all shore media high school sports 7-23-12 issue - 14 - volume iv

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3 Sam Mills Awards 5 Hall of Fame Inductees 6 - 7 Monmouth Rocks the Gridiron 8 Lacey Wins 7-on-7 11 Stumpy’s Corner July 23, 2012 Volume-IV Issue-14

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7/23/12 High School Sports Issue By All Shore Media - Monmouth Rocks the Gridiron Classic

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Page 1: All Shore Media High School Sports 7-23-12 Issue - 14 - Volume IV

3 Sam Mi l lsAwards

5 Hall of FameInductees

6-7Monmouth Rocks the Gridiron

8 Lacey Wins7-on-7

11 Stumpy’sCorner

July 23, 2012 Volume-IV Issue-14

Page 2: All Shore Media High School Sports 7-23-12 Issue - 14 - Volume IV

S t e v e nM e y e r

Director/CEO/Marketing

smeyer@a l lsho remed ia. com

7 3 2 - 2 3 3 - 4 4 6 0

S c o t t S t u m p

Director/Managing Editor

s t u m p @ a l l s h o r e m e d i a . c o m

Senior Content Providers

MattM an le y / / Mmanley21@gma i l . com

A l l S h o r e M e d i ais published by: A l l S h o r e Me d i a , L L C26 Ox fo r d D r i v e Ways i de NJ , 0 77 1 2

Copyright 2012 Al l Shore Med ia LLC

Al l r ights reserved Reproduct ion in who le or in

part w ithout the permission of Al l Shore Med ia is p roh ibi ted

A multimediacompany that provides exciting

and innovative coverage to high schoolathletics in the Shore Conference in order to

highlight the achievements of local athletes in one of thepremier conferences in New Jersey. Whether it’s the star of the

team or the last player off the bench, everyone has a story and it is ourmission to recognize as many athletes as possible and add to the memories for

all of the families, coaches, friends and fans who support Shore Conferencesports. Whether in print or on the Web, All Shore Media is your main sourcefor all things exciting in the Shore Conference.

All Shore Media Web Site FeaturesLog on to www.allshoremedia.com regularly to get

V I D E O H I G H L I G H T S of all the importantgames that Shore Conference fans will be talking about.

Catch up on the action you might have missed and watchvideo clips of everything from the action early

in the event to the big finish as well as videointerviews with various athletes. If you can’t make it to

the game, we’ll bring the game to you, and if youwere at the game and want to relive the excitement,www.allshoremedia.com is all you needto get inside the action.

J u l y 2 3 , 2 0 1 2Vo l u m e - I V I I s s u e - 1 4

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When rosters were released for the 2012 U.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic in early June, Stacey Sunnerville wasdisappointed to learn he had been left off the list. Sunnerville,a 6-1, 195-pound defensive end from Freehold Boro, hadproven to be one of the Shore's better speed-rushing ends,and he thought his consistent performance made him aworthy candidate.

"It was prettydisappointing,"Sunnerville said ofhis initial exclusionfrom the MonmouthCounty roster. "I canonly do my best, soif I didn't make itoriginally, all Icould do was keepfighting."

Before his seniorseason, Sunnervillesought to playhimself into theClassic, even madeit one of his maingoals. TheColonials, despiteSunnerville's steadyplay, won just threegames and finishedsixth in a toughClass B North division after heavy graduation lossesfollowing a state title in 2010. While they ended their seasonon a high note with a 13-7 win over rival Freehold Township,Sunnerville's best individual football moment would revealitself months later.

Sunnerville was enjoying his final days as a high schoolstudent, preparing for what lay in store next year when heattends Widener University. Freehold's coach, Dave Ellis,found Sunnerville and delivered the news he had beenwaiting to hear for several years. His preseason goal had beenfulfilled in a completely unexpected way, and it made theprocess all the more gratifying.

"He told me I made the team," Sunnerville said. "I was soexcited, I said to myself 'Let's go!' It was something I hadbeen waiting for all four years of high school."

