After A Pause In Its Season, Wall Is Ready To Rumble

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

WALL – At 3-0 the Crimson Knights were looking every bit as good as advertised this season when a Covid-19 outbreak on the Manalapan football team forced the Braves program to shutdown for two weeks subsequently postponing Wall’s October 23 game at Manalapan.

A makeup date has yet to be announced and at this point it’s still uncertain if the game will be played at all in this weird pandemic shortened season.

Currently ranked No.1 in the Shore and fourth in the state, Wall has bludgeoned its first three opponents. In their opening night 55-13 rout of Point Pleasant Boro the Crimson Knights showcased its running game rushing for 282 yards on just 23 attempts for a 12.3 yards per carry average.

All-State running back and Army commit Casey Larkin averaged 17.2 yards per carry on his way to rushing for 155 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. Wall spread the ball around with five other players picking up yardage on the ground.

The Crimson Knights have the luxury of having four returning starters along the offensive line anchored by first-team All-Shore guard Grant Puharic, who also doubles at defensive end, as does All-Division junior center Brian Byrne at nose tackle. Then there’s senior All-Division right tackle Eddie Van Woudenberg and junior left tackle Max Oakley. Sophomore right guard Keisun Sanders, who is also a standout wrestler, rounds out the starting five. Sanders is in the defensive line rotation as well and has recorded nine tackles with a TFL.

Two-way All-Shore quarterback Logan Peters ran the ball five times for 41 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown. He attempted three passes in the game completing one but the one completion was a 41-yard scoring strike to junior Matt Dollive, who came on strong late last season as a sophomore catching 12 passes 216 yards and three touchdowns. So far this season, he has three receptions for 74 yards and two touchdown catches.

The defense, which returned six starters this season, did its part as well with All-Shore three-year starting linebacker Charlie Sasso leading the team with 10 tackles, including nine solo tackles. Sasso’s mate on the inside, junior Colin Riley, an All-Shore third-team selection a year ago, added nine tackles, including a TFL, a sack and six QB hurries. Peters had a stellar game at free safety adding nine tackles with one pass defended (PD) and Puharic added a sack and three tackles.

Starting cornerback Rocco Palmieri (seven tackles, six solo), junior strong safety Jake Davis (seven tackles), senior corner Otto Valeriano (two PD, three tackles) and junior outside linebacker Lou Pilla with six tackles, one TFL and four QB hurries all excelled.

In week two, Wall posted its first shutout of the season after romping over Neptune 44-0. The Knights featured its running game again behind its talented offensive line rushing for 268 yards on 31 attempts (8.6 yards/carry). Larkin ran for 72 yards, including touchdown runs of five, nine and 36 yards, on seven attempts and caught a 49-yard scoring strike from Peters.

Peters had another outstanding all-around game. The 6-foot-3, 207 pound standout led the team with 94 yards rushing and a touchdown while completing 4-of-5 passes for 110 yards and a TD while on defense he picked off his first pass of the season.

Sophomore Anthony Gartz added 65 yards and a touchdown rushing and junior Anthony Morgan chipped in with 37 yards on 10 carries.

Riley had a monster game recording 11 tackles, two TFL, two sacks and two QB hurries while Sasso added 10 tackles. Pilla posted five tackles with two TFL and a 5-yard sack and junior All-Division defensive end Blake Rezk added four tackles and a QB hurry. Senior Kyle Petit and sophomore Chris Mozeika each contributed a sack as well and Davis added an interception.

The following week, Wall was facing its first stern test of the season against No. 4 Jackson Memorial which had outscored its first two opponents Neptune and Manasquan by a combined score of 61-0.

The Crimson Knights, however, didn’t blink. With another stellar effort by the defense and Larkin doing his thing, Wall shutout the Jaguars 22-0. In the process, the defense held All-Shore running back and Wake Forest commit Will Towns to 40-yards rushing on 18 carries for a 2.2 yards per carry average.

Larkin ran for 139 yards and two scores on 16 attempts (8.7 yards/carry) and caught one pass for 22 yards while Peters picked up 34 yards rushing on 11 attempts and completed 4-of-6 passes for 64 yards, including a 28-yard scoring strike to Dollive.

The Knights relentless defense recorded their second shutout in a row and held Jackson to 84 yards of total offense for the game.

Sasso had a season-high 13 tackles with one TFL while Riley was right behind him with 12 tackles, two TFL and one QB hurry. You’d be hard pressed to find a better pair of inside linebackers in the state than Sasso and Riley.

Rezk had a big game for the Knights recording his second and third sacks of the season along with nine tackles and three QB hurries. Larkin was a factor on defense as well finishing with nine tackles, two QB hurries and two PD as did Peters along with seven tackles. Valeriano posted seven tackles, one TFL and one PD while Pilla and Puharic each had five tackles an a TFL and junior defensive tackle Joseph Sommers added six tackles and a TFL.

Friday, Wall is back at it hosting a game against long-time rival Manasquan in a contest which would normally be played on Thanksgiving if not for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Manasquan’s trademark is its defense and this years no different. In their four games, the 3-1 Warriors are holding opponents to 15.5 points per game but it’s their sophomore quarterback, Brett Patten, who’s grabbing all the headlines.

Patten is experiencing the breakout year nobody really expected. The 6-foot-2, 180 pound Patten emerged on the scene without much fanfare but is quickly gaining attention. In his first game as varsity starting quarterback, he completed 9-of-11 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown while also running for one score.

In four games this season he has close to 600 yards passing and nine touchdown passes, including four in each of the last two games along with two rushing touchdowns. Senior All-Division wide receiver Jack Collins (2 TD), who had four catches for 101 yards in the opener, junior wideout Robert Pendergist (3 TD) and junior H-back Cole Kozlowski (3 TD) are Patten’s main targets.

Sophomore Jhamier Howard and junior Pat Woodford are the top threats out of the backfield.

Juniors Ryan Burns and Dylan LaBlanc and senior Shane Leddy are all returning starters at linebacker while juniors J.J. Cavanagh and Rob Marks are returners on the line. All-Division cornerback Pendergist, Collins and Kozlowski and senior Christian Masonius were all staters a year ago and headline an experienced secondary. Junior defensive end Joe Franklin has a 32-yard pick six to his credit.

Kickoff is scheduled for Friday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m. at Wall High School.

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