Rumson-Fair Haven Dominates Middletown South In 35-0 Rout

Photo above: Rumson players celebrate after big non-conference win over Middletown South

RUMSON – What a difference a year makes.

Last season Rumson-Fair Haven lost to Middletown South – ranked No. 1 in the Shore at the time – 14-13 when they were stopped on fourth down at their own 34-yard line with under 30 seconds to go in the game.

Thursday night at Rumson’s Borden Stadium it was payback time in a big way as the Bulldogs clobbered the Eagles 35-0 to improve to 3-0 on the season.

“Personally this game had a little bit of extra motivation for me,” said junior fullback Alex Maldjian. We lost by an extra point (last season) and I ended up blowing a block on the play so that was a big motivator for me.”

With 4:21 left in the first half the Bulldogs were leading 14-0 and facing a third-and-3 from their own 13. Middletown South (2-2) was looking to get a stop and force a punt deep in Rumson territory to pick up some good field position with plenty of time on the clock to score before halftime.

However, unfortunately for the Eagles, the Bulldogs failed to cooperate.

Maldjian took a screen pass from senior quarterback Dan Harby, eluded a couple of would-be tacklers, and went 87 yards untouched down the left sidelines to give the Bulldogs a 21-0 lead.

“The play before I got blown up,” Maldjian said of his catch and run. “I said we have to make it back on the next play. We called a screen on the play, I got to the outside and got a great block by Ethan Ardolino on the edge and I just cut inside and finished off the run.”

South’s ensuing possession following Maldjian’s touchdown stalled at the Rumson 46-yard line thanks to a two-yard tackle for a loss on third-and-5 by senior defensive end Elijah McAllister, who had three TFL on the night, and the Bulldogs went into halftime up 21-0.

The game didn’t start well for the Bulldogs. On their first possession they were called for a false start on first down. The Eagles Jake Krelin then batted down a Harby pass, stopped senior running back Peter Lucas for a one-yard loss and Harby for a five-yard loss on consecutive plays and finished the series blocking and recovering junior James Hempstead’s punt on fourth-and-16 from the 14-yard line.

That sequence of plays by Krelin set up a first-and-goal from the Bulldogs nine-yard line for the Eagles.

McAllister stopped junior James Petrillo after a two-yard pickup on first down followed by quarterback Ben Kinsella’s incompletion that brought up a third-and-goal from the seven. Junior linebacker Keegan Woods and senior defensive back Kevin Ninger then combined to bring down South senior running back Chaz Alessi at the four and the Bulldogs elected to go for the field goal.

With the wind gusting to around 25 knots, Hempstead’s 21-yard attempt sailed wide and the Bulldogs defense had its first big stop of the night.

Taking over at the 20-yard line Rumson then embarked on a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that ate up six minutes on the clock with Lucas taking a handoff up the middle and going untouched for the final 15 yards and a touchdown. Hempstead’s kick was good the Bulldogs led 7-0 with 1:22 remaining in the first quarter.

Maldjian had a 31-yard run on the first play of the drive and another eight-yard run to set up a first down at the South 39-yard line while Lucas had 43-yards rushing including a TD on the drive.

Rumson’s defense put up the next six points on the Eagles following possession when the 6-foot-6 McAllister pressured Kinsella into an ill-advised pass on the first play of the second quarter.

Facing a third-and-14 from the Rumson 24-yard line Kinsella attempted to loft a pass over the outstretched arms of McAllister that junior linebacker Michael Lizotte picked it off at the 20-yard line and from there it was clear sailing into the end zone. The pick-six handed the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead after Hemstead's extra point kick.

After two sub-par performances by the Bulldogs defense where they gave up 37 combined points in games against Raritan and Holmdel, they pitched their first shutout of the season and looked fearsome while doing it.

The revived unit held the Eagles to 68-yards rushing on 29 attempts and 11-yards passing with Kinsella completing just four-of-ten through the air while the Rumson offense had 325-total yards in the game.

Junior linebacker Henry Sullivan recorded double-digit tackles including a TFL, Woods had a sack and fumble recovery and McAllister added three TFL to lead the Bulldogs defensive charge.

“After a slow start the first couple of games, our defense came out and it was strong,” Lucas said of his defense’s dominate performance. “That’s a good sign.”

Holding a 21-0 halftime lead the Bulldogs got the ball back to start the second half after winning the coin toss and deferring.

Junior Brooks Brennan brought the second half kickoff back to the 37-yard line after a 32-yard return. Then on their first play from scrimmage Lucas hit a brick wall of tacklers after a five-yard pickup, bounced off the pile and bolted untouched the rest of the way for a 63-yard touchdown run and a 28-0 lead 30 seconds into the second half.

Lucas finished with 130-yards on the ground and two touchdowns on 10 carries giving him 666-total yards rushing and nine touchdowns on 52 attempts for a 12.8 yards per carry average on the season.

“I believe they did bring out the best in us.” Lucas said when asked if this game meant a little extra for the team. “Last year they won 14-13 and it turned into a little bit of a rivalry. We were all pumped up and got it done. We tried to close the game out (after) halftime and I think we did so.”

The Eagles then went three-and-out thanks to a three-yard TFL by junior defensive end Isaac Vernon and after Tyler Cuccia’s punt sailed out of bounds the Bulldogs were set up with a first down at the Eagles 49-yard line.

A Maldjian 20-yard run set up a first down at the 30 and four plays later Harby found junior tight end Ian O’Connor at the right pylon and O’Connor fought off two defenders for the ball and the touchdown.

For the game, Harby completed just two passes on four attempts for 102 yards but both went for touchdowns while Maldjian rushed for 59 yards on six carries along with his 87-yard TD reception.

With the score now 35-0 at the 10:22 mark of the third quarter the running clock was initiated with the Eagles final three possessions ending with two punts and a fumble.

“This was the best our team has played all season,” Rumson head coach Jerry Schulte said of his team’s performance. “The last two weeks we played good enough to win, but not good enough by our standards. But tonight the timing was right, the communication was right and we played like we are capable of playing.”

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