After being introduced at Thursday night's pre-gameceremony, Sunnerville set out to validate his selection. Oceanquarterback Brandon Kieslor felt his presence early on, asSunnerville applied constant pressure on passing downs andrelentlessly pursued ballcarriers. He led the speed shiftdefensive line rotation, the name used by Monmouthdefensive line coach Justin Fumando, as Monmouth heldOcean to 111 total yards and only 34 yards rushing on 24attempts.

The mood was light on the Monmouth sidelines late in thethird quarter as Sunnerville and his fellow defensive linemenreflected on their brilliant play and enjoyed their last high

school game.

At the end of the third quarter, the winners of theSam Mills Award from each county wereannounced. The award is given to the player fromeach team who best exemplifies the qualities offormer Long Branch legend Sam Mills, alinebacker who overcome his 5-foot-9 frame and

enjoyed a successful11-year career in theNFL. A five-time ProBowler, Mills becamea coaching assistantfor the CarolinaPanthers in 1998. Afterfive years with theteam, he wasdiagnosed withintestinal cancer in2003 and passed awayin 2005.

His story isinspiring, one of a manwho never quitfighting, even in themost dire ofcircumstances. Sowhen he heard he hadbeen chosen for theaward for theMonmouth County

side, Sunnerville felt honored that he had been selected.

"I was humbled," he said. "I took a lot of pride in what I dooff the field with my team, showing a lot of sportsmanship."

After the award presentation, Sunnerville helpedMonmouth finish off its 28-7 victory over Ocean.He didn't record any sacks, nor was he awarded thegame's defensive MVP - an honor given toManasquan linebacker Kodie McNamara - butSunnerville couldn't have asked for a better way toend his high school football career. It was theultimate culmination of not only his exploits on thefield, but his eagerness and team-first approach, therespect and honor he persistently displayed for hiscraft and his peers.

"It was a great way to finish off what I did in highschool," he said. "I wouldn't want to go out anyother way."

Lakewood offensive lineman Zach Dickeywas also a recipient of this year's Sam Mills Awardfor Ocean County.

For Dickey, it was an unexpected honor for aplayer from a program working to remake itselfback into a competitive team after a rough run of futility inthe late 2000s. The Piners went 3-7 in 2010 and 2-8 in 2011after finishing a combined 5-65 from 2003-2009, which

includeda 33-gamelosing streak.

"I was reallysurprisedbecausethere's alot of

dedicatedplayers onthe team and Iwouldn't havethought I was up for theaward, so I was shocked,'' Dickey said. "In a school wherethe team is not recognized very much, it's an honor to beconsidered an athlete deserving of this award.''

Dickey will continue his career at Johnson C. SmithUniversity in Charlotte, N.C., where he was headed after thegame on Thursday night to meet with the coaches before heofficially has to report on Aug. 7.

"I'm about to go to the next level now,'' Dickey said."I'm about to put in more work and more time to keepmy career going.''

Freehold's Stacey Sunnerville receives the Sam Mills Award from MonmouthCounty & is joined by (from left) Monsignor Donovan coach Dan Duddy,Holmdel coach Frank Papalia, Eliterecruits.com/All Shore Media's ChrisMelvin, & Monmouth County head coach Ed Gurrieri of Manalapan.

Seiz ing the Opportunity :Stacey Sunnerv i l l e & ZachD ickey Win Sam Mi l l s AwardsB y C h r i s J o h n s o n a n d M a n a g i n g E d i t o r S c o t t S t u m p

Lakewood offensive lineman Zach Dickey receives Ocean County'sSam Mills Award while joined by (from left) Monsignor Donovan coachDan Duddy, Eliterecruits.com/All Shore Media's Chris Melvin & Ocean

County head coach Rob Davis of Barnegat.

Photos byCliff Lavelle

www.c learedge.zenfo l i o .com

F O R A D V E R T I S I N G I N F O R M A T I O NCon t a c t : S t e v e n Me y e r 7 3 2 - 2 3 3 - 4 4 6 0 sme y e r@a l l s h o r emed i a . c om

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At halftime of Monmouth's 28-7 winover Ocean in this year’s U.S. ArmyAll-Shore Gridiron Classic, two

legendary coaches and an award-winningbroadcaster of Shore Conference footballwere inducted into the Shore FootballCoaches Foundation Hall ofFame.

