Gurrieri makes the big play on defense in Brave win

BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY Freehold Borough’s Danny Matthews high steps his way past a diving Monmouth Regional defender during the Colonials road loss in Tinton Falls on Saturday. Eddie Gurrieri’s 120 yards rushing hurt Howell, but it was his tackle on defense that finished the Rebels off.

Trailing 19-18 after driving 95 yards in the final 43 seconds and scoring on a trick play, Howell head coach Cory Davies rolled the dice and went for the win Saturday night in Manalapan.

The Rebels faked the tying extra-point kick and tried to score on a two-point conversion run by kicker Joe Blood.

Blood had turned the corner and appeared headed into the end zone with the winning conversion when Gurrieri, charging up from the secondary, tackled Blood inches from the goal line, forcing a fumble that rolled out of bounds, and with it, Howell hopes for victory.

The big hit gave Eddie’s father, Ed Gurrieri, his first head coaching win at Manalapan and evened the Braves record at 1-1.

“It was important for everyone,” the coach pointed out. “It wasn’t about me winning my first. Everyone starts with high expectations, and we have high expectations, but until you have that first one, you have doubts.”

It wasn’t a perfect outing for the Braves, but they did the things they had to do to win. In their opening-game loss to Jackson (24-6), the Braves had to play from behind, and for a team that requires balance, that isn’t a winning formula.

“We have to mix the pass and the run,” said coach Gurrieri.

Against Howell, the Braves stayed close and were able to run and throw the ball with equal effectiveness. Manalapan ran for 141 yards and passed for 101.

Gurrieri scored the first touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run in the first quarter.

Quarterback Nick Scardelli’s 9-yard run pulled Manalapan even with Howell at 12-12 at the half.

Early in the fourth quarter, Anthony Mujica’s 4-yard run and the extra point kick by David Sarner gave Manalapan a 19-12 lead.

When a Brave punt pinned Howell back on its own 5-yard line with 43 seconds remaining in the game, all seemed lost for Howell.

But quarterback Gus Borden drove the Rebels down the field and the polished off the drive on a hook-and-ladder play with Brian Smith catching the pass from Borden, and then lateraling the ball back to Ryan McGuinniss, who took it the rest of the way for the touchdown. The 17-yard scoring playing pulled the Rebels within one; but rather than play for the extra point and overtime, Davies went for it.

“It was a gutsy move,” said Gurrieri. “He [Davies] has more guts than I do.”

Manalapan hits the road tomorrow night for a game at Toms River North (1-1) starting at 7 p.m.

What coach Gurrieri carried out of the win against Howell was the improvement his team had made from its first game.

“We’re taking baby steps,” he said. “We were more consistent against Howell and didn’t turn the ball over. We stayed in the game and that allowed us to run and throw the ball. We had a good balance.”

Howell (0-2) will look to rebound tomorrow night at home against Brick (1-1) at 6:30 p.m.

Borden and McGuinniss scored Howell’s other TDs at Manalapan on short runs from one and five yards out.

Freehold Township is impressive in win over Marlboro

Freehold Township rebounded from its tough opening day loss at Brick (21-14) and also moved to 1-1 with its solid 27-0 win over Marlboro (0-2) at home on Saturday afternoon.

It was a big day for Kevin Wagner and the Freehold Township offensive line. The Patriots ran for 233 yards behind the line, with Wagner accounting for 121 on 27 carries. He scored the game’s first touchdown in the first quarter on a short, three-yard run.

Wagner’s running opened up the airways for quarterback Tom Porricelli, who came up with a pair of 11-yard touchdown passes in the second quarter to Korey Yngstrom and Chris Dorf. Those strikes gave Freehold Township a 20-0 lead at the half.

J.R. Carlino closed out the scoring in the third quarter on a 26-yard scamper.

The Patriot defense held Marlboro to just 38 total yards and limited wide receiver Rodney Salomon to one catch for eight yards.

Saturday’s game was the start of a rare three-game home stand for the Freehold Township. The Patriots are home tomorrow night (7 p.m.) to take on Southern Regional in a Shore Conference American Division game. The Rams are off to a 1-1 start themselves having beaten Toms River North, 24-7, Saturday. Garrett Burgess ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns in the win. The Rams kept to the ground, themselves picking up 208 yards against the Mariners.

It doesn’t get any easier for Marlboro, which will host undefeated Jackson (2-0) tomorrow at 4 p.m. Jackson is coming off a big 31-26 win over Brick.

Colts Neck and Freehold Borough slipped to 0-2 with losses on Saturday.

Colts Neck fell 40-0 to Wall in the Cougars’ home opener.

The Cougars now face the dubious task of traveling to “the Swamp” tomorrow to take on undefeated Middletown South, the second-ranked team in the state. The Eagles are coming off a 47-7 dismantling of Red Bank Regional, which was ranked in the top 20. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Four turnovers, which Monmouth Regional (1-1) scored 13 points off, were Freehold Borough’s undoing in Tinton Falls Saturday. The Colonials (0-2) lost to the Falcons, 19-7, losing the ball twice on fumbles and twice on interceptions.

Brent Donnelly scored Freehold Borough’s lone touchdown on a 1-yard blast through the line. The fullbacks carried the ball 15 times for a game-high 45 yards.

The Falcons put the game away in the fourth quarter. Leading just 13-7, quarterback Tom D’Ambrisi (6-7, 81 yards) and Andrew Barone got together on a 23-yard scoring pass that lifted the Falcons to their winning 19-7 edge.

Freehold Borough will look to pick up its first win of the season tomorrow night at Neptune (1-1) at 6 p.m.

The Scarlet Fliers fell to Long Branch, 35-10, on Sunday.