Red Bank Catholic Wears Down Middletown North As Offense Explodes for 60 Points

Photo above: Junior quarterback Steve Lubischer and senior running back Zach Bair

RED BANK – After a wild first half which saw Red Bank Catholic and Middletown North combine to score touchdowns on the first nine possessions of the game and rack up over 500 yards of total offense in the half, the Caseys took charge of the game in the second half and went on to a 60-41 victory over the Lions Friday night at Count Basie Stadium.

“It’s rare that in the first quarter you start thinking that this is going to be a last possession game,” said Red Bank Catholic head coach Frank Edgerly, who’s in his second year of his second stint at RBC after serving as a scout with the New England Patriots and assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns. “Fortunately we were able to answer the bell each time.”

Middletown North held a 34-27 lead with under a minute to play in the first half and was in possession of the ball facing a second-and-4 from the Caseys 36-yard line. But then, with a chance to go up two TD’s before the half, Caseys senior defensive back Matt Ansell picked off North’s junior quarterback Sean Glenn at around the 20 and returned it to the 48-yard line.

Three plays later on third-and-8 Red Bank Catholic junior quarterback Steve Lubischer kept the ball and scampered 50 yards down the left sidelines for the tying and game-changing score with 10 seconds left in the half.

“That touchdown at the end of the half was the difference in the game - period,” Edgerly said of Lubischer’s touchdown run. “Otherwise we go in down one with pressure on us coming out.”

So instead of potentially being down by two TD’s at the half Red Bank Catholic charged into the locker room knowing the game was tied, they would receive the second-half kickoff and the games momentum had shifted dramatically in their favor.

Senior running back Zach Bair, who rushed for 107 yards on 15 carries, then took the second-half kickoff all the way down to the 28-yard line and the Caseys were again in business.

“I firmly believe Zach Bair is the best running back around,” Edgerly said when asked about his Bair’s performance.

Three running plays set up a first-and-goal at the three-yard line before senior fullback Nick Brusca bulled his way in for the score from the three and the Caseys now held the lead for the first time in the game, 40-34, after the extra point sailed wide.

I told the guys at halftime, “The first possession of the second half is going to determine the outcome of this game,” Edgerly said. “And once we got a stop we felt pretty good about our chances to get a win.”

The RBC defense then got into the act forcing a Lions punt from their own 47-yard line. Bair then took all the wind out of the Middletown Norths sails retuning the punt 77 yards for a touchdown putting the Caseys up 47-34 after Ryan O’Hara’s extra point with less than two minutes gone in the second half.

“There’s high expectation with the kind of talent we have,” Bair said. “And we made the plays when we had to - we always feel that we can score from anywhere on the field. We were able to do a lot of different things with the ball and move it down field.”

The Caseys defense came up big again on the Lions ensuing possession forcing a three-and-out and following the punt had excellent field position at the Lions 49.

A 23-yard Lubischer to Brandon Lombana completion set up a first-and-goal at the five and Brusca went in untouched for his second touchdown of the night for a 54-34 lead with 5:12 still remaining in the third quarter.

“The second half we pulled away,” Lubischer said. “We knew what we had to do. I think we have one of the best offenses in the state.”

Ansell picked up his second interception of the night but the Caseys turned the ball over on downs after being stopped on fouth-and-8 from the Lions 20, but two plays later sophomore linebacker Charlie Gordinier picked off Glenn at the Lions 30 for the Caseys third interception of the night.

Three plays later Brusca put the finishing touches on the game racing in from 18-yards out for a 60-34 lead with 7:42 left in the game.

The Caseys juggernaut offense was virtually unstoppable the entire game. But for two interceptions and a turnover on downs late in the game they scored a touchdown on every possession.

“We felt very confident that every time we had the ball we were going to score,” Edgerly said. “And all we needed was a stop or two.”

Middletown North’s Nick Dewise took the game’s opening kickoff to the 45 and the Lions went 55 yards to take a 6-0 lead on a Connor Robbins one-yard burst up the middle. The Caseys followed with a 65-yard scoring drive with Lubischer finding sophomore tight end Bauman all alone in the corner of the end zone tying the game at 6-6 after both kickers missed the extra points.

North answered with a seven play, 73-yard drive with Robbins scoring from the 10 to go up 13-6 after a Joey Cavanagh extra point. The Casey responded with a 72-yard drive of their own with Lubischer running 40-yards on first down . Then after being chased out of the pocket by defensive end Austin Dewise on third-and-5 from the 27 he scrambled in for the touchdown to even the score 13-13 after O’Hara’s extra point.

The Lions came right back driving 70 yards on just four plays as Glenn, who was 12-of-23 for 219 yards and three touchdowns, hit a wide open Austin Dewise for 45 yards to the 13. He then connected with senior wideout Paul Dunleavy for a 13-yard touchdown and a 20-13 lead with 11:40 left in the second quarter.

With the Red Bank Catholic’s new scoreboard getting a good workout already the Caseys went 60 yards in five plays to forge a 20-20 tie as Bair ran it in from 31-yards out.

A 54-yard Glenn to junior Aiden Campbell bomb for a touchdown capped a four play, 65 yard drive and a 27-20 lead but the Caseys made it eight touchdowns in a row after a flubbed kickoff gave them great field position at the Lions 47. Five plays later, Bair circled left end for 10 yards and the score to make it 27-27 with 5:38 remaining in the first half.

North then took over at their own 25 after the kickoff and senior running back Connor Welch, who rushed for 105 yards on eight carries, promptly ran 63 yards down the left sideline to set up Robbins third touchdown of the half – a one-yard burst up the middle – for a short-lived 34-27 lead.

It was an unseasonably hot and humid night and it took its toll on the players as the game wore on with the deeper and physically bigger Caseys eventually wearing the Lions down.

“As the second half wore on it was very, very clear that we wore them down,” Edgerly said of their second half offensive explosion.

Lubischer – who was injured much of last season – stamped himself as one of the elite dual-threat quarterbacks in the Shore Conference Friday night rushing for 134 yards on just five carries with two touchdowns and going 8-of-14 for 98 yards and a touchdown through the air.

“He made some plays tonight,” Edgerly said of Lubischer’s performance. “Some of those plays were between him and God- I’m not taking any credit for those.”

In addition to the 101 points scored the two teams combined for whopping 836 yards of total offense Friday night.

Lubischer (134), Bair (107), Guidetti (55) and Brusca (38) combined for 334-yards rushing on 36 carries for a 9.3 yards per carry average.

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