Standing at midfield on the turf at HolmdelHigh School were Lacey head coach LouVircillo, Keyport head coach Mike Ciccotelliand Shore Sports Network broadcaster KevinWilliams. They comprised the fifth class of theSFCF Hall of Fame since it was created in2008 and first inducted the Shore Conference'sall-time wins leader, former Brick coachWarren Wolf.

Vircillo ranks third all-time in ShoreConference history and is the active winsleader with 248 career victories, including 214as the only coach in the history of the Laceyprogram, which began in 1981. He is one ofthree active Shore Conference coaches withmore than 200 career wins and is 16 victoriesaway from passing late Manasquan andMiddletown North legend Vic Kubu for thesecond-most wins in Shore history.

During his time at Lacey, Vircillo has led the Lions to fourNJSIAA South Jersey Group III championships, includingthree undefeated seasons, with teams known for smashmouthrunning attacks and hard-nosed defense. His four state titlesrank third among active Shore Conference head coachesbehind fellow Hall of Fame inductee Mike Ciccotelli of

Keyport (6) and one of Ciccotelli’s former players,Middletown South head coach Steve Antonucci (5). Laceywent 11-0 in 1989 to win its second straight statechampionship, and it finished 12-0 in 2006 and 2010.

Vircillo also has led the Lions to 12 Shore Conferencedivision titles, including six straight Class B South

crowns from 1988-1993. He ranks fourth in ShoreConference history among coaches in total titles betweendivision and state championships. His teams have made 20state playoff appearances, including 17 during his tenure atLacey. His first head coaching job was at Red Bank, wherehe led the Bucs to three state playoff appearances and a pair

of division titlesfrom 1976-80. In2008, he wasinducted into theNew Jersey FootballCoaches AssociationHall of Fame.

Vircillo has also beenan instrumental figure as

a trustee and one of thefounders of the Shore

Football Coaches Foundation, which runsthe U.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic

and puts on a yearly Academic All-Shorebreakfast for Shore Conference players. He also hasthree victories as a head coach of the Ocean Countysquad in the Gridiron Classic, including a 6-3victory in last year’s game that put him second alltime in Classic history behind Wolf, who has five.

He was surrounded on the field at Holmdel by alarge contingent of family, friends and coachesduring his induction.

"It's a great honor, especially coming from yourpeers,'' Vircillo said. "To be considered to be amongall these coaching greats is very special to mebecause I believe Shore Conference football is someof the best and most competitive football in thestate.''

The longest-tenured active coach in the Shore Conference,Ciccotelli has led the Red Raiders to six NJSIAA CentralJersey Group I titles, which is tied for the second-most of anyhead coach in conference history. He is one of three activeShore Conference coaches with more than 200 careervictories and one of only six in conference history.

Since taking over at Keyport in 1978, Ciccotelli hascompiled a career record of 220-122-3, leading Keyport toCentral Jersey Group I championships in 1987, 1988, 1992,1998, 1999, and 2002. He also has led the Red Raiders to 12Shore Conference division titles, including three straightfrom 1987-89. His teams have made 15 state playoffappearances and he has a career playoff record of 21-10.

With teams known for their punishing Delaware Wing-Trunning attack and physical defense, Ciccotelli led the RedRaiders to a school single-season record 11 wins in 1999,2002 and 2003, including an 11-0 season in 2002. Ciccotellihas also twice served as the Monmouth County head coach inthe Gridiron Classic, winning both times.

"It means everything,'' Ciccotelli said. "I think aboutcoaching against all these great coaches here and all myformer players, and there's just so much great history in theShore. This is just an awesome honor.''

A long-time supporter of Shore Conference football and anaward-winning radio broadcaster, Williams is currently in his33rd year at WOBM radio and is the director of qualitycontrol at WOBM and director of the Shore Sports Network.

