Mater Dei Outmuscles Manalapan In Defensive Sluggfest

Photos courtesy of Kate Braun

MIDDLETOWN – In a battle between two Top 10 teams in the Shore, No. 5 Mater Dei’s defense ruled the roost Saturday in Middletown, but it was their big-play offense that eventually broke the game wide open with two long scoring plays late in the game to get past No. 3 Manalapan, 17-0.

“Our coach (Mater Dei head coach Dino Mangeiro) always tells us we could have 40 good defensive plays and it only takes four to lose the game,” said Notre Dame-bound senior wideout/defensive back Clarence Lewis. “So we try to limit the big plays (on defense) and make the big plays (on offense).”

Both defenses dominated early, especially at the line of scrimmage, but it was Mater Dei’s bigger and stronger athletes that eventually won out wearing Manalapan down to take control of the game late in the third quarter.

But credit Manalapan’s resilience, they hung in there and went toe-to-toe with the Seraphs and it was still anyone’s game until Mater Dei’s final possession of the third quarter.

In the first half, the two teams were limited to two possessions each, with both sides taking three-and-outs on their first possession then going on time consuming drives on their second possession.

Mater Dei’s Richie Pekmezian kicked a 33-yard field goal to give them a 3-0 lead with 8:15 left in the first half and Manalapan’s Vin Rea clanked one off the upright as time expired in the half.

Mater Dei’s defense held Manalapan (5-3, 3-2) to just 75 yards of total offense in the first half and the Braves defense was equally as impressive limiting the Mater Dei offense to 102 total yards from scrimmage in the half.

The Seraphs (6-3, 4-1) were holding on to a 3-0 lead when they took over at their own 30-yard line with 2:43 left in the third quarter.

Facing a fourth-and-7 from the 33, Mangiero decided to gamble and went for it on fourth down, trusting his physical defense would be able to hold off Manalapan if they failed to get the first down.

It proved to be the right decision.

Sophomore quarterback Anthony Brown’s play-action pass caught Manalapan out of position and Brown lofted a ball that Lewis ran under as he was streaking down the right sidelines for 67 yard touchdown with 47.7 seconds left in the third quarter.

“I saw it coming a little bit towards the middle and I knew I just had to make a play on it,” said Lewis. “We need a big play to give us a spark to get things going.”

With the way Mater Dei’s vaunted defense was playing, Lewis' touchdown seemed to take the wind out of the Manalapan sails giving the game a feel that there was no coming back from the 10-point deficit for the Braves way the Seraphs defense was dominating.

“That gave us a little relief,” said Lewis of his touchdown. “It was now a two possession game and the way we were playing on defense we felt pretty confident we could get the win.”

On Manalapan’s first four possessions of the second half, Mater Dei forced three-and-outs limiting the Braves offense to 10-combined yards. On their fifth possession of the half, the Braves recorded their only first down of the half on a pass interference call on first down.

They then picked up three yards on two downs before senior Sean Kehley was stopped short of a first down on a quarterback keeper on fourth-and-7 by senior Malik Ingram, who dropped Kehley hard after a 3-yard pickup.

The Braves went out quietly on their final possession of the game with another three-and-out with 4:59 left in the game and punted the ball back to Mater Dei, still down by 10.

Six plays later, on third-and-6 from their own 40-yard line, junior Naran Buntin took a jet sweep around right end and bolted down the right sidelines for a 60-yard touchdown run with 1:05 remaining to really seal the win.

The Braves were held to 23 total yards of offense in the second half and 98 total yards for the game and zero points after entering the game averaging 26 points per game.

“We just executed our assignments and dominated as a team,” said senior defensive lineman Khurram Simpson. “We had the right game plan. We watched a lot of film so we got out there and basically knew what they were going to run and dominated.”

Mater Dei’s defense, led by junior Dom Giudice (sack, 2 TFL, pass batted down) and seniors Tajay Passmore and Simpson on the line and junior Jahqual Talmadge at linebacker, was impenetrable. It was probably their most dominant performance of the season against one of the top teams in the Shore and showed why they’ve shutout four opponents this season.

“We came out with a shutout and goose-egged them,” said Giudice. “That’s what great teams do. Coach Mangiero says the great teams make those one or two plays that separates them from the other teams.”

The negative side of the Seraphs win was the alarming fact that the offense was called for a stupefying 12 false-start penalties for 60 yards, including three straight on one possession, that stymied a number of potential scoring drives.

A fact Mangiero was not pleased about.

“That was probably the worst game I’ve ever coached,” said Mangeiro. “I think we had 15 penalties and that’s just sickening and embarrassing and something we’ve got to get fixed and we will. We’ve got young kid up front and our quarterback is a sophomore. We had a couple big plays, take those away and who knows. The good news is we won today and our defense was outstanding.”

After a rough patch that saw them lose three straight against high-caliber opposition, including close games with No. 4 RFH and No. 1 Wall which could’ve gone either way and St. Thomas Moore – ranked No. 3 in Connecticut, the Seraphs are back on track after winning the past two games by a combined score of 54-0 as they head into the playoffs.

“We drilled into our minds 14-10 from last year,” said Simpson referring to last year’s losing score to Red Bank Catholic in the sectional final. “And that’s what we’ve been thinking about all year; getting that championship and taking it all this year.”

“I think we’re on the right track now,” added Lewis.

Mater Dei finished with 270 total yards of offense. Ingram rushed for 52 yards on 18 carries and Brown ended up completing 9-of-10 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Follow @getmready