Colts Neck Enters "Postseason" One Of Three Unbeaten Shore Teams

Photo by Tom Smith https://www.tspsportsimages.co...

COLTS NECK – The Cougars just completed the regular season with a perfect 6-0 record and enter the “post season” one of three undefeated teams in the Shore Conference.

It marks the first 6-0 start in program history.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic the regular season was delayed and shortened to six games. Prior to the start of the season it was decided by the NJSIAA governing body that there would be no traditional state playoffs this season with no sectional or bowl champions crowned at any level.

In lieu of the state playoffs and with the intention of giving the student-athletes an opportunity to play for something a little more meaningful, the NJSIAA set up what they are calling the “2020 Post Season Groupings,” a two-week stretch in which teams will play an additional two games.

Teams were placed into four-team pods selected by a committee of the five league presidents and the five conference schedule makers with the groupings based on enrollment, geography and final regular season records within the conferences.

The USA Today Network New Jersey in partnership with RWJ Barnabas Health then graciously stepped up and will be awarding “Team of the Year” trophies both statewide and locally in both the public school and non-public groups giving the games a quasi-playoff feel to them along with a chance for schools to bring home some hardware to be placed in the its trophy case.

Ranked sixth in the Shore, the Cougars (6-0) were assigned to a pod with fifth-ranked Rumson-Fair Haven (4-2), No. 7 Freehold (5-1) and eighth-ranked Southern (4-2) – arguably second toughest pod in the 10 Shore Conference groupings.

Colts Neck, as luck would have it, drew the toughest opening-game assignment, Rumson. But they caught a little bit of a break when the game was scheduled on their home turf. They’ll host the Bulldogs on Saturday, November 14 at 12:00 p.m. If they win, they’ll face the winner of the Southern at Freehold game the following weekend.

After recording eight wins last season, the Cougars failed to qualify for the state playoffs after a late-season loss to Neptune locked them out.

Colts Neck has failed to qualify for the state playoffs since 2013 and is still in search of the programs first state sectional title. The 2013 team went 10-2 and reached the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV final before falling to Brick Township in the championship game.

After last season’s disappointing and frustrating playoff omission, the 2020 season had high expectations attached to it. With 13 seniors and seven starters on both sides of the ball back the Cougars goal of a sectional title was a legitimate possibility - then the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

To their credit though, the Cougars didn’t allow the many distractions and difficulties this unique season presented effect their preparation. They were just glad to get the chance to play football again and give the seniors on the team the opportunity to take the field for the final time in their careers. And they’ve definitely made the most of it.

The Cougars ended the regular season by routing Monmouth Regional 34-0. Junior Tommy Fallon – in his second season as starting quarterback – ran for 135 yards and a touchdown on just five carries and was 7-for-7 for 44 yards with one scoring pass – five yards to junior Anthony Bonanno, his first reception of the year.

Fallon’s not flashy but he gets the job done and manages the game to perfection. He’s decisive in the pocket and a leader who can hurt you with both his arm and his legs. He's averaging 8.4 rushing yards per attempt for 368 yards and a score. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds Fallon is load to bring down and has the quickness to go with it. Through the air, he’s 41-of-65 (63 percent) for 508 yards and four touchdowns with only one interception.

First-team All-Division strong safety/wide receiver, senior Matt Scully, is Fallon’s top target. Scully has 19 catches for 249 yards and one touchdown. Junior John Runfolo (4-67-2 TD) and senior Nick Villani (8-75) are reliable options as well.

After backing up All-Shore running back Romeo Thomas last season, senior Joe Barsky has come into his own and has proved to be one of the top running backs in the Shore.

The powerfully-built 5-foot-10, 190 pound Barsky, who is also an elite wrestler placing third in Region 6, is a north/south runner that barrels through would-be tacklers. Once he gets a full head of steam he’s impossible to bring down without gang-tackling and is a threat to take it all the way to the house on any given carry.