Williams is a nine-time winner of the New JerseySportscaster of the Year Award given by the NationalSportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He is in chargeof the award-winning team that broadcasts live ShoreConference football and basketball games on the ShoreSports Network, which is made up of WOBM AM 1160/1310and 105.7 “The Hawk.” As part of that he also co-hosts aThursday Night High School Football Show in the fall andbroadcasts morning sports reports on New Jersey 101.5 and97.3 ESPN-FM. Those radio broadcasts have become part ofthe fabric of football season for Shore Conference gridironfans, players and coaches for three decades.

"The biggest thrill is to be in the company of such greatShore Conference coaches,'' Williams said.

Photos byC l i f f L a v e l l e

www . c l e a r e d g e . z e n f o l i o . c om

(from left to right): Kevin Williams, Lou Vircillo & Mike Ciccotelli.

Three Inductees intoHall of FameB y S c o t t S t u m p – M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

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hen it

came to

determiningwhich players would make

the most impact for

Monmouth County in this

year's showdown with

Ocean County in the U.S.

Army All-ShoreGridiron Classic,the regular -seasonnumbers didn't lie.

St. John Vianney quarterback Anthony Carlucci,who threw for more than 2,400 yards in the fall,tossed a pair of touchdown passes, andManalapan 2,000-yard rusher John Sieczkowskiracked up 100 yards rushing and a touchdownon 18 carries to lead to the way to a 28-7Monmouth victory in front of more than 3,000fans at Holmdel High School. Monmouth,which bounced back from a loss to Ocean inlast year's game, now leads the all-timeseries 19-15-1 after the 35th edition of thestate's oldest high school football all-stargame. Behind an imposing offensive linethat controlled the line of scrimmage,Monmouth amassed 308 total yards inthe victory.

Carlucci was 5-for-6 passing for agame-high 91 yards and two touchdowns,including a 44-yard strike to his favorite target,St. John Vianney wideout Anthony Pante, who seta school record with 1,027 yards receiving as asenior. Carlucci, who is headed to Franklin &Marshall, was named Monmouth's offensive MostValuable Player two years after his older brother, Joe,threw the game-winning touchdown pass forMonmouth in 2010.

"I couldn 't think of a better way to

end it,' ' Carlucci said. "This whole

week has been a ton of fun, & we

really came together as a team. I 'm

sure my brother and I are going to

be talking about this for a while.

We 're going to remember it forever.' '

After a scoreless first quarter, Monmouth took a 7-0 lead into halftime when it mounted a 12-play, 65-yard drive in which Sieczkowski carried the ball 10times for 48 yards. He capped the drive with a one-

yard plunge to put a cherry on top of aseason in which he rushed for a school-record 2,208 yards to lead the ShoreConference. He will continue his careerat Monmouth University, where he willplay linebacker, and he picked up one

more win under hiscoaching staff, as

Manalapan's EdGurrieri served asMonmouth's headcoach.

"I likedeverything aboutthis week,''

Sieczkowskisaid. "I got

to

meet peoplethat I neverthought I wouldbe friends withlike Ryan Daviesfrom (rival)Howell. Plus,Manalapan'snever hadlinemenlike

(Monmouth's),so I justthought theywere going tokill everybodyand we would beable to runeverywhere.''

Monmouth blew thegame open in thethird quarter with 14straight points to takea 21-0 lead. On itsfirst possession,Carlucci launched afade pass down theright sideline to astreaking Pante for a

44-yard touchdown strike. Late in the second quarter,Howell quarterback Ryan Davies had unloaded a 52-yard bomb for a touchdown to Pante, but it got calledback because of a 12-men-on-the-field penalty. Thistime the Lancers' teammates connected to send a joltthrough the crowd for a 14-0 lead with 9:30 left in

the third quarter after the second of fourextra points in the game for Colts Neckkicker Reiner Smit.

"Last high school game, myquarterback - there's no better

feeling than to end highschool football likethat,'' said Pante,who is headed tothe University ofNew Hampshire.

"We just have agreat trust for

each other,''Carlucci said.

"I knowwhere he'sgoing to

be, and heknows whereI'm going tothrow it. To doit one last timein this game is

pretty special.''

