Middletown South Remains Undefeated With State Championship Game Up Next

Photo above: The Eagles pass rush, led by Jake Krellin, Will Gulick and Dylan Rogers, goes after Lions quarterback Donald Glenn

MIDDLETOWN – For the second time in six days, Middletown South beat up on cross-town rival Middletown North taking a 39-0 halftime lead before calling off the dogs and cruising to a 39-16 win in their annual Thanksgiving Day game Thursday at “The Swamp.”

Middletown South (11-0, 6-0), which defeated the Lions 41-14 last Friday in the NJSIAA North II, Group IV semifinals, clinched the outright Shore Conference Class A North championship for their first divisional title since 2009 and 16th since 1986.

It was another Thanksgiving Day feast for the Eagles as they recorded their 15th straight (16th overall) win over the Lions (7-4, 4-2) to extend the series lead to 28-11-1 on Thanksgiving and 29-11-1 in all.

Middletown South, ranked No.1 in the Star Ledger top 20 and No.1 in the Asbury Press top 10, scored on the first play from scrimmage and never looked back as they dominated on both sides of the ball outgaining the Lions 261-26 in total first-half yardage.

The Eagle defense smothered the Lions offense holding them to minus five-yards rushing and 26 total yards in the first half, including four series of downs which produced minus yardage and eight plays of minus yardage counting two safeties.

Lions quarterback Donald Glenn was sacked twice in the end zone for safeties. The first at 5:06 of the first quarter when linebacker Dylan Rogers and defensive end Chase LoPriore teamed up for the sack to make it 9-0 and a the second with 5:42 left in the first half when defensive end Jake Krellin got to the Glenn in the end zone to push the Eagles lead to 25-0.

Krellin - only a sophomore - had a monster game recording 16 tackles, two sacks, four TFL, two quarterback pressures and a forced fumbled that was recovered by Eagle cornerback Rob Hulse.

“What an awesome performance (by Krellin),” Eagle head coach Steve Antonucci said. “What was missing Friday night was that. I thought Jake and Will Gulick played really well; our front four played well. We stayed away from the pressures Friday night but we added the pressures today and it helped those guys.”

“Playing with these guys is great, I’ve learned so much from them,” Krellin said. “They’ve been to the rodeo more than once and know what to do. We didn’t want No.12 (Glenn) to get comfortable, we wanted to rush him hard that was our game plan, he got too much last game.”

Glenn, who went 22-for-31 for 281 yards and a touchdown in the playoff game, was 6-for-15 for 31 yards with interceptions by defensive back Maxx Imsho and linebacker James McCarthy in the first half.

“We got after it a little bit today,” Antonucci said. “He (Glenn) had his happy shoes on the last time; we didn’t want him to have those again. We tried to get after him a little bit and change his picture. We did an excellent job.”

McCarthy’s interception was a sensational one-handed, highlight reel pick that he returned 34 yards to the Lions one-yard line on a screen play. That set up running back Cole Rogers third touchdown run of the game that made it 39-0 with 56 seconds remaining in the first half.

Rogers, who was named Offensive Player of the Game, ran for 114 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns all in the first half before sitting out the second half with the game’s outcome already determined and a huge state championship game a week away.

The Eagles came out firing the ball as senior quarterback Matt Mosquera connected with wideout Tom Coffey for a 62-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. Coffey was wide open around the Lion 35-yard line in the middle of the field before catching a perfect spiral from Mosquera and sprinting into the end zone for a quick 7-0 lead.

Rogers then shook off a couple of tacklers at the line of scrimmage before breaking free up the middle and bolting 64 yards for the touchdown and a 16-0 lead with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

On the Lions ensuing possession, Gulick and Krellin combined to stop running back Sam Santiago for a five-yard loss on third down at the six forcing the Lions punt from their own end zone. A short punt gave the Eagles a first down at the Lions 21-yard line and four straight runs by Rogers pushed the lead to 23-0 after he ran it in from five yards out.

Krellin’s safety made it 25-0 and a 15-yard return by Samsone Dube on the Lions punt from the 20 following the safety put the Eagles at the Lions 40-yard line with 5:42 left in the half.

A holding penalty on the Eagles on first and goal from the 10 pushed them back to the 23 before Mosquera threw his second touchdown pass of the day when he scrambled towards the right sidelines on third and goal from the 20 and found Spenser Pereless for a 32-0 lead. In one half of action, Mosquera went 4-for-10 for 134 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

McCarthy’s interception and Rogers touchdown run closed out the scoring for the Eagles as the half ended with the score 39-0. With the game now firmly in hand, Antonucci played his second-team offense the entire second half while substituting freely on defense as well.

“This is what we set out to do, we’re right where we wanted to be,” Antonucci said. “We did a good job; this is exactly what we wanted. We wanted to make sure we got out of here injury free and we did that for the most part so we’re in good shape with that. The team can’t wait. We’re on the biggest stage in the biggest place so we’ll see what happens. We’ve got 48 minutes to be a champion.”

The Eagles, who are in search of their first state sectional title since 2006 and tenth in program history, will get that opportunity against No.13 Phillipsburg (9-2) on Saturday, December 5 at 7:00 p.m. at MetLife Stadium in the North II, Group IV championship game. Saturday’s game will mark the Eagles 21st appearance in a state championship game.

Also, a win Saturday and the Eagles will become the first Middletown South state champion to go undefeated since 2005 when that team won the third of three straight undefeated state championships (2003-2005).

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