Brick proves it still has plenty in the tank
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff At left, Brick’s Jordan Marsch lunges to catch a ball during Brick’s win over Freehold Township on Friday. Above, Mike O’Neill emerges from a pack of Freehold Township defenders for a positive gain.

For senior Chris Anderson, the only returning lineman, it was a “special” victory as Brick Township beat Freehold Township, 19-14, on Friday night.

Anderson and his mates took the lead from Virginia Tech’s special teams legacy in college football when he blocked a punt with 1:03 left and Rob Mahler ran it in from 15 yards out down the left sideline as the Green Dragons won their first game in the Shore Conference American Division. They won the Constitution Division a year ago in an unbeaten regular season.

“Their center shot out and I went right in. Nobody touched me,” said Anderson. “Everyone wrote us off with all the seniors we lost from last year. I thought this was an even matchup, but we showed we have a lot of heart.”

And a lot of character, as Brick Township rallied from a 13-7 deficit entering the final quarter as Steve Sahal ran one yard for the touchdown with 9:25 left, capping a nine-play, 77-yard march. Sahal rushed for 87 of Brick Township’s 154 yards.

Brick’s Dan Gallagher finds some running room during the Green Dragons’ win over Freehold Township.

“It was a great comeback victory,” said coach Warren Wolf. “The boys were determined. It was a credit to the team.

“But we have a lot of work to do,” added Wolf. “In the first half, we had a lot of mental errors and physical errors. We didn’t do the things we were practicing.”

Part of that could be the new players fitting into their starting positions, including quarterback Bill Winters, who earned the starting spot in the last week of practice.

“I think he had a good first game,” said Wolf.

Dan Palma, another player battling for the start at quarterback, instead played as a defensive back and strongly stood up many blockers and ballcarriers while earning the Defensive Player game ball.

“Defense always comes first with this team. It’s our strong point,” said Palma as Brick held Freehold Township to 36 yards rushing but allowed 100 passing. “I think I played a fair game, but I played hard. This just shows that we have a team, even though everybody thinks we lost so many players.”

“You win with defense, and our defense came through tonight,” said Wolf. “But it’s got to get better.”

And the offensive line that was a concern going into the game looked so solid, especially in run blocking, that offensive tackle Joe Smythe got the Offensive Player game ball.

“I felt pretty good,” said Smythe. “We all played together and finally jelled. We knew we could do this. We’ve been underestimated.”

After Freehold Township’s march to the 5-yard line on its first series stalled on a holding penalty, Brick Township went 60 yards in eight plays, capped by Jordan Marsch’s 1-yard run. Mike Hockenbury kicked his first of three extra points. Marsch, who also ran 15 yards early in the drive and finished with 52 yards, also punted well. Winters set up the touchdown with a 14-yard run.

Freehold Township cut into the lead midway through the second quarter but missed the conversion kick. Brick Township fumbled at the goal line late in the first half to keep the score at 7-6 before Freehold Township took the lead in the third quarter, an 8-yard pass catch set up by a Brick fumble near its own end zone.