Shorthanded Wall's Dream Season Falls Just Short

Photos by Tom Smith https://www.tspsportsimages.com/

PISCATAWAY – The “next man up” mentality might work sometimes but when you’re talking about your best all-around player that may not be enough.

Such was the case for Wall, which lost one of the Shore’s elite players, Casey Larkin, to the lingering effects of a concussion he suffered in Wall’s Thanksgiving Day game and was forced to miss Sunday’s NJIAA Central/South Regional championship game.

“It was very, very difficult for him (not to play), said Wall head coach Tony Grandinetti. “I sat with Casey several times this week on one-on-ones. It’s not an easy thing when somebody like Casey dedicates his life to this team and playing football. For him not to play in the biggest game of the year – it’s tough for him.”

Larkin entered the game leading Wall in rushing and receiving yardage and was second on the team with three interceptions while recording 36 tackles as one of the Knights top players in one of the best secondary’s in the Shore.

And no matter what the coaches or players said after the game, Larkin’s absence had a drastic effect on Wall’s 12-7 loss to Woodrow Wilson and the Knights attempt at becoming the first Shore Conference team in history to win 13 games.

“Casey’s a special player and I’m not going to lie about that – he’s a great player,” added Grandinetti. “He definitely would’ve helped us a lot.”

In his absence, senior Matt DeSarno, who entered the game averaging 4.3 yards per carry on 79 rushing attempts and six touchdowns, started in place of Larkin and had a workman–like game for Wall rushing for 67 yards on 16 rushing attempts.

Wall’s junior quarterback Logan Peter, who was 6-of-10 for 87 yards in the face of relentless blitz packages from the Tigers defense, was proud of the way his team played but acknowledged they missed Larkin.

“Casey’s a special player and he would’ve given them a lot of problems – he’s really fast,” said Peters. “He gets on his routes quicker than most people. If we had him, it would’ve been a big help. But injuries happen in football. With the group of guys that we had, we still felt we could win, but we came up short.”

On Woodrow Wilson’s blitzing defense Peters said, “They come and they come fast, they get in there quick and made our receivers get into quick routes. They came quick and hard and got to me a lot.”

Even without Larkin, Wall – ranked No. 1 in the Shore and fifth in the state – went toe-to-toe with the No. 17 Tigers (10-2) and held the lead until early in the fourth quarter when Woodrow Wilson took the lead.

The Knights (12-1) were trailing 12-7 with 5:33 left in the game with Woodrow Wilson in possession of the ball. It was now up to the defense, which held the potent Woodrow Wilson offense to a season-low 265 total yards of offense, to get a huge stop here and give the ball back to its offense.

The Tigers advanced to the Wall 48 where they were facing a third-and-10. Tigers sophomore phenom, Devon Kargman, who was averaging 325 passing yards per game but was held to 221 yards by the vaunted Wall defense, was looking for Malik Harvey but sophomore linebacker Colin Riley was there to defend the pass and force a punt.

“They did a great job,” Grandinetti said of his defense. “They have playmakers over there and they also have a gunslinger back there and we had three interceptions and held them to 12 points. To be able to that to that group says something about our defense and our defensive backs.”

Senior Dale McNally had two picks and senior Jaden Carrasquillo added another while senior linebacker Charlie Sasso led the team with 11 tackles, including seven solo and one tackle for loss.

The Crimson Knights took over at their own 17 following the Tigers punt with 2:12 remaining in the game giving them one-last shot to pull off a miracle win - something they’re quite familiar with this season.

Two plays lost a yard setting up third-and-11 and Peters was run out of bounds after a 1-yard pickup on third down leaving them with a fourth-and-10. Peters fourth-down pass was incomplete but pass interference was called giving Wall life at the 32-yard line.

On the next play, however, Peters completed a 19-yard pass to Mike Galos but Harvey wrestled the ball away from Galos as they were falling to the ground and what appeared to be an interception was ruled a fumble recovery by Harvey at the Tigers 49 with 1:16 left to play.

Woodrow Wilson then took a knee to run out the clock as well as the Knights chances at a 13-win, undefeated season.

At the half, Wall was up by one, 7-6.

Woodrow Wilson received the second-half kickoff and started out at their own 38 but after driving to the Knights 34 Carrasquillo picked off Kargman - his third of the game.

Wall took over at their own 24 but on third-and-9 Peters was sacked for 9-yard loss by DaWuh Shakir and the Knights punted.

