Middletown South Tops North As Krellin Brothers Claim MVP Honors

Photo above: Matt and Jake Krellin

MIDDLETOWN – As if Thanksgiving Day isn’t already enough cause for celebration with family and friends, excuse the Krellin family if they do a little extra celebrating today once everyone returns home from the annual Middletown South, Middletown North Thanksgiving Day football classic.

Senior Jake Krellin rushed for three touchdowns and younger brother Matt intercepted three Sean Glen passes to lead the Eagles to a 21-7 victory over Middletown North in front of a jammed-packed Thanksgiving Day crowd at “The Swamp.”

The elder Krellin was voted the game’s offensive MVP while Matt – only a sophomore - picked up the defensive MVP honors.

“We were telling each other before the game, let’s get this done, let’s go play how we play,” Jake Krellin said of their MVP’s. “He got that one, I got this one but I would’ve like that one (defensive MVP) because I’m a defensive guy, but hey, hats off to him he played a hell of a game and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

“Oh man, there’s going to be lots of turkey,” Jake added when asked what Thanksgiving dinner was going to be like at the Kellin house. “Middle linebacker Chris Patterson is a cousin so we’re all going to be together joking and laughing, so it’s going to be a great Thanksgiving.”

“This means everything to me; he’s been a role model to me ever since he started playing here,” Matt Krelin said about playing with his older brother in his last game of his high school career. “It’s just awesome to be able to end it this way with him.”

The Eagles set the tone of the game right off the bat marching on a methodical 80 yard, 16 play scoring drive after senior defensive end Adam Markmann’s two-yard TFL forced a Middletown North Punt on the opening possession of the game.

The Eagles took 8:28 off the clock on the scoring drive with Krellin taking a pitch from senior quarterback Ben Kinsella on an option play and running it in from 11-yards out to take a 7-0 lead after junior Chris Kaldrovics PAT.

“We wanted to set the tone” Jake Krellin said of the Eagles opening drive. “We wanted to come in here and run the ball, run the ball, pound it down their throats. We knew we were going to be physical, we knew they didn’t want to play with us and we proved it. We showed just how physical we can be.”

Following the kick, the Lions took over at the 20 and advanced the ball 19 yards where they elected to go for it on fourth-and-2 from their own 39.

Lions senior running back/defensive end Austin Dewise took a direct snap from center but Jake Krellin was there to stop Dewise for no gain and Middletown North turned the ball over on downs handing the Eagles great field position.

Three plays netted just seven yards for South and on fourth-and-4 from the 33 Dewise batted down a Kinsella pass with Middletown North taking over.

Glenn then found Dewise on a crossing pattern for a first down at the Eagles 43 but on the next play Krellin picked off Glenn at the seven-yard line for his first of three picks.

Middletown South went nowhere and punted out of their own end zone handing the Lions good field position once again at the Eagles 38-yard line.

Following two incompletions, Glenn – looking for Aiden Campbell - tossed his second interception of the game with Krellin picking him off at the six-yard line.

With 5:27 left in the half, the Eagles then moved the ball down to the Lions 14-yard line on 10 plays with Kinsella connecting with Robby Zega for 36 yards on the second play of the drive to get them out of a hole and Jake Krellin picking up 20 yards on a option pitch from Kinsella.

However, on fourth-and-2 from the 14, a Kinsella pass to junior tight end/linebacker Matt Tardy lost a yard and the Lions took over deep in thier own territory.

North senior running back Connor Welsh picked up 10 yards on the ground and 17 on a screen pass from Glenn as the half ended with the score still 7-0.

South received the second-half kickoff but a 23-yard sack by Connor Robbins on second-and-4 from their own 41 brought the ball all the way back to the 18-yard line before punting on fourth-and-24 from the 21.

The Lions took over at their own 49 following the punt but on fourth-and-2 from the Lions 43 Matt Krelin knocked down Glenn’s deep pass near the goal line and the Eagles took over.

Senior Chaz Alessi picked up 11 yards on two rushes for a first down before Kensella found sophomore wideout Connor Ard all alone over the middle for 38 yards down to the seven-yard line.

From there, Krellin rumbled in from the seven-yards out on the next play to take a 14-0 lead with 7:19 left in the third quarter.

Kaldrovics’ ensuing kick bounced off Robbins and Zega recovered at the Lions 25 but on fourth-and-1 from the 16 Krellin was pulled down for a four-yard loss by Robbins.

North took over and on second-and-6 from the 24 Krellin outjumped the receiver at the 45 for his third pick of the day before returning it nine yards to the 37 of the Lions.

Krellin then ran for 24 yards on three rushes giving them a first-and-goal from the six before his six-yard burst up the middle - his third rushing TD of the day - pushed the score to 21-0 with 11:16 left in the game.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Krellin was a workhorse carrying the ball 19 times for 103 yards and three scores. Alessi added 55 hard-earned yards on 12 attempts.

Jake Krellin’s nine-yard sack of Glenn and Tardy’s five sack on the Lions ensuing possession forced the Lions to punt out of the end zone giving the Eagles good field position at their own 48, but they went nowhere and punted.

North then went on its only scoring drive of the day going 74 yards in eight plays to pull within 21-7. A Glenn to Dewise 45-yard pass play on third down at their own 21 gave the Lions a first down at the Eagles 34 before a 14-yard pass to Welsh set up first-and-10 at the 20.

Welsh then ran for 10 and seven yards to give them a first-and-goal at the three and Dewise bulled his way into the end zone for the score with 3:49 left in the game.

South then ran out the clock with Alessi carrying four straight times for 24 yards and Kinsella once for nine.

Kinsella managed the game efficiently completing 5-of-11 passes for 96 yards and rushed nine times for seven yards but that included his 23-yard sack.

For Middletown North, Glenn finished 11-of-20 for 148 yards – with 69 of those yards coming on their final drive of the game - and three interceptions while Welsh picked up 39 yards on 11 attempts.

With the win, the Eagles (5-5) reclaimed the Middletown Cup one year after the Lions (5-5) snapped the Eagles 16-game winning streak in the series.

After graduating the majority of last year’s team that advanced to the NJSIAA North 2, Group 4 semifinal not much was expected from this group. So you could so they over achieved, especially making the state playoffs and receiving a sixth seed after no one thought they’d even make the playoffs.

“This year we got hit with people telling us we wouldn’t be anything,” Jake Krellin said about the Eagles season. “We struggled and took a step back at the bye week. We just asked ourselves ‘what could we do better’ so I stepped up. Coach told me what I had to do and it just showed the rest of the season that we can get this thing done.

“We just wanted to make the playoffs and we lost in the first round, but we had a hell of a year and I’m proud of everyone on this team.”