Mustangs dominate Thanksgiving showdown

BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above, Brick Township’s defense swarms around Brick Memorial running back Vinnie Falkiewicz during the Mustangs’ convincing win on Thanksgiving Day. At right, Memorial’s Kelly Moore picks off a Brick Township pass in the fourth quarter. It was a glorious end of the football season for Brick Memorial, but quarterback Chris James saw it as the start of a new one.

“This game is not part of the season but the start of next season,” said James, who threw for three touchdowns and 177 yards as the Mustangs beat archrival Brick Township, 42-7, on Thanksgiving morning at Brick Memorial.

Brick Memorial, coming off an NJSIAA Group IV Central Jersey 22-19 loss to Sayreville, finished its season 8-2. Brick Township, which also came off a playoff loss to East Brunswick, 13-12, in the Central Jersey playoffs, dropped its fourth straight game and finished 5-5.

It was Brick Memorial’s third victory in the last four Thanksgiving meetings. Brick Township leads the holiday showdown, 17-5-1.

“The kids put it all together. It was a total, complete package of offense, defense and special teams,” said coach Fred Sprengel. “It was a great way to send out our seniors.”

Brick Memorial’s Mike Lepore hauls in a touchdown pass over Brick’s Mike Moschella during last Thursday’s game in Brick. James, who completed six of 16 passes, received the Most Valuable Player Helmet trophy.

Jordan Marsch got the MVP Helmet trophy for Brick Township, although he was held to 31 yards rushing by a tenacious Brick Memorial defense that checked the Green Dragons to 126 yards rushing, 41 of them on the ground, and had seven quarterback sacks. Kelly Moore excelled on Brick Memorial’s defensive line, as usual, but Joe Eccles made some big plays that helped Brick Memorial take an early lead and break open a 14-7 halftime advantage.

In the third quarter, Eccles sacked Brick Township quarterback Bill Winters in the end zone for a safety. On the ensuing punt, Vin Falkiewicz returned it 67 yards to the 1-yard line and Gus Aponte scored on the next play.

Eccles earlier recovered a punt blocked by George O’Donnell near the goal line and Falkiewicz ran three yards for a touchdown. Falkiewicz rushed 16 times for 67 yards, leaving him 43 yards shy of 1,000 for the season.

Dan Burke, who was four-for-five on extra points as a replacement for injured Garrett Graham, kicked the conversion for a 14-0 lead. Marsch narrowed the lead with a 1-yard touchdown plunge in the closing seconds of the half and Mike Hockenbury’s kick made it 14-7 before Brick Memorial broke away.

“We had to execute more and we showed what we can do,” said James. “Without Garrett Graham out there, everybody picked it up. It shows the character this team had.”

Brick Memorial scored on its first play of the game when James hooked up with Mike LePore on a 71-yard touchdown pass play. He later threw touchdown strikes to Steve Avon for 34 yards and Orville Campbell for 33. Rudy Ruvalcaba also ran for a touchdown in the second half.

“The seniors stepped up for this game tremendously, guys like Orville Campbell who has done a good job for us all year and caught a touchdown pass,” said Sprengel.

But Sprengel loses to graduation only three starters on offense and five on defense. Justin Supan and Mike Rossalei, who bolstered the left side of the offensive line, are gone along with Graham, who is headed to the University of Wisconsin and Avon, who stepped in as the tight end when Graham was hurt. James will return for his senior season after completing 73-of-134 passes (54.5 percent) for 1,528 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was intercepted only six times.

“He made some mistakes but he won 16 games for us the last two years as a starter, which is not too shabby,” said Sprengel. “And he threw for 500 more yards than last year, which is just due to getting more experience the more he plays.”

“I matured a little more,” said James. “I’ll miss all the guys who are leaving, but we’re looking good for next year. I just have to work on getting faster and stronger.”

Brick Memorial rushed for 1,707 yards, showing a nice offensive balance throughout the season.