Shore Football Holds On, Long Branch Struggles in Season Openers

Breaking in an almost entirely new starting lineup after the graduation of a tremendous senior class that helped lead Shore Regional to a state championship last season, the Blue Devils started fast and held on for a 20-13 win over Class B Central rival Keansburg in their season opener on Saturday afternoon.

Shore zipped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and then withstood a furious rally by the much-improved Titans, who finished 0-10 last season. A 25-yard touchdown run by Jack Kelly that provided a 21-7 lead late in the third quarter turned out to be huge as the Titans cut it to 21-13 with 40 seconds left in the game on a touchdown pass by junior quarterback Ryan Kurtz to Matt Smith. Shore then had to recover an onsides kick to exhale and seal the victory.

New quarterback Brendan Dula, a senior who has taken over for current Monmouth University freshman Evan Ruane, scored on a 1-yard keeper midway through the first quarter to get Shore Regional on the board. Senior fullback Nick Grigos, taking over for 1,000-yard rusher Mark Coleman, who is now a freshman at Lehigh, added a 3-yard touchdown run later in the period for a 14-0 lead. The score was set up by a 50-yard punt return by Mark Costantino, the son of the head coach of the same name.

Keansburg got on the board late in the first half when Kurtz scored on a two-yard run to cut the lead to 14-6 before Shore was able to eventually secure the victory.

Next up for the Blue Devils is another Class B Central rival, Keyport, which lost 44-24 to Metuchen in its season opener and surrendered nearly 300 yards rushing. That bodes well for Shore’s run-heavy, Wing-T rushing attack as the Blue Devils try to make a run at a second straight Class B Central title. The biggest obstacle by far looks to be Asbury Park, which travels to Shore Regional on Sept. 30. The Blue Bishops beat a solid Highland Park team 42-0 in their opener.

As for Long Branch, the Green Wave struggled to generate any offense in a 21-6, season-opening loss to Class B North rival Colts Neck at Bresett Stadium to spoil the debut of new offensive coordinator John Amabile.

The lone bright spot was junior tailback Dwight Clark, who scored on a 35-yard touchdown run with seven minutes left in the game to help Long Branch avoid the shutout. Senior quarterback Dylan Cottrell threw a pair of touchdown passes, including a 77-yarder to Tim Vangelas, and senior running back Victor Scalici added a 65-yard touchdown run in the win for the Cougars.

Long Branch now has another tall order as it welcomes Class B North rival Ocean on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Spartans are coming off a thrilling, 20-17 overtime upset of Central Jersey Group III runner-up Middletown South in their season opener. Ocean features senior tailback Greg Moore, one of the Shore’s top players, who rushed for 187 yards and the game-winning touchdown against Middletown South. Ocean also will be looking for some payback after a 21-17 loss to Long Branch last season.