Dunbar's 3 TDs Boost Point Boro

John Dunbar knew Point Boro had been living on borrowed time long enough.

“We needed a score,” the senior quarterback said. “We needed to get some points.”

And it was Dunbar who got them, faking a handoff to running back Jack Vitale and sprinting 34 yards for a touchdown with 3:06 left to lift the Panthers to a 27-13 victory over Lakewood in a Shore Conference Class C Central matchup in Point Pleasant on Friday night.

Dunbar rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns and Vitale added 73 yards and a score for the Panthers, who improved to 3-3 and kept their hopes of a state playoff berth alive.

“He (Dunbar) has come so far since the beginning of the year,” Point Boro head coach Sean Henry said. “He is a gamebreaker.”

And that’s what Point Boro needed. The Panthers struggled through most of the game, short-circuiting drives with turnovers early on and committing costly penalties that helped the Piners (2-4) sustain drives.

The Panthers led just 7-0 at halftime, on a 4-yard touchdown by Vitale, set up when Dunbar returned a short Lakewood punt to the Piners’ 20-yard line. But Point Boro fumbling the ball in Lakewood territory on its opening drive and a second drive ended with Dunbar throwing an interception in the end zone.

Fortunately for Point Boro, Lakewood was struggling as well, committing pass interference on third-and-26 that gave Point Boro an automatic first down when the Piners had Point Boro pinned at its own 7. The Piners also self-destructed after reaching Point Boro’s 5, committing penalties and allowing quarterback Tyrice Beverette to be sacked.

The second half picked up where the first half left off for Point Boro, with Beverette scoring a 60-yard touchdown for Lakewood on the first play from scrimmage, and then the Panthers fumbled the ball back to Lakewood at the Point Boro 29 two plays later.

That’s when the Panthers’ defense came to life. Led by linebacker Kurt VanBenschoten, the Panthers stuffed Beverette and tightly covered his receivers, forcing the Lakewood offense off the field after gaining just 7 yards. Louis Kolydas and Eddie Kendall had key stops on the drive.

The defensive effort seemed to light a fire in the offense, and the Panthers began to move the ball down field, with Vitale getting the bulk of the carries and blasting his way through the Lakewood defensive line to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Dunbar. A bad snap on the point-after kick left Point Boro leading 13-7.

“Our (offensive) line did a great job,” Vitale said. “We couldn’t do it without them.”

But the combination of Vitale and Dunbar was too much for the Piners, because the two work so well in running plays. If Vitale isn’t getting the carry, the fake is so complete that even the referees could be heard to comment on its effectiveness after one such fake sprung Dunbar for a long touchdown in the first half that was called back due to a holding penalty against the Panthers.

“This kid here is my best friend,” Dunbar said of Vitale, “and we work together really well. We’ve been practicing that every day since the summer.”

Lakewood went on a march of its own, with Beverette carrying the load both through his running and his passing. And just when it seems Point Boro’s defense was going to shut him down, a Point Boro player shoved Beverette after the Lakewood quarterback was already well out of bounds. Beverette scored four plays later.

Special teams weren’t doing Lakewood any favors, either, as the Piners bobbled the snap on the point after, keeping the score tied at 13.

Vitale and Dunbar went to work again and gave Point Boro a 19-13 lead after yet another problem with the point after attempt. But with 6 minutes remaining in the game and the ball in Lakewood’s hands, the Panthers’ defense stepped up, breaking up two long pass attempts by Beverette and forcing the Piners to go three-and-out.

Beverette’s punt gave Point Boro the ball at its own 40, but that’s when Dunbar made short work of things, running for the 34-yard score that finished off the Piners and wiped away the memory of the previous week’s one-point loss to Monsignor Donovan.

“It was hard, especially for the kids, because that was a heartbreaker,” Henry said. “On Saturday (the day after the Donovan loss) we broke down film, but by afternoon we had moved on to Lakewood.

“Now we’re going into Week 7 with another playoff-type game if we want to make states,” he said, referring to next Friday’s game at Raritan, which is a 7 p.m. start. “It’s good to have that chance.”