Barsky has rushed for 1035 yards in just six games with a Shore Conference leading 19 touchdowns on 136 carries for a 7.6 yards per carry average. In Colts Necks 42-7 win over Freehold Township he scored a career-high five touchdowns and has scored at least two touchdowns in every game. He’s averaging a whopping 172.5 yards rushing per game and in Colts Neck wild 36-35 win over rival Freehold Boro he carried the ball a staggering 39 times while averaging 5.2 yards for the game with three touchdowns.

Senior fullback Jake Lupo – a 6-foot-0, 200 pound bruiser – has been outstanding blocking for Barsky out of the backfield while junior John Manos(25-101-2) is a solid backup when Barsky needs a rare breather.

Upfront opening holes for Barsky is three-year starting right guard Logan Lupo, who anchors the line that also includes, junior left tackle Dan Volpe, senior left guard Nick Catena, junior center Matt Jannucci and 6-foot-4, 285 pound junior right tackle Ryan Whalen.

Defensively, the unit is allowing just 10.5 points per game on average, including two shutouts. Take away the 34 points they gave up to high-scoring Freehold and that number drops to 5.6 points per game.

All-Division defensive end, senior Delano Marcelus, is having another stellar season. He leads the team with four sacks and 19 quarterback pressures and is second in both tackles (51) and tackles for loss (5). On the opposite side, senior Chris Montefusco, gives the Cougars two bookend defensive ends that can dominate a game. The 6-foot-2, 220 pound Montefusco has recorded 39 tackles, three sacks, four TFL and 10 quarterback pressures. Seniors Mike Spinelli and Logan Lupo and Jannucci (25 tackles, two sacks, three quarterback pressures and four TFL) man the inside at the tackle spots.

Bonanno leads the team with 59 tackles from his middle linebacker spot along with six quarterback pressures and three TFL. Manos, at outside linebacker, is a playmaker and leads the team with three interceptions to go with his 43 tackles, four TFL, one sack, four PD and four QB pressures.

Fellow outside linebacker, sophomore Will Surdez, is having a breakout season with 49 tackles, six TFL, two QB pressures, one interception and two PD.

Scully heads up the secondary from his free safety spot where he’s adept at both defending the deep pass and run support . He’s fourth on the team with 48 tackles and has recorded two interceptions and defended eight passes.

At the other safety spot senior Pete Davi has stepped in and done an outstanding job for the Cougars. He’s recorded 35 tackles with one TFL, has picked off two passes and defended six with one forced fumble.

At the cornerback spots, Runfolo and Villani are two quality cover guys that don’t allow separation and always seem to be in the right spot at the right time. Runfolo has defended 10 passes which leads the team and has two interceptions along with 24 tackles, two TFL and has recovered one fumble. Villani has defended six passes and has been on 23 tackles with a fumble recovery.

Saturday’s game will definitely have a playoff feel to it, even without a packed house, and in this day-and-age you couldn’t ask for anything more.

Rumson is still smarting from its last second loss to Mater Dei two weeks ago and will come into this game highly motivated. The Cougars need to keep the Bulldogs aggressive defense off balance so they don’t key on Barsky and tee-off on Fallon. They can do this with quick-hitting play-action passes and running Fallon around the edges on run-pass-options using Barsky as a decoy. But make no bones about it, Barsky is the Cougars bell cow and for them to win he will need to get untracked.

Rumson relies on its power running attack led by Princeton University commit John Volker, who enters the game with 906 yards rushing with 13 touchdowns while averaging over nine yards per attempt. No one’s been able to stop Volker yet this season so the goal here is to just slow him down and force Rumson’s quarterback Josh Harmon to throw the ball more than he’s comfortable with. Harmon has thrown for six touchdowns but he has also been picked off six times. The Cougars front seven must pressure Harmon into mistake throws and have their playmakers in the secondary take advantage.

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