10 Barnegat Youth Football Players Honored as All-Stars

Ten members of the Barnegat Junior Bengals – five each from the Pee Wee and Junior Varsity teams – were honored as all-stars in the Cape May County Junior Football League all-star games, held Dec. 10 in Dennis Township.

The Barnegat Youth Football Association is one of 11 clubs in the league, which includes teams from as far south as Lower Township in Cape May County as well as teams from Burlington and Atlantic counties. The teams are divided into North and South divisions, and Barnegat is in the North Division.

The Barnegat Pee Wee squad, which consists of third- and fourth-graders, finished 4-5-1 on the season and sent Mike DiPianta, Matt Scott, Kyle Moore, Isaiah Gerena and Griffin Jackstadt to the Pee Wee all-star game. Coaches Mike DiPianta and Jim Scott were selected to the all-star coaching staff.  In the Pee Wee game, the South squad beat the North, 18-0.

The Junior Varsity squad, for fifth- and sixth-graders, finished 4-6. Nico Adorno, Matt Dudas, Ryan Callahan, Devin Vandevelde and Liam Corbett represented Barnegat in the Junior Varsity all-star game, joined by coaches Vic Suriano and Ralph Adorno. Vandevelde scored two points but the South squad won the JV game 42-2.

“I personally cannot express how extremely proud I am of each and every one of these players, who week after week gave 110 percent during our long 10-game season,” said Jamie Clarke, head of football for the Barnegat Youth Football Association. “They really had a wonderful time and got along so well with the players from the other townships, you would have thought they all played on the same team during the season.”