the game.

“That turnover was big,” Gurrieri said of Blacknall’s play. “That was a very underrated play because then we come back and score again and we get it back up to three scores. Like I said, I liked the way our guys responded; every time they scored we answered.”

Howell valiantly kept fighting though. On their ensuing possession they had a first-and-goal at the six-yard line after a Morales 31-yard keeper. But two straight tackles for a loss and 10-yard sack by Deieso pushed them back to the 22 before senior Naseim Brantley found Morales on fourth-and-goal for the score on a reverse pass play.

With the score now 35-21, Morales picked off Corcione at the 30 and returned it to their own 47-yard line giving the Rebles some momentun. However, four plays later on fourth-and-7 from the 44 Justin Reilly intercepted Morales giving the ball back to the Braves at their own 38.

Seven plays later Corcione hit Scherzer for a 15-yard scoring play to make it 42-21 with 2:12 left in the third quarter. Mayfield rushed for 47 of the 62 yards on the drive.

On Howells ensuing possession, Manalapan junior linebacker Tommy Pearce ran in front of a Morales pass for an interception at the 39 and returned it all the way to the seven-yard line. An Alex Claro nine-yard sack of Morales put the Rebels into a second-and-long situation leading to Pearce’s pick on third down.

Mayfield then took it in from seven-yards out on the next play for a 49-21 lead with 9:57 remaining and essentially ending the game.

Morales added a 40-yard scoring strike to Brantley with 6:22 left in the game to make it a three score game but the Braves reserves ran out the clock after that for 49-28 victory.

The win left the Braves undefeated at 6-0 and sets up a potential showdown for the Class A North title with Freehold Township, also 6-0, on the last game of the season. However, the Patriots still have to get past Howell, who they face next Friday at Howell while Manalapan travels to Neptune next Friday for what should be a blowout.

“This game was very important,” Mayfield said of beating Class A North rival Howell. “Every game from now on is going to be a very big game and every team is going to give us their best and we’ll give every team our best. We come into every game with a chip on our shoulder knowing everyone’s out to beat us.”

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