After the Monmouthdefense forced a three-and-out, Red Bank Catholic's

John DiStefanoreturned a punt 35 yards to the Ocean

15-yard line. On the first play fromscrimmage, Davies rolled out andfound Red Bank Regional wideout

Tyheem Crawford for a 15-yardtouchdown pass and a 21-0

lead with 6:59 left in thethird quarter. It added onemore touchdown throw toa brilliant high school

career, as Davies is the

Howell’s Ryan Davies

RBC’s Anthony Dorsi

Midd South’s Jon Valentine

Ocean’s Greg Moore

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ShoreConference'sall-time leaderin touchdownpasses with 70and also has thesingle-seasonrecords forpassing yardsand touchdownpasses.

Oceanrespondedwith a

nine-play,69-yard drive spearheaded by Brick quarterbackBrandon Kieslor,who won offensive MVPhonors for his team.He hit Point Beach'sMark Jurkowski fora 19-yard gain andfound JacksonMemorial'sJohntel

Thomasfor a 31-yard pass

on the drive before

scoring on atwo-yard runto cut it to 21-7with 2:56 left in

the third quarter.Kieslor finished9-for-14 for 84

yards passing andalso had 14 yardsrushing.

Per Classic rules,when a team scoresand is still down by13 points or more, itgets the ball back,so Monmouthkicked offfollowingKieslor'stouchdown run.

The Monmouthdefense forced a three-and-

out, and then Carlucci led onefinal scoring drive. He capped itby finding Keansburg wideout

Matt Smith across the middle for a21-yard touchdown pass and a 28-7

advantage with 10:10 left in the game.

"(Carlucci) told me before the play hewas going to hit me and it was a beautifulpass,'' Smith said. "This whole experience

was awesome. I wish I could redo it. It was a greatweek.''

While the Monmouth offense wasimpressive, the defense was equally as

outstanding. Monmouth held Oceanto 34 yards rushing on 24

attempts and 111 totalyards. Manasquan

linebacker KodieMcNamarawas namedthe

defensiveMVP with six tackles, including

two for a loss. Middletown Northdefensive back Joey Racioppi also had a

pair of hits for a loss, and Raritanlinebacker James Pasquin and Manasquan

defensive lineman Christian Morgan eachhad a sack.

"I give a lot of credit to the D-linebecause we weren't getting touched,''McNamara said. "You could read

the holes so clean because the D-line was staying on their

objectives.''

McNamara,who was

named

the Class C Central Defensive Player of the Year by thecoaches this past fall, will continue his career atGettysburg College.

"Before the game I was reading

some of the pregame speeches

our coach writes and it gets me

going and gives me chills, and I

think it will for the rest of my

life,' ' McNamara said. " I give a lot

of credit to (Manasquan) coach(Jay) Price for making me theplayer I am today.' '

Lacey defensive end Jordan Powell, a University ofNew Hampshire recruit, capped his standout careerwith three sacks to earn defensive MVP honors forOcean. Brick linebacker Tom Winters, a MonmouthUniversity recruit, added three sacks of his own.

Monmouth 28, Ocean 7(Monmouth leads al l - t ime series 19-15-1)

Monmouth OceanFirst downs 19 7Rushes-yards 40-164 24-34Passing 9-13-0 11-18-0Passing yards 144 77Penalties 4-55 4-20Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0

Monmouth: 0 7 14 7 28 Ocean: 0 0 7 0 7

Scoring Summary:M: Sieczkowski 1-yard run (Smit kick).

M: Pante 44-yard pass from Carlucci (Smit kick).M: Crawford 15-yard pass from Davies (Smit kick).

O: Kieslor 2-yard run (Azaceta kick).M: Smith 21-yard pass from Carlucci (Smit kick).

Individual Stat is t icsRushing – M: Sieczkowski 18-100, Davies 4-(-14),Scalici 6-44, McEnery 1-3, Carlucci 3-(-12),DiStefano 7-40, Quinn 1-3.O: Dunbar 5-(-17), Billups 2-9, Hardy 5-13, Kieslor7-14, Mannato 1-3, Vitale 1-4, Buxbaum 1-0,Bellissimo 1-5, Thomas 1-3.

