Rumson-Fair Haven Bounces Back With Defining Win Over Long Branch

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RUMSON – Both Rumson-Fair Haven and Long Branch were coming off upset loses from the week before and desperately needed a win to get back on track with the thick of the rugged American Division schedule still in front of them.

Apparently the Bulldogs (2-1, 2-0) felt a greater sense of urgency as they rolled to a 49-20 win over the Green Wave Friday night at Rumson’s Borden Stadium.

“We knew we had to adjust, we made a lot of mistakes in the game last week,” said junior running back John Volker. “We switched up a lot of things and stuck with it and I think it paid off. We try to treat every opponent the same and focus on ourselves and what we can do right and it worked out for us tonight.”

Both schools won state sectional championships and the first-ever NJSIAA South Bowl games a year ago but it was the Bulldogs who came out looking the part as they pretty much had their way with the Green Wave, who fell to 1-2 and 0-1 in the division, throughout the contest.

“Every team on our schedule is a bear,” said Rumson head coach Jerry Schulte. “We’ll take the wins when we can get them. We were glad we were able to bounce back from last week and we feel pretty good about this win.”

Both Rumson and Long Branch are members of the American Division which is one of the two toughest division in the Shore.

“The American Division is like the SEC (Southeast Conference) at the high school level,” Schulte said. “Every week there’s somebody waiting for us. It’s a tough road ahead; believe me I look at the schedule every day.”

Volker rushed for two touchdowns and caught another and senior quarterback Colin Coles tossed two touchdown passes. Defensively, end Aiden Moriarity recorded 2.5 sacks and senior safety Ryan Ruane returned an interception for a touchdown.

The Bulldogs defense created the first scoring opportunity of the night when Moriarity and sophomore defensive end/linebacker Thomas Quadarella combined to strip-sack Long Branch senior quarterback Kyle Davidson with sophomore linebacker Ryan McKay recovering the ball at the 20-yard line 5:01 left in the first quarter.

“You got to give it to the defense there,” said Volker. “We had a turnover on downs and they just gave the ball right back to us. That was good momentum for the beginning of the game.”

A holding call on the Bulldogs pushed the ball back 10 yards setting up a first-and-20 at the 30-yard line.

On third-and-16, Coles, who was 7-of-14 for 129 yards, hit Volker for 15 yards and on fourth-and-one Volker picked up three yards giving them a first-and-goal from the 8-yard line. Three plays later Volker finished off the drive taking a pitch from Coles for a 2-yard score. Mike Pipemo’s extra-point kick was good 7-0 lead with 2:01 left in the first.

Volker finished with 71 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 14 attempts and three catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.

“John’s a special running back,” said Schulte. “He’s strong, he’s fast and he does everything he’s supposed to do. He’s one of the best around.”

The Bulldogs defense forced a Long Branch three-and-out and punt with Volker calling for a fair catch at their own 35.

On the next play, Coles found Volker on a curl and the 6-foot-0, 195 pound dynamo split the defense and took it to the house for a 65-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead after Pipemo’s kick.

“That was a hitch I ran,” said Volker of the play. “The safety that was covering me gave me 15 yards off the ball. Colin saw it and hit me and I split the defenders and used my speed to get into the end zone.

“Colin’s probably the best quarterback I’ve ever been around,” said Volker. “You just look at his face in the huddle and it just tells you we’re alright and to just keep doing our stuff.”

Moriarty’s 13-yard sack of Davidson on third down forced another punt and Rumson took over on their own 44-yard line.

A Coles to Luke Devlin pass for 12 yards gave the Bulldogs a first down at the 13-yard line and on the next play senior running back Peter Crowley’s burst off left tackle pushed the Bulldogs lead to 21-0 with 9:06 left in the second quarter.

Long Branch answered with their only score of the first half. A dead ball penalty on Rumson gave the Green Wave a first down at the Rumson 32 and two plays later, Corbett juked his way through a maze of Rumson defenders for a nifty 33-yard touchdown run to make it 21-7.

On Rumson’s ensuing possession, Coles was sacked by senior defensive end Jayson Glasper on third down forcing a Nick Ferrara punt that Jayon Farrar muffed.

Geoff Schroeder recovered the loose ball and ran it in for what looked like a score but the officials ruled Farrar didn’t have control of the ball therefore it couldn’t be advanced.

Nonetheless, the Bulldogs now had the ball at the Long Branch 29-yard line. Volker’s 14-yard run on first-and-10 at the 17 gave Rumson a first-and-goal at the three and two plays later he ran it in from two-yards out pushing Rumson’s lead to 28-7 at the half.

Long Branch scored on their first possession of the second half going 77 yards in seven plays with senior quarterback Nicholas Riley finding Corbett for a 35-yard scoring strike to pull within two touchdowns, 28-14 with 6:39 left in the third quarter.

Junior Jimmy Kennedy returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to the Long Branch 45 and the Bulldogs were once again in business. They then covered the distance in four plays with Coles connecting with junior wide receiver Patrick Jamian, who made a pretty leaping grab at the goal line, for the score and a 35-14 lead.

Rumson’s senior safety Ryan Ruane then increased the lead to 42-14 intercepting Davidson on a second-and -10 from the 39 for a pick six.

“Ryan does his homework,” said Volker. “He read the quarterbacks eyes so well and used his great speed to take it to the house.”

Sophomore linebacker John Lista, who recorded double-digit tackles, picked off Davidson at the Long Branch 13 and senior running back Dan Affilito capped off the Bulldogs scoring by running three straight time and finishing it off with a one-yard plunge.

Reilly hit Corbett with a meaningless six-yard touchdown pass with under a minute to play for the 49-20 final.

The Rumson defense held Corbett, an All-State selection a year ago, to 87-yards rushing on 14 carries.

The defense really stepped up tonight,” said Volker. “I don’t think the 20 points on the board showed how well they really played. They had a great game tonight. Lista and Moriarty are young guys who played great and will be program players for us.”

Last weeks loss might’ve woken the sleeping giant and Schulte feels his team learned from it.

“We had a little talk about it; a team talk,” said Schulte. “We all agreed on a few things and we straightened it out.”

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