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Gulls
cap Cinderella season
10:33 PM, Nov. 23, 2011
Written by
Steven Falk | Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH - It
was the perfect example of why Point Pleasant Beach had such a remarkable
season.
The Garnet Gulls, utlilzing a punishing running game and a solid defense,
concluded their season by grinding out a 14-12 Shore Conference Class B Central
win over Shore on Wednesday night in a game at Robert E. Feeney Field.
Point Beach closed its Cinderella season under coach John Wagner with an 8-3
record.
According to Asbury Park Press records that date back to 1981, it was the most
wins Point Beach has had in a season since at least 1980. It was also Point
Beach’s first winning season since 1997 and the first time it qualified for the
NJSIAA playoffs since 2001. The Garnet Gulls also won a playoff game for the
first time since 1982 and the second time ever.
Wagner, who coached Roselle Park to 150 wins and consecutive NJSIAA North II,
Group I championships in 1992 and 1993, during a 25-year tenure from 1981-2005,
helped turn around a Point Beach program that had gone a combined 3-17 the
previous two seasons.
Point Beach, running the Delaware Wing-T offense to near perfection, had monster
drives to both start and end the game. It drove 72 yards in 17 plays over a span
of 8:45 on the game’s first possession and ended the game with a 16-play drive.
Shore (6-4) pulled within 14-12 with 7:59 remaining when junior Kevin Mascia
fell on a blocked punt in the end zone. A 2-point conversion pass that would
have tied the game fell incomplete.
Point Beach then took over on its own 25 with 7:51 remaining following the
kickoff and converted two third downs and a fourth down.
Senior fullback Cody Coleman, who had 114 yards on 24 carries, ran nine times
for 56 yards on the drive. That included an 11-yard run on a third-and-5 trap
play from the Point Beach 46 and a 9-yard run on a fourth-and-3 trap play from
the Shore 39.
Junior running back Kyle Samaritano converted the first third down of the drive
when he powered his way for 5 yards on a third-and-2 from the Point Beach 33.
Ahead 8-6 at halftime, Point Beach extended the lead to 14-6 with 9:21 left in
the third quarter when Nicholas Zegar blocked a punt and then scooped the ball
up and ran 45 yards for a TD.
Point Beach gave Shore a sign of what was to come with its monstrous drive on
the first possession. Key plays on the drive were a 10-yard run by Coleman on a
fourth-and-2 from the Garnet Gulls' 36, and a 12-yard run by senior running back
Andrew Barnes on a second-and-6 from the Shore 17.
Coleman capped the drive with a 1-yard TD dive on third-and-goal and Samaritano
ran for the two-point conversion to give Point Beach an 8-0 lead with 3:08 left
in the first quarter.
Shore closed to within 8-6 with 9.2 seconds left in the first half when senior
quarterback Brendan Dula capped a 68-yard, 13-play drive with a 3-yard run. Dula
had three completions for 43 yards on the drive.