Top-Ranked Red Bank Catholic Rolls Over No. 2 Saint John Vianney

Above photos by Tom Smith: No. 8 Steve Lubischer, No. 87 Kevin Bauman, No. 2 Billy Guidetti, No. 13 Jayden Key, No. 9 Anthony Romano and No. 5 Sean Rossback

HOLMDEL – Top-ranked Red Bank Catholic justified its billing leaving no doubt who the No. 1 team in the Shore Conference is after rolling over No. 2 Saint John Vianney 41-14 in Friday night’s season opener for both schools.

The win not only snapped the Lancers 38-game Shore Conference winning streak, it avenged last season’s bitter 35-17 defeat to Saint John Vianney. That loss was hard to forget, especially with the score flashing on the Count Basie scoreboard all summer long as a constant reminder under the direction of head coach Frank Edgerly.

Whatever the motivation was, it worked.

Red Bank Catholic scored on all three possessions in the first half, including scoring drives of 65, 56 and 81 yards, to take a 20-0 lead at halftime. The score actually wasn’t indicative of just how dominating Red Bank Catholic was in the first half on both sides of the ball.

Boston College-bound Steve Lubischer cemented himself as one of the top duel-threat quarterbacks in the state to the surprise of no one. He led three first-half scoring drives using both his arm and legs to get into the end zone.

Lubischer finished with over 200 yards of total offense completing 9-of-12 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown while running for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

Facing a first-and-goal from the one-yard line on the Caseys first possession of the game, Lubischer kept the ball and hurdled over a defender to cross the goal line with an incredibly athletic maneuver to take a 7-0 lead after senior kicker Ryan O’Hara extra-point kick. O’Hara displayed a strong leg all night consistently booming kickoffs into the end zone.

On their second possession, Lubischer rolled right and hit Anthony Romano for a 17-yard completion and junior running back Billy Guidetti picked up eight yards on the ground before Lubischer rolled left this time and found Notre Dame-bound tight end Kevin Bauman for 10 yards down to the nine-yard line.

Then on second-and-goal from the nine, Lubischer lofted a perfect spiral to senior M.J. Wright on a fade in the right corner of end zone for a touchdown. The score remained 13-0 after the snap from center was muffed.

On the Lancers ensuing possession, senior Tommy Smith registered a seven-yard sack and senior linebacker Gino Tartamella added a huge 12-yard sack on a SJV third-and -7 from the RBC 15. The Lancers went for it on fourth down but Ramano stopped Blake Clayton way short of a first down turning the ball back over to the Caseys on downs.

Red Catholic then drove 81 yards in eight plays to take a 20-0 lead that they brought into halftime with them. Bauman laid out to snag a Lubischer offering for a 12-yard gain on third-and-5 from the 24 to keep the drive alive and senior Jayden Key made a spectacular leaping grab for 31-yards down to the three-yard line. On first down Lubischer rolled left on a bootleg juking a defender on his way into the end zone.

The Caseys took a 27-0 lead on their second possession of the second half after the defense forced a SJV three-and-out and Jabari Lofton shanked the punt giving RBC a first down at the Lancers 28-yard line.

On first down Guidetti ripped off a 23-yard gainer to the five and on the next play 5-foot-11, 215-pound Steve Cmielewski bulled his way into the end zone for the score and a 27-0 lead.

On the Caseys following possession, Lancers linebacker Mike Noble came up with a strip-sac of Lubischer and Matt Mandarino picked it up and rumbled 58 yards for the Lancers first points of the game with 4:35 left in the third quarter. The extra point was no good so the score remained 27-6.

Red Bank Catholic answered right back with junior running back Kevin Degman capping an 80-yard scoring drive by racing into the end zone from 12-yards out to make it a 34-6 game with 1:44 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach if wasn’t already.

SJV added a fourth-quarter touchdown when sophomore quarterback Josh Easton hit Noble for an eight-yard score and Easton found freshman Jayden Bellamy for the two-point conversion to close within 34-14.

Guidetti closed out the scoring with a one-yard plunge with just under eight minutes to play for a 41-14 final.

Red Bank Catholic grinded out 193 yards on the ground by five different players led by Guidetti’s 79 yards on 16 attempts. Bauman led the Caseys with four recptions for 50 yards.

In his first game for the Lancers after transferring from Central Regional, junior Kavon Chambers rushed for a game-high 154 yards on 23 attempts. Chambers was fifth in the Shore in rushing a year ago with 1,438 yards and 14 touchdowns.

The underrated Caseys defense showed they’re going to be a unit to be reckoned with. They held the potent Lancers attack to 91-total yards on four possessions in the first half and allowed just one touchdown in the game. Senior linebacker Adam Demurjian had a breakout second half with three quarterback sacks to lead the Caseys.

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