The Tigers took over in excellent field position after a 21-yard punt by Frank Passantino gave them a first down at the Wall 40.

Woodrow Wilson marched to the Wall 14 where they faced a fourth-and-9 and decided to go for it.

Kargman’s pass was incomplete but Wall was called for pass interference. With the Tigers now looking at a fourth-and-2 at the seven, Kargaman went to the air looking for Texas A&M commit Fadil Diggs in the endzone but Peters was there to defend the play turning the ball over to the Knights.

Penalties derailed the Knights ensuing possession and they punted from their 34 on a fourth-and-9 play.

The Tigers took over at the Wall 32 with 11:07 left in the game and still trailing by one, 7-6.

On third-and-4 from the 38 Kargman hooked up with Damir McCargo on a screen for 38 yards down to the Wall 24-yard line.

Two plays netted seven yards and on third-and-3 from the 17 Kargman found Harvey on a slant over the middle for 16 yards to the 1-yard line. Kargman finished off the seven play, 68 yard drive with a quarterback sneak for 12-7 lead with 7:41 left to play.

Kargman was intercepted on the two-point conversion attempt.

Wall went nowhere on its ensuing possession and Passantino sailed a 39-yard punt that was downed at the 26 with 5:33 left in the game and the rest is history.

Woodrow Wilson won the coin toss and deferred kicking off to Wall to start the game.

The Crimson Knights drove to the 46-yard line but on third-and-7 Peters fumbled with Woodrow Wilson recovering at the Wall 23. However, the Tigers were called for an unsportsmanlike penalty giving the Knights a first down at the Woodrow Wilson 39.

From there their drive sputtered and on fourth-and-7 from the 36, Peters was sacked by McCargo for a 10-yard loss turning the ball over to the Tigers at the at their own 46-yard line.

The Tigers then drove to the Wall 21 where they were facing a fourth-and-2 when the Knights jumped offsides giving the Tigers a first down at the 16. On the next play, Kargman hit Harvey, who made an acrobatic one-hand grab, on a slant in for the touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed and the score stood 6-0 with 3:25 left in the first quarter.

Wall went nowhere on their ensuing possession and punted back to Woodrow Wilson at the Wall 42 giving them excellent field possession.

McNally, however, had a different idea and picked off Kargman at the 25 returning it to the Tigers 48.

On first down Peters ran for 18 yards and a first down at the Tigers 30 with a minute left in the quarter.

DeSarno lost four on first down but on third-and-11 Peters found Matt Dollive wide open down the seam for a 31-yard scoring play. Max Oakely’s extra point kick made 7-6 with 11:50 remaining in the second quarter.

The Crimson Knights defense came up big on the Tigers next possession forcing a three-and-out that was aided by a penalty and Dean Terry’s 10-yard sack on Kargman. But Wall was called for roughing the kicker on a fourth-and-33 punt giving the Tigers a first down at their own 37.

McNally came through again though. On third-and-8 from the 48 he picked off Bergman for the second time in the half giving the Knights a first down at their own 21.

The Knights got as far as the Woodrow Wilson 37 before the drive stalled and they were forced to punt on fourth-and-10 with 2:05 left in the half.

Passantino’s punt pinned the Tigers back at the four and a false start pushed them back to the 2-yard line.

On second-and-1 from the 13, senior linebacker Will Terry pulled down Kargman for a 5-yard loss making it third-and-6 from the 8-yard line. Kargman then hit Amari Clark for five yards for a fourth-and-1 at the 13. A false start pushed them back five more yards to the eight had them looking at a fourth-and-6 and a punt deep in their own territory.

Harvey’s punt out of the endzone gave the Knights a first down in excellent field position at the Tigers 36 with 46 seconds left in the half.

Peters connected with McNally for 24 yards to the 12 but Logan lost three on a run and was then sacked by Diggs for a loss of 11 leaving them with a third-and-23 with 14 seconds left in the half. An incomplete pass by Peters and another sack on fourth down wasted a golden opportunity to pad their precarious 7-6 lead heading into halftime.

“The record (13 wins) was in our head,” admitted Grandinetti. “We thought about it, but at the same time, any time we step on the field we want to compete, we want to win. Whether it’s 13 games, 12 games, we want to win.

“To be in this stadium to get that taste is a valuable experience for a lot of these guys coming back next year.”

Fortunately for Wall, after winning a program-record 12 games this season, both Larkin and Peters will return for their senior season to make another run at 13 wins.

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