Mater Dei Survives Asbury Park Scare To Remain Undefeated

MATER DEI SURVIVES ASBURY PARK SCARE TO REMAIN UNDEFEATED

MIDDLETOWN – Mater Dei was holding a slim 14-13 lead over Asbury Park facing a third-and-20 from their own 35-yard line with 1:15 left in Saturday’s Class B Central matchup in Middletown.

Needing a first down to keep the ball out of the hands of the surging Blue Bishop offense and ice the game, senior quarterback George Pearson connected with junior wideout Gunnison Bloodgood for 40 yards all the way down to the Asbury 25-yard line and Seraphs (4-0, 4-0) were able to run out the clock to survive a scare from Asbury Park (2-3, 1-3) and remain unbeaten.

Asbury Park’s three division losses have come by a combined 10 points losing to Shore Regional 12-6 and Point Pleasant Beach 22-19 before Saturday’s loss by one point while Mater Dei won their 16th game in a row.

Mater Dei’s first two drives of the game were thwarted by a staunch Asbury Park defense that played inspired ball throughout.

On the Seraphs first drive of the game they advanced to the Asbury 34-yard line where they were facing a fourth-and-five and decided to go for it but Pearson was sacked by junior linebacker Alexander Peavy to end the threat.

After an Asbury Park punt, they then drove from their own 23 to the Asbury 10-yard line. Three plays netted six yards setting up a fourth-and-4 at the four and the Seraphs again elected to go for it. But Pearson was stopped two-yards short of the goal line by Jaylen Paige and Kyrie Moore and Mater Dei came up empty again.

Following the Bishops third punt of the first half Mater Die took over at their own 18-yard line with 7:31 remaining in the half and drove 82 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

On third-and-9 from the Asbury Park 27-yard line Pearson found Isaiah Noguera over the top for the touchdown. The play was executed perfectly as the ball arrived just as Noguera turned allowing him to make a leaping catch over the defender for the score right at the goal line.

The play that kept the drive alive was a swing pass on third-and-7 from the Seraphs own 22 to sophomore running back Malik Ingram – a Neptune High School transfer playing in his first regular season game for Mater Dei.

“It feels pretty good,” Ingram said of getting back on the field. “It only took about a month to gel with everybody and become friends. Coach (Mater Dei head coach Dino Mangiero) is a very outstanding guy who pushes us to work hard every day; he’s a nice coach.”

Ingram looked to be stopped for no gain but he bounced off of two tacklers, spun free and raced down the left sideline hurdling a defender in his path before being tackled after a 51-yard pickup.

“In practice I’m always working on my off-hand,” Ingram said of his run. “When I was hit I just used my off-hand and pushed them out of the way. It was a big play for us.”

Gavin Toth’s extra-point kick made it 7-0 with 4:45 left in the first half and that’s where the half ended.

Mater Dei was forced to punt on their opening possession of the second half and Asbury Park took over on their own 22-yard line. On second-and-8 from the 47, senior quarterback Ja’King Agostini connected with senior Javon Higgs for a 38 yard pickup down to the Seraphs 15-yard line.

Two plays later an offside penalty on the Seraphs gave Asbury Park a first-and-goal at the four-yard line. Junior running back Quadir Lawson was then stopped for no gain on first down by Mater Dei senior linebacker Jayden Johnson but on second down senior Donte Abrams made a leaping catch at the right pylon on a perfectly throw ball by Agostini to tie the score at seven after Anthony Swearine’s extra-point kick.

On their next possession Mater Dei drove to the Asbury 30-yard line but three straight Pearson incompletions led to Mater Dei turning the ball over on downs.

Pearson finished 15-of-26 for 236 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a score.

Asbury Park took over at the 30 but went nowhere. On first down Lawson was stopped for no gain by Johnson then on second down Johnson stepped up again dropping Abrams for a two-yard loss.

Johnson – a Linden High School transfer was also playing in his first game as a Seraph - was a force on defense all day playing sideline-to-sideline while registering double-digit tackles.

“We expected a battle, we don’t take it easy on any team,” Johnson said of the tight game. “We take every game seriously one game at a time. It felt real good being out there with my teammates after having to sit out the games. It was a good experience and real fun. I was always encouraging my teammates to better so it was all good.

“Asbury’s a pretty good team. We just held it down in the trenches when we had to. We’re going to get back to practice and fix some things up. It’s always a wakeup call; we’re always on our toes and work for everything. We just stuck to our plan on what we practiced.”

Agostini’s third down pass then fell incomplete and the Bishops were forced to punt.

The Seraphs took over at their own 42 with the game still tied at seven with 10:53 remaining in the game.

Ingram, who rushed for 80 yards on 14 attempts and had four receptions for another 84 yards for 164 total yards, then put the game on his back running the ball five straight times for 45 yards, including a spectacular 13-yard run where he burst through the line looking as though he was going down but used his hand to catch his balance for additional yardage to pick up a first down.

“It’s just balance, keeping my balance,” Ingram said of the play. “I just kept my feet moving.”

One play later, Pearson scored on a 13-yard keeper around left end for a 14-7 lead after the extra point with 8:05 left in the game.

Asbury Park quickly answered going 65 yards in six plays to pull within 14-13 on an Agostini to Abrams 27-yard completion for a touchdown with 4:43 left in the game.

Instead kicking the extra point forcing a possible overtime the Bishops decided to go for two and the win, but Agostini’s pass into the end zone fell incomplete and Mater Dei ran out the clock for hard fought 14-13 win.

“We just need to keep working and not let up on anything.” Ingram added. “We just have to come out here and play every game like it’s out last and work hard.”

For Asbury Park, Agostini was 10-of-16 for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Abrams had five receptions for 40 yards and 75 yards rushing on four attempts. Higgs caught five balls for 75 yards and Lawson rushed for 60 yards on 17 carries.