NJSIAA North 2, Group 4 First Round Preview: No.7 Woodbridge at No.2 Middletown North

Photos above courtesy of Tom Smith: #12 senior quarterback Donald Glenn and #19 senior WR/SS Brendan Kube

MIDDLETOWN – Second-seeded Middletown North (6-2) hosts No. 7 seed Woodbridge (5-4) Friday night at Middletown North in a NJSIAA North 2, Group IV first-round game with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

The Lions are in search of their first state title since 1996 when they won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championship while Woodbridge last won a state title the following year, 1997, when they also won the CJGIV title.

Middletown North – ranked No. 7 in the Shore Conference - is led by four-year starter Donald Glenn at quarterback. The strong-armed Glenn passed for a career-high 363 yards with three touchdowns in last week’s 32-8 win against Ocean Township and University of Pittsburg quarterback commit Kenny Pickett.

It was the second consecutive week that Glenn has passed for three touchdowns and third time in four games. In eight games this season Glenn has passed for 1,700 yards with a superb touchdown to interception ratio of 17-to-3.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Wagner commit has a big-time pocket presence and see’s the whole field while going through his progressions. For his career he’s passed for 6,523 yards and 65 touchdowns while completing 450-of-825 passes (56%). He’s 282-yards shy of breaking his season-high 1,982 passing yards from a year ago when he led his team to a 7-4 record – the most wins since 1996 (9-2) – and a 31-6 win over Sayreville in the first round of the NJSIAA North 2, Group IV playoffs.

He’s blessed with a talented stable of receivers led by 2015 first team All-Shore selection Brendan Kube, who leads the team with 35 receptions for 668 yards and six touchdowns. Kube is a sure-handed receiver who has a knack for finding the open spots while possessing shifty speed after the catch.

Senior dual-threat wide receiver/running back Dwight Wilkerson has the ability to score from anywhere on the field whenever the ball’s in his hands. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Wilkerson, who compliments his blazing speed with deceptive power, has hauled in 21 Glenn passes for 305 yards this season and two touchdown receptions. He’s carried the ball 69 times for 592 yards and five touchdowns, including a record-breaking 275-yard rushing performance on only 19 carries (14.5 yards/carry) filling in for injured starting running back Connor Welch in leading the Lions to a 38-7 win over Howell.

Senior wide receiver Marc Cerbo (16-274-3) and senior tight end Brock Zenker (11-264-3) have developed into reliable targets for Glenn and have kept opposing defenses from double and triple teaming Kube which in turn has opened up the field for Glenn.

Welch, who had a breakout season a year ago as a sophomore when he rushed for 746 yards and nine touchdowns along with 147-yards receiving with three scores, was hurt early in the second game of the season after picking up 96 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns in the opener. The 5-foot-8, 175-pound Welch returned last week and saw limited action but did score on a 26-yard reception from Glenn and with another week to get healthy he should see a bigger role against Woodbridge.

In Welch’s absence, sophomore Connor Robbins stepped in admirably for Welch rushing for 398 yards on 102 carries and seven touchdowns. Two weeks ago in the Lions 38-34 comeback win versus Long Branch, the 5-foot-9, 188-pound Robbins ran for a career-high 152 yards on a workman-like 36 carries and a touchdown, and in last Friday’s win over Ocean he had two short touchdown runs.

The defense has had its ups-and-downs allowing 157 points so far this season. After surrendering 34 points to a one-win Long Branch team two weeks ago they held Ocean Township’s Pickett and his high-octane offense to just eight points. The defense has shown they have the talent and potential to be a very good unit but they just need to do it on a more consistent basis.

Senior 2015 All-Division pick Nick Kish is a highly underrated outside linebacker who recorded a whopping 118 tackles last season averaging double-digit tackles (12) for the season. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Kish is a punishing tackler with sideline-to-sideline speed. In only six games this season Kish has recorded 76 tackles (12.7 per game) including 42 solo stops, one sack, three TFL and an interception.

Seniors Thomas Anderson (64 T, 3 TFL, FF), Brock Zenker (60 T, 8 TFL, 3 INT) and Ryan Stark (70 T, 2 TFL, 2 Sacks) join Kish to make up a very formidable linebacking unit.

The defensive line is led by 5-foot-11, 230-pound junior end Austin Dewise, who leads the team with seven sacks and 18 quarterback pressures along with 37 tackles (21 solo), two forced fumbles and four TFL. He is accompanied on the line by 6-foot-2, 230-pound tackle Jake Goldfarb (17 T, 4TFL, 2 sacks, 5 QB pressures, INT) at tackle and fellow seniors Justin Muller (16 T, sack, 9 QB pressures) and Kyle Ewington (31 T, TFL, 2 sacks, QB pressure, FF) along with junior lineman Nicko Cofone (28 T, 4 sacks, 7 QB pressures, FF).

Goldfarb, Miller and Anderson anchor the offensive line along with 6-foot-3, 265-pound Austin Bazuk, junior center Tim McCann and junior tackle Anthony Conova.

Kube is at strong safety with Wilkerson at free safety to head up the secondary, along with Cerbo and senior Sam Santiago at cornerback. Kube leads the team with 81 tackles to go with two forced fumbles while Wilkerson has recorded 43 tackles with an interception and two forced fumbles. Santiago leads the team with nine passes defended with an interception and 34 tackles (4 TFL). Cerbo has four passes defended with 20 tackles and junior Daylon Wilkerson has 21 tackles with three passes defended.

Woodbridge – ranked No. 9 in the Greater Middlesex Conference - has won three games in a row and four of five after a rough start that saw them lose three straight after beating Colonia in their season opener. They lost to Manasquan by one point, 7-6, in their second game of the season and Manasquan (7-1) is currently ranked sixth in the Shore Conference with their only loss coming in a tight 21-14 loss to Middletown South.

Unfortunately for Woodbridge, they lost starting quarterback Donovan Tabon (989 yards passing, 11 TD, 2 INT) for the season two weeks ago with a separated shoulder but senior Quassim Glover stepped in last week and threw for 216 yards and three touchdowns going 16-of-25 through the air. So it appears there won't be much of a drop off at quarterback for the Barrons, however, Glover's prowess at wide receiver where had 32 receptions for 435 yards and three touchdowns will be sorely missed.

Senior running back Da’Avian Ellington can hurt you running the ball out of the backfield and leads the Barrons in rushing with 672 yards on 125 carries with seven touchdowns on the ground. He’s joined in the backfield by senior Keshaun Henry, a dual-threat option, who has 374 yards rushing on 63 carries and five touchdowns and another 445 yards receiving on 33 receptions and nine touchdowns.

Obviously, with these two dynamic play-makers, the key to Middletown North’s success will be in trying to slow down Ellington and Henry and attempt to keep their damage to a minimum.

Junior middle linebacker Nick Nyers leads the Barrons defense with 108 tackles and nine TFL while senior defensive end Marquan Payne leads the team in sacks (6), QB pressures (7) and TFL (10.5) along with 48 tackles.

Junior outside linebacker Antoine Hall (65 T, 4.5 TFL, FF) and 5-foot-10, 275-pound senior defensive tackle Alex Lagrippo (48 T, 4.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, FF) are also cogs on the defensive side of the ball as well as Ellington (20 T, INT) at strong safety and Henry (20 T, 2 INT) at cornerback.

PICK: Middletown North 35, Woodbridge 17

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