Bucs Squash Hornets 41-0

The Red Bank Regional Buccaneers made it look easy Saturday in a crushing defeat of the Holmdel Hornets, bringing their record to 2-2 before a cheering crowd under cloudy skies at their home field in Little Silver. 

The final score told the story: Bucs 41, Hornets 0.  

"We play like we practice," said head coach Nick Giglio. "A very simple formula, but it works." 

Thyeem Crawford drew first blood for the Bucs when he ran in a five-yard pass from quarterback Terrance Scanlon on the Bucs' first drive of the game. The Bucs scored again when Alex Fox intercepted a Holmdel pass; two plays later, fullback Pat Quinn ran the ball in for a touchdown with less than five minutes to go in the first quarter. The Bucs threatened again after Shane Sullivan recovered an onside kick, but lost the ball on a fumble, and the quarter ended with the Bucs up, 14 - 0. 

Red Bank never let up, with Holmdel unable to stop a tenacious Buc offense, or to get past a Buc defense that seemed to anticipate every play, knock down every pass, and get to every Holmdel ball carrier. 

In the second quarter, Garrett Sickels scored on a 37-yard pass from Terrance Scanlon. On Holmdel's next possession, the Bucs' Alex Fox picked up his second interception of the day, and ran it back 33 yards, putting the Bucs in scoring position and setting up another Scanlon-Sickles combination for another touchdown. 

But the Bucs weren't finished. With 47 seconds left in the first half, Ross Gisondi picked off a 40-yard Holmdel pass, and with 32 second left, Nick Patterson caught a Terrance Scanlon 25-yarder for a touchdown, putting the Bucs up at the half 34 - 0. 

Not content to coast, with seven minutes left in the third quarter, Ross Gisondi faked a punt and ran to the Holmdel 40 yard line for a first down. A 12-yard run by Thyeem Crawford with 4:12 left in the third quarter gave the Bucs another six points, and Mike Malley's point after the touchdown put the Bucs on top 41 - 0. 

Holmdel threatened in the fourth quarter with a 54-yard run that was stopped by the Bucs' Tajhi Tomaino at the nine yard line, but a Holmdel penalty and the Bucs defense kept the ball out of the endzone. In the fourth quarter, Red Bank's Tomaino intercepted a Holmdel pass and ran it back 98 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the ball was called back to midfield on a Red Bank penalty. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Bucs' Tim Vilardi sacked Holmdel's quarterback, and after that, Holmdel never got close to putting any points on the board. 

The Bucs' quest for a winning season continues when they meet Raritan High School at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 6.

Editor's Note: This story comes to you from Little Silver Mayor Robert C. Neff, Jr., who was previously a newspaper reporter for the Red Bank Register and Asbury Park Press. Neff's son Carey plays football for Red Bank.