Passing – M: Carlucci 5-6-0 91, Davies 4-7-0 53.O: Kieslor 9-14-0 84, Dunbar 1-2-0 (-5), Buxbaum 1-2-0 (-2).

Receiving – M: Yaegel 1-18, Smith 3-39,McEnery 1-8, Pante 1-44, Sieczkowski 1-18,Crawford 1-15, Quinn 1-2.O: D'Anton 5-25, Jurkowski 1-19, Thomas 3-40,Dunbar 1-(-2) , Bi l lups 1-(-5) .Molzon 1-4.

Photos byCliff Lavelle

www.c learedge.zenfo l i o .com

Midd South’s Jon Valentine

Ocean’s Greg Moore

Manalapan’s John Sieczkowski

Manalapan’sJohn Sieczkowski

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For the second t ime in the three-year exis tence of the ShoreConference 7-on-7 Tournament ,Lacey took home the t i t le . TheLions beat Howell 36-13 in theevent , which was held in the hourbefore the kickoff of the GridironClassic .

The main subplot was that Lacey 'soffense is being run by Cory Davies ,who s tepped down as Howell ' s headcoach af ter 21 seasons and is nowan assis tant under Virci l lo a t Lacey.There were confl ic ts galore , as notonly was Davies facing his formerteam, but his son, Ryan, was aquarterback for the MonmouthCounty squad in the big game. Meanwhile , his younger son, ConorDavies , is a sophomore quarterback at Lacey who took some snaps inthe 7-on-7 as the backup to junior Tom Kelly.

"I t was hard, ' ' Cory Davies said about coaching against his oldteam. "I t was kind of bi t tersweet . ' '

Lacey Wins 7 -on-7 T i t leB y S c o t t S t u m p – M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

Photos byC l i f f L a v e l l e

www . c l e a r e d g e . z e n f o l i o . c om

D o u g B o s t w i c kwww.spor tshotswlb .smugmug.com

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For two quarterbacks,this year ’s U.S. Army All-ShoreGridiron Classic was a chance to showthey could excel among top talent af tersenior seasons in which they wereoften overshadowed by somebigger names.

St. John Vianney quarterback AnthonyCarlucci and Brick signal-caller BrandonKieslor each took home the offensiveMost Valuable Player awards for theirrespective squads in Monmouth County’s28-7 victory over Ocean County. Carlucciwas nearly perfect, going 5-for-6 for agame-high 91 yards passing and throwinga pair of touchdown passes, one shy ofthe single-game Classic record, to leadthe way for Monmouth. Kieslor ledOcean’s only scoring drive of the nightand generated 98 yards of total offensewhile rushing for a touchdown.

Carlucci threw for more than 2,400yards as a senior, ranking second in theShore Conference behind only record-breaking Howell signal-caller RyanDavies. However, Carlucci lost on out on the vote amongthe coaches for the All-Class A Central quarterback spot

to talentedsignal-callerDanny Robertoof Rumson-FairHaven, whichwon thedivision title.However, therewas nobitterness forCarlucci, as hesimply hoped toget a spot on theMonmouthCounty rosterand a shot tofollow in thefootsteps of hisolder brotherJoe, who threw

the game-winning touchdown in the 2010 Classic.

“It was nothing like that,’’ Carlucci said about havingany chip on his shoulder. “I just wanted to come out andhave a great experience and make some new friends. Thiswas just a great week.’’

Having covered the U.S. Army All-Shore GridironClassic and its previous incarnations for more than

10 years, it’s always a fun week to see which players canstill make plays when the competition suddenly gets awhole lot better. There are plenty of years where some

players with big numbers make All-Shore andthen when you see them among the Shore’s bestin that week of practice and in the game, youwonder if maybe you made a mistake.

