PHOTO GALLERY: Toms River North Tops Toms River South In Football

Toms River North quarterback Mike Husni passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more, and the Mariners’ defense returned two fumbles for touchdowns in a dominating performance from start to finish in a 55-20 victory over Toms River South in the annual Civil War on Friday night.

The game, for the second year, was highlighted as part of the Great American Rivalry series, created by BrainBox Intelligent Marketing and sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps to highlight high school football games throughout the country.

The Mariners (2-1, 2-1) and Indians have been facing off since 1972, after Toms River High School was split into North and South. Last year, the Mariners won 44-34 at Toms River South in a hotly contested game.

On Friday, the Mariners took control early, shooting out to a 21-7 lead in the first 7 minutes of the game on the strength of Husni’s 4-yard run, a 20-yard touchdown on a return of a recovered fumble by Pete LaQuaglia and an 80-yard touchdown pass by Husni to Bryce Watts.

North added two more scores -- a 3-yard run by Asante Moorer and an 18-yard run by Husni -- to make it 34-7, and then stuffed the Indians (2-1, 1-1) at the goal line in the waning seconds before halftime to put the game out of reach.

Toms River South got three touchdowns from Tyler Sosa -- two of them pass receptions and the third a rushing score -- but could not overcome five lost fumbles.