Mater Dei Opens Season With A Resounding 41-8 Win Over Pinelands

Above photos: #5 Russell Ferrisi, #77 Izaiah Henderson and #9 Shittah Sillah

MIDDLETOWN – On a blistering hot summer day better suited for the beach then the football field, Mater Dei – ranked third in the SSN preseason Top 10 - scored on the second play of the game and never looked back rolling to a 41-8 win over Pinelands in the season opener for both squads.

Under heavy pressure from Mater Dei senior linebacker Russell Ferrisi and sophomore defensive end Dominick Giudice, Pinelands senior quarterback Garrett Brown’s ill-advised pass intended for sophomore wide receiver Jack Lawrie was picked off by senior linebacker Andre Spann and returned for a 15-yard touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead.

“I thought he was trying to throw it away and I just went for the ball,” Spann said of his pick six. “In my mind I was thinking let the ball drop and go for the next play. But you know what? I got it and put the ball in the end zone.”

On the Wildcats second possession of the game senior running back Evan Burton was stopped short of a first down when they curiously went for it on fourth-and-3 from their own 41-yard line.

Four plays later, Mater Dei backup quarterback Isaiah Noguera made the Wildcats pay dropping a perfect spiral into the outstretched hands of junior wide receiver Clarence Lewis just as he crossed the goal line giving the Seraphs a 14-0 lead after senior Gavin Toth’s extra point kick.

Noguera - starting in place of St. Joe’s (Phil.) transfer Rob McCoy, who must sit out four games because of the NJSIAA transfer rule – flashed his potential with both his legs and his arms rushing for 42 yards on just three carries and going 2-for-4 for 34 yards through the air with a touchdown in his debut.

On Pinelands ensuing possession, Mater Dei senior linebacker Brandon Jones’ seven-yard sack of Brown on third-and-10 from their own 20 forced a Burton punt that he shanked out of bounds giving the Seraphs excellent field position at the Pinelands 24-yard line.

Junior running back Malik Ingram, who rushed for 1,251 yards and 15 touchdowns during last year’s breakout sophomore campaign, then took it all the way in from 24-yards out pushing the score to 21-0 with 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

In limited action, Ingram rushed for 33 yards on just four carries but also had a 20-yard touchdown run called back on a holding penalty in the second quarter.

Things didn’t get any better for the Wildcats as Mater Dei’s swarming defense was just too much for Pinelands to handle.

Jones stuffed Burton for a five-yard loss before a Brown incompletion forced another Burton punt that Jones and Spann combined to block with sophomore Dominick Giudice pouncing on the loose ball and retuning it for a 36-yard score.

With the score now 28-0 and the Wildcats melting from the intense heat being rained down on them by both the sun and the Seraphs defense, Boston College Commit Izaiah Henderson continued to pour it on stopping Burton twice for minus yardage forcing another Pinelands three-and-out and a punt from deep in their own territory.

Mater Dei’s special team’s pressure forced Burton to shank another punt and the Seraphs took over at the Pineland’s 20-yard line.

A holding penalty pushed the ball back to the 30-yard line and this time Mater Dei turned the ball over on downs after Pinelands gave its best defensive effort of the day turning away another Seraphs scoring opportunity.

The Wildcats took over at their own 14 but McCoy was intercepted by Ferrisi, who returned it for a pick-six, but a roughing the passer call negated the touchdown giving the ball back to Pinelands.

However, the Wildcats went nowhere and another three-and-out led to another punt that Burton finally got off and benifited from a nice roll to the 42-yard line.

Following the punt Noguera picked up 26 yards on a first-down scramble before freshman running back Rajahn Cooper expanded the lead to 35-0 scampering around left end for a 16-yard touchdown run on his first varsity career carry.

Copper had a smashing debut rushing for 34 yards on six carries and a touchdown.

The half ended at 35-0 and Mater Dei head coach Mangiero mercifully sat his starters the rest of the way playing his second and third team the entire second half.

The much Ballyhooed Mater Dei defense was even better than advertised. They held Pinelands to 27 total yards on seven possessions in the first half, including limiting Burton, who ran for 1,061 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, to 12-yards rushing on 11 attempts in the first half.

“I think they did well,” said Mangiero when asked how he felt his defense played. “I got to watch the tape to let you know for sure but it seems like we dominated pretty good out there.”

Pinelands put together a 78-yard scoring drive on its first possession of the second half when Brown found Andrew Bartlett all alone in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line. However, on the ensuing kickoff, Lewis – who recently picked up an offer from Virginia Tech - scored his second touchdown of the game returning the kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown.

Burton did finish with a respectable 72 yards rushing on 16 carries but the bulk of his yardage came at the expense of the Mater Dei reserves. Brown went 6-of-15 for 34 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

With the division realignment in the Shore Conference this season Mater Dei and Pinelands are now both members of the newly formed Patriot division so this was a division win for the Seraphs, who move to 1-0 on the season while Pinelands drops to 0-1.

“I don’t do the scheduling, we play whoever they give us,” Mangiero said. “We take them one week at a time. We try to respect and prepare for every opponent like they’re the best team on the schedule.”

Mater Dei will host Patriot division foe Matawan next Saturday, September 8 at 1:00 p.m. while Pinelands travels to Shore Regional on Friday night in another Patriot divisional matchup.

“The thing is, we’re going to have more of a challenge ahead of us, so what we’re going to do is fight a whole lot harder and play a whole lot faster,” said Spann. “It feels pretty good (to part of such a dominate defense) but we know we’re going to have a lot better competition ahead of us.”

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