Late First Half Touchdown Ignites Manasquan In 28-14 Triumph Over Ocean Township

Photo above: Stars of the game: Adam Schreck and Connor Morgan

MANASQUAN – Ocean Township had just completed a 55-yard scoring drive to go up 14-7 on Manasquan with 1:18 remaining in the first half when they decided to take a shot at an onside kick in an attempt to catch the Warriors off guard and possibly go up by two touchdowns before the half.

To say the call backfired would be an understatement, as not only did the Warriors Adam Schreck recover the kick at the Ocean 40-yard line but seven plays later Schreck made a fantastic one-handed grab outleaping Kenny Pickett for the ball in the end zone to tie the game at 14 with 13.5 seconds left in the half.

“I don’t why but I knew it was going to happen (onside kick),” Schreck said. “They moved back and I said to myself ‘oh my God they’re going to kick an onside kick’ and I picked it up. I wasn’t surprised at all.”

Following two incompletions from senior quarterback Jerry Maher that brought up a third-and-10 from the 45-yard line senior running back Connor Morgan picked up 19 yards on a draw play for a first down at the Ocean 32.

Three Morgan runs then gave the Warriors another first down at the 21-yard line before Maher found Schreck for the game-changing score.

“I knew it was coming to me, that’s all I can say,” Schreck said of his catch. “And I wanted it.”

Those two plays completely changed the complexion of the game and Ocean never recovered as Manasquan, still fueled by adrenalin, came out of the locker room sky high and pounded out a 28-14 Shore Conference Class B North win over Ocean Saturday at Vic Kubu Warrior Field.

On their first possession of the second half Manasquan picked up right where they left off marching 56 yards in 12 plays for a 21-14 lead while taking almost five minutes off the clock on the drive.

Morgan was responsible for 36 of those yards on the ground and fullback Thomas Mayer completed the drive barreling in from one-yard out on third-and-goal.

On Ocean’s ensuing possession, Schreck knocked down a Pickett first-down pass before Meyer and Jack Mallet stopped Pickett for a four-yard loss on second down and a Pickett incompletion on third down led to his punt from about the 10-yard line.

Damaso Jamie returned the punt to the Ocean 15 but a holding call on the play negated the return and the Warriors took over at the 50.

The Warriors (4-1, 2-1) then made it a two-touchdown game driving 50 yards in seven plays extending their lead to 28-14 with 3:03 left in the third quarter.

Morgan was again the catalyst of the drive picking up 36 yards on a third-and-six draw from the Spartans 48-yard line taking it all the way to the 10-yard line before running it in from eight-yards out for the score on third down.

“We weren’t aggressive in the first half,” Schreck said. “In the second half we knew what we needed to do to win and we did that.”

Manasquan and Ocean traded turnovers after that with Ben Barry intercepting Pickett on an attempted screen pass and Ocean’s brilliant linebacker Anthony Tedesco, who seemed to be in on every tackle, recovering a Morgan fumble at the Ocean 10.

Ocean then advanced to their own 39-yard line but on third-and-12 Pickett was sacked by Schreck – his second on the day - all the way back to the 19 forcing another Pickett punt.

The Spartans (2-4, 0-4) had one last gasp left in them driving to the Warriors 28-yard line with a little over seven minutes remaining in the game before Pickett was sacked followed by three incompletions that theoretically ended the game.

Pickett was 10-of-14 for 111 yards in the first half but struggled mightily in the second half while under constant pressure from the Warriors front seven going 7-of-18 for just 70 yards and an interception. He did have touchdown runs of 17 yards on fourth-and-12 and 3 yards on fourth-and-1 in the first half that gave the Spartans a 14-7 lead. His top pass catching threat, Joey Aldarelli, had 11 receptions for 114 yards.

A Maher to Jamie 45-yard touchdown pass accounted for the Warriors first points that evened the score at 7-7. Maher finished going 4-for-8 for 95 yards and two touchdown passes.

Morgan, who’s having a breakout season after battling injuries through much of his scholastic career, rushed for a game-high 183 yards on 31 carries and a touchdown.

He’s gotten a lot tougher this season and kind of wanted to prove a point,” head coach Jay Price said. “And he’s been a man this season. He’s carried the load this season; he’s a tough kid.”

“After last season, getting hurt and not being able to stay on the field, I knew I had to come out this season and just give my all, stay on the field the whole game and see what I can do to help my team win,” Morgan said. “I need to get that mental toughness and be able to play through games and stay on the field.”

Schreck had a phenomenal game doing a little bit of everything including recording two sacks, three tackles for a loss, a batted down pass and also recovered the onside kick, scored the turnaround touchdown and kicked four extra points.

“What we’re getting out of him is nothing short of herculean,” Price said. “The kid is a beast, an absolute beast; he’s just a man.”

After two uncharacteristic losing seasons in a row, the Warriors – ranked No.10 in the Asbury Park Press Top 10 – are back to playing Manasquan football – a power running attack out of the I-formation and a pressure defense that runs to the football and prevents big plays.

“With the personal we had coming back, we had a lot more backs than we had receivers and we had some big linemen,” Price said. “We got a lot of wins (over the years) doing it this way.”

While improving to 4-1 after the victory, the Warriors inched closer to a NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II playoff berth; a feat they haven’t accomplished since 2013 when they lost to Delsea in the semifinals. However, they still have games with No.9 Middletown North, Matawan, No.8 Red Bank Catholic and No.6 Wall looming down the road so the path to the playoffs is anything but guaranteed.

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