Fourth-Quarter Barrage Helps Red Bank Overcome Raritan

Photos above: #4 Nigel Mitchell, #1 Makai Mickens, #7 Ka'Shaun Turner, #3 Jack Chamberlain, #55 Evin Lawlor, #8 tyquan Crawford and #54 Colin Chatto

RED BANK – Nigel Mitchell’s 91-yard touchdown burst up the middle broke open a close game and Gavin Mahoney’s 50-yard interception return for a touchdown clinched the win for the Bucs as Red Bank scored 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points to finish off Raritan 35-14 Friday night in Hazlet.

After posting a 2-8 record last season but winning their final two games, including a 21-20 win over eventual Central Jersey Group IV champions Long Branch in their final game, not much was expected of Red Bank entering this season.

But after beating Toms River East 35-7 a week ago to push their overall record to 4-1 the Bucs broke into the Shore Sports Network’s Top 10 at number 10 for the first time since 2015 when that team went 11-0 before losing to Rumson in the state final.

“We ended up getting two wins at the end of last year and that momentum took us right into winter in the weight room,” said Red Bank head coach Nick Giglio. “And you could tell day-by-day they were different, they were focused more on everything. We didn’t worry what other people said, we just took care of ourselves and tried to be better every day and that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

Red Bank led 14-7 at the half but Raritan knotted the game at 14-14 driving 47 yards in eight plays on their second possession of the second half. Senior running back Nick Kenneally bulled his way in on second-and-goal from the one-yard line, but that was all the Bucs defense would allow the rest of the way.

Raritan’s Dan McCormack had recovered a Makai Mickens fumble at the 47-yard line after the Bucs had moved from their own one-yard line on their first possession of the second half to set up the Rockets game tying drive with 1:54 left in the third quarter.

“We knew that we let up 14 points out of nowhere and so the defense was dialed in after that and we just held them,” said Red Bank defensive end Ke'Shaun Turner of shutting out Raritan in the fourth quarter.

Following a three-and-out on the Bucs ensuing possession, the Rockets took over at their own 29-yard line following a Red Bank punt. But on second-and-five from the 34, junior quarterback Steve Coponi had trouble handling the snap and Turner pounced on him causing a fumble that he recovered at the 29-yard line.

“I came in here knowing they beat us 21-14 last year and that if we won this game tonight we’d have a chance for a home game in the playoffs,” said Turner, who recorded two sacks, a fumble recovery an numerous tackles. “We haven’t been in the playoffs since that 2015 season so that’s what all the seniors and everybody else wanted to do this year and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Red Bank then cashed in on Turner’s big play with Mickens, who finished with 100-yards rushing and two touchdowns on 16 attempts, carrying the rock three straight times and finishing off the short 29-yard drive with an eight-yard scamper around right end to give the lead back to the Bucs, 21-14 with 9:47 remaining in the game.

“It was the pride, just the pride,” said Mickens of his touchdown run. “We knew it was tied and we had to fight through it. And I personally fumbled and I was actually mad about that so I had to put the team on my back and get in there again.”

Following the kickoff, the Rockets took over at their own 29-yard line and moved to the Red Bank 25-yard line looking to tie the game.

Facing a third-and-nine from the 25, Coponi was pressured into an incompletion by Turner, who had a sack earlier in the drive, setting up a fourth down. Coponi’s fourth-down pass intended for Kenneally was wrestled away from him by Mickens for a crucial interception at that point of the game.

“I needed that, I needed that,” said a jubilant Mickens when asked about his second interception of the night. “They kept pressing me and they tested me again and I got there and got the pick.”

The Bucs took over at the nine-yard line following the Mickens interception and on first down Mitchell took it 91-yards to the house virtually untouched up the middle for a 28-14 lead with 4:08 left in the game.

“Really, all I saw was the end zone, that’s about it,” said Mitchell of his long scoring run. “Not much to say, I just kept looking forward and got in there.”

Mitchell ran for a game-high 148 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while also having a stellar night on defense in the secondary, including leveling Raritan running back Danny Fiore for no gain on what had to be the hardest hit of the game on the Rockets final possession.

“We really kept the intensity up and fought throughout the whole game,” said Mitchell. “That’s the thing about our team, we know how to fight the whole time and we never give up.”

For the Bucs, Mickens and Mitchell combined for 248-yards on the ground with three touchdowns.

“It’s a one-two punch with me and (Mitchell),” said Mickens. “We grind together, so we shine together. We got each other’s backs. We always click and have the same mentality and that’s go finish.”

“They make coaches look good,” said Giglio of his star running backs. “They run very hard and practice very hard and that shows on game day. They don’t want to be stopped and if you’re a competitor and have that kind of talent it’s a deadly combination.”

Raritan took over at their own 38-yard line following the kickoff now down by two touchdowns, 28-14.

Three plays later, as Turner, who wreak havoc in the Raritan backfield all night, was bearing down on Coponi for a sack when the Raritan quarterback chucked an ill-advised pass as he was being dragged to the ground by Turner right into the hands of defensive end Gavin Mahoney, who ran it back 50 yards for the game-clinching score and a 35-14 lead with a little over two minutes left.

“I had a gap scheme to slant and when I slanted the guard went down and completely missed me,” said Turner. “I went to wrap up the quarterback and he tried to throw it to his receiver but my D-end picked it off and scored the touchdown – it was crazy.”

“He’s a big-time football player, a super kid and that’s what we know he can do,” said Giglio of his standout tackle. “And we just feel his ceiling is still there.”

Junior Kyle Weismann, who had outstanding night at linebacker with double-digit tackles, sacked Coponi on the Raritan five-yard line as time ran out to put an exclamation point on the victory.

Red Bank scored on their first possession of the game thanks in part to a successful fake punt on fourth-and-3 from their own 43-yard line that Nick Ferrogine converted picking up four yards - just enough yardage for the first down.

Six plays later, Mickens took a pitch from junior quarterback Jack Chamberlain 32-yards around right end for a 7-0 lead.

On Raritan’s first play of their first possession of the game, Copone coughed up the ball with the Bucs recovering at the Raritan 35-yard line.

Nine plays later on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, Chamberlain kept it on a quarterback sneak for the score to make it 14-0 after Chris Maida’s extra-point kick.

“We knew we go up 14 it wasn’t going to stay that way against a good football team like Raritan,” Giglio said. “Playing Raritan over the year’s we just play back-and-forth games.”

Raritan answered right back going on a time consuming 62-yard, 13 play touchdown drive that took over six minutes off the clock to pull within 14-7 on a Fiore five-yard touchdown run with a little over seven minutes left in the half.

Chamberlain was sacked on fourth-and-7 from at the Raritan 45 by Justin Acevedo for a six-yard loss with 11 seconds remaining in the first half giving the ball back to the Rockets.

On first down, Coponi, who completed 8-of-12 passes for 117 yards with two interceptions and rushed for 47 yards on 12 attempts, found Kenneally for a 26-yard pickup and a first down at the 31-yard line with four seconds left in the half, but Mickens picked off Kenneally at the goal line as time ran out on the first half.

Raritan senior running back Phillip Buccine had a team-high 101-yards rushing on 16 attempts with 32 of those yards coming on a run on Raritan’s final possession of the game.

Red Bank has now won three in a row and pushes its overall record to 5-1 and 3-1 in the Freedom Division with a huge divisional matchup with Long Branch looming in two weeks.

“I’ve been so proud of them since all off-season,” said Giglio of his team. “They keep learning, they keep maturing and they keep bouncing back which is a big character thing. We just feel like we’ve taken huge steps from last year and they’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way and hopefully we’re going to take it as far as we can get right now.”

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