Obviously, one all-star game performance doesn’tchange everything positively or negatively after a full

season in the fall, but it lets you know who might havebeen the product of a system or weak competition.Conversely, it lets you know who might have been abigger star if they didn’t play out of position for theirteam or play on a losing team that had major weaknessesin other areas. Where the players are going to college is

the obvious gauge for talentbecause college coaches getpaid to evaluate talent, butevery year during GridironClassic week there areplayers like Carlucci andKieslor who make yourealize you might haveunderestimated them duringthe season.

Then there are players likeLacey defensive end JordanPowell, who show why theyare going to play at quality

college programs. Powellis headed to FootballChampionshipSubdivision power NewHampshire, and he showedwhy in earning defensiveMVP honors for OceanCounty with nine tacklesand three sacks. He was aman among boys for muchof the game, even leavingDavies marveling at hisstrength after Powelldropped him to the groundon a sack in the first half.

Powell battled some injuries and a scary MRSAinfection during the season on a Lacey team that lostnearly its entire lineup to graduation after finishing 12-0and No. 1 in the Shore Conference in 2010. He was theperfect example of a player who might have been a first-team All-Shore pick if he was on a top defense like Red

Bank Catholic or Neptune or Rumson-Fair Haven in thefall but might have been a little underestimated becauseLacey finished 4-6. That’s a reason why I am such a fanof the Gridiron Classic, because it’s a chance for playersto put behind any injuries or frustrations or regrets fromtheir senior season and get that one final chance to showwhat they cando on the bigstage.

Just to be ableto put the padson one moretime is arewardingexperience,which issomething Ithink many ofthese playerswho often dropout of the gamein the weeks ordays leading upto it tend toforget.ManasquanlinebackerKodieMcNamara, who was named Monmouth County’sdefensive MVP in the victory, couldn’t have been moregrateful to represent the Warriors one more time. In thedays leading up to the game, he read old pregamespeeches by Manasquan coach Jay Price just to gethimself fired up.

Playing for one of the Shore Conference’s iconicprograms is something that McNamara will never forget,even if the Warriors didn’t achieve their usual goal of

winning a division or state championshipdespite finishing 9-2.

“I’m going to miss it so much,’’ saidMcNamara, who will play at GettysburgCollege. “Just the tradition, playing forcoach Price and playing with my friends issomething that I’ll never forget.’’

That is ultimately the goal of the GridironClassic – creating lifetime memories. Thereare players from the inaugural game in1978 whose sons are now following in theirfootsteps as all-stars. In talking to thoseplayers, they will tell you their fathers stillhave the jerseys, newspaper clippings andother mementos from a game that wasplayed 34 years ago. Thirty-four years fromnow, it may be Carlucci or Powell orMcNamara or Kieslor getting to tell a fondstory when their kids stumble on that oldplaque in the attic or find those videohighlight clips on an old hard drive.

“You just can’t ask for any better way to finish thanthis,’’ Carlucci said.

www.a l lshoremedia .com ASM / 1 1

Monmouth Offensive MVP Anthony Carlucciis presented by US ARMY’s Colonel Barnes

Monmouth Defensive MVPKodie McNamara

Ocean Offensive MVPBrandon Kieslor

Ocean Defensive MVPJordan Powell

Photos byCliff Lavelle

www.c learedge.zenfo l i o .com

J o i n T h eA l l S h o r e M e d i a T e a m T o d a y !

Interested in joining our team andthink you have what it takes to becovering sports in the ShoreConference for All Shore Media? Weare looking for local writers interestedin covering sports like Football,Track, Soccer, Basketball and more aspart of our newspaper and our website

(www.allshoremedia.com). Grab yourchance to appear regularly in The AllShore Media Sports Review and onwww.allshoremedia.com whilehelping us recognize more athletesand bring more stories to ShoreConference sports fans. This is yourchance to become a regular

contributor to a growing business onthe cutting edge of covering sports inMonmouth and Ocean County.Just contact Managing EditorScott Stump @[email protected]

F O R A D V E R T I S I N G I N F O R M A T I O NCon t a c t : S t e v e n Me y e r 7 3 2 - 2 3 3 - 4 4 6 0 sme y e r@a l l s h o r emed i a . c om

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