Garnet Gulls Show They Can Soar After All

It turned out to be a perfect partnership.

John Wagner had the undeniable desire to be a football coach again. Point Pleasant Beach High School needed one.

Wagner was a man with a track record of success. Point Pleasant Beach had become comfortable with the lack of it.

Wagner asked Point Pleasant Beach – the team, the school, the community – to believe. Together they have.

The Garnet Gulls are 6-2. They have gone from an also-ran to a playoff qualifier.

Point Beach will play at New Egypt in the opening round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Central Jersey Group I tournament at 7 p.m. Friday.

It’s been a banner week for the Point Pleasant Beach football program.

Besides the playoff bid, the New York Jets named Wagner the recipient of their High School Coach of the Week Award. For his efforts, Wagner will receive $1,000 to benefit the school’s football program and will be presented with a certificate from the Jets.

“It’s been a win-win situation,’’ said Wagner, who spent 25 years as a teacher, coach and athletic director at Roselle Park High School in Union County. “I got the chance to coach again. Point Pleasant Beach got a coach with some experience and the opportunity to win.’’

Wagner has more than “some experience.’’

He had a career record 150-92-2 at Roselle Park. His teams qualified for the state playoffs nine times. He won nine league championships. Two of his squads – in 1992 and 1993 – went undefeated and earned sectional titles.

“We’re here to build a program,’’ Wagner said. “We want our players proud of the program. We want them to be proud of wearing shirts with Point Pleasant Beach on their chests.

“We told the kids we didn’t want to lose a game … we want to get beaten.’’

The players, however, had heard the rhetoric before. For seniors, Wagner is their third head coach in four years. All had promised a reversal in fortunes. All had failed to deliver. Point Pleasant Beach was 2-8 last year. The Gulls have only one playoff victory in school history – that in 1982 and haven't even been in the playoffs since 2001.

“It was almost as if losing became acceptable,’’ said Point Beach senior Jordan Pettinato, a tight end and linebacker.

“I think there was a feeling around the town that we would never win,’’ added junior middle linebacker Quinn Kusma. “I mean the team expected to win but the town always felt like the team had no size, no speed and little chance to win.’’

Wagner arrived in June after retiring at Roselle Park. His work began immediately. It had to. There was a lot to repair.

“My first two years here were tough,’’ Kusma said. “Nobody had faith. I felt like there had to be someone who would believe in us.’’

Wagner was that someone. With 25 years experience at a Group I school, Wagner understood the limitations of a small school.

“I watched the tape, we had some skill, we had some athletes,’’ Wagner said. “I said all the things that needed to be said. But when you don’t win, they’re nothing but words.’’

Wagner exploited the hunger of a senior class that had little success. Weightroom workouts began immediately from 7-10 a.m. Players came, then more players came and slowly there was competition for starting jobs.

“In previous years, everyone pretty much knew who was going to start and the players played out the season,’’ Kusma said. “This year there was competition for starting spots.’’

Competition forced players to work harder. Competition made for better practices. Better practices made for a better attitude. The better attitude showed when Point Beach was competitive in preseason scrimmages.

“We started to believe little by little,’’ Kusma said. “It went from one player to his friends, from those friends to their parents … the excitement here is amazing.’’

The Gulls opened with a resounding 53-6 victory over Cardinal McCarrick. But it was in the second game of the season – a 24-8 loss to unbeaten Asbury Park – that the Point Pleasant Beach program had its breakthrough.

“We were down by two touchdowns at the half and we were tired and drained,’’ Kusma recalled. “But we held them scoreless in the second half.

“I remember turning to (teammate) Jim Morris and saying: ‘I think we got something here.’”

“Asbury Park hit us with three big plays,’’ Wagner said. “I told the kids it was too early to be playing against a team like Asbury Park. But we held them scoreless for the final two quarters. But we grew so much as a team in that game.’’

Running the newly installed Delaware Wing-T on offense and playing fly-to-the-football defense, Point Pleasant Beach went on a roll.

The Gulls beat Keansburg, 27-7 in Game 3.

They beat Keyport, 12-7 in Game 4.

They beat Middlesex, a state tournament qualifier, 20-6 in Game 5.

Then they crushed Mater Dei, 48-28, in Game 6.

“Coach Wagner made everyone see what could happen,’’ Pettinato said.

“For me the Keyport game made me a true believer. We always struggled against Keyport. We were down 7-6 most of the game but we scored the last touchdown to win. We grinded it out for the final four minutes and scored on a pass. The place went nuts.

“Right then, I felt like something was coming for us,’’ Pettinato said. “It was like, wow, we can do this.’’

The Gulls stumbled in Game 7, however, losing to Dunellen, 24-22. Dunellen also qualified for the sectional playoffs.

“We had a shot at the end, but couldn’t get it done,’’ Wagner said simply.

But needing a win to solidify a playoff spot, the Gulls spanked Spotswood, 38-7, on Homecoming Day.

“I think it was the first time we won a Homecoming game in 10 years,’’ Kusma said.

Now in the playoffs, Point Beach will face the pressure of single elimination. New Egypt, which played in the Burlington Township Scholastic League despite being in Ocean County, is coached by former Manasquan High School star Luke Sinkhorn. The Warriors feature a powerful running game.

“It’s one of the biggest games of  our lives,’’ Kusma said. “For most of us, this is a dream come true.

“We need to be level-headed. We can’t be too high. We can’t be too low. But we need to be prepared.’’

Wagner is sure to have Point Pleasant Beach ready.

“We take what the defense gives us,’’ Wagner said. “We use all our running backs. We want to play good defense first and use special teams to change the field. We are playing 16 or 17 kids a game. We are not an 11-man football team.’’

The Gulls are, however, a team of one mind.

“The No.1 reason for our success is coach Wagner,’’ Pettinato said. “He helped us forget the past. He helped us start fresh. It’s like every player turned over a new leaf.’’

Success appears to have infected the entire Point Beach football program.

Wagner said the JV team is 7-0.

“The first thing we did was changed the terminology so everyone was on the same page and everyone spoke the same language,’’ Wagner said. “We had outstanding coaches, a supportive administration and some great athletes. Everyone believed in what we were doing.’’

Victory, as always, makes acceptance much easier.

“A game is 48 minutes long, but the memories last a lifetime,’’ Wagner said.

The 2011 football season has been memorable for Point Pleasant Beach – the team, the school, the community.