Point Beach Beats Shore Regional 14-12

Point Beach beat Shore 14-12 in a Class B Central game at Robert E. Feeney Field. The loss would be Shore’s second in a row as it also lost to Florence in NJSIAA sectional playoffs on Nov. 12.

Unable to get into any sort of offensive rhythm all night, the Blue Devils just couldn't get past the Garnet Gulls.

Scott Stump at All Shore Media reports: "Point Beach beat Shore 14-12 to set a school record with its 8th win (8-3) and win its first Thanksgiving game since 1996."

The Gulls (8-3, 4-1) quickly took an 8-0 lead at the 3:08 mark in the first quarter when senior Cody Coleman capped a 17-play, 72 yard opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The drive, which lasted almost nine minutes, was finished off with a two-point conversation run by junior running back Kyle Samaritano.

Behind the arm of senior quarterback Brendan Dula (3- for-5 for 45 yards on the drive), the Blue Devils countered with 9.2  left in the second quarter as Dula scored from 3 yards out to bring the score to 8-6 at halftime.

After forcing Shore to punt on its first possession of the second half, Point Beach’s Nic Zegar blocked and returned Luis Bernardes punt attempt 44 yards for a touchdown to stretch the Garnet Gull’s lead to 14-6 with 9:21 remaining in the third quarter.           

The Blue Devils (6-4, 3-2) then had a chance to tie the game at the 7:59 mark in the fourth quarter after junior Kevin Masica, who had lost a fumble earlier in the second half, recovered a blocked punt and ran it in for a 20-yard score. However, Dula’s two-point conversation pass attempt, which would have tied the game, fell short.

On Point Beach’s ensuing possession, the Shore defense had an opportunity to come up with a stop on 4th and 3 from its own 40 yard-line, only to have Coleman gain 10 yards to keep the chains moving and the clock ticking.            

The Blue Devils’ poor execution and ball security (two lost fumbles and a blocked punt) would ultimately contribute to their demise.

Coleman paced the Garnet Gulls rushing attack with 108 yards on 22 carries (with 56 of his running yards coming on the final game sealing drive), while Samaritano also chipped in with 86 total yards (84 of which were rushing).

“They’re a good team and I gave them credit," Head coach Mark Costantino said. “We just didn’t play well. We’re not good in some areas and it showed. Up front we didn’t play good run defense. Our defensive line and linebackers did not do a good job when it counted. Offensively we didn’t get a chance to really do what we wanted to do.”

Dula finished 4-for-10 for 76 yards passing and senior running Stefanos Koursaris led Shore with 32 yards on nine carries.

Heading into the playoffs with a then record of 6-2 and at the time looking primed to defend its Central Jersey Group I title, Costantino couldn’t help but be a little disappointed by his team’s finish down the stretch.

 “If I had to give my guys grade on the season I’d probably give them a C+ ” explained Costantino. “We lost some good kids from last year’s team but I feel that we should have been better than this. We play Asbury Park give the game away, we play Manasquan give it away, Florence was good but in the first half we should have scored several touchdowns. Some teams just don’t know how to get done sometimes."

“We knew going into the season that we were going to be mediocre in certain areas," Costantino continued. "We have some very good football players and they all played hard and the seniors did a good job but eventually you just have to snap on the chin straps and play.”

Related Topics: Point Pleasant Beach Football, Shore Regional, and Shore Regional Football