By Jim Hintelmann
MIDDLETOWN – Middletown South (CJ Group 4) and Shore Regional (CJ Group I) advanced to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) sectional football finals Friday after impressive victories.
Mater Dei Prep (Non-Public 1) and St. John Vianney (Non Public 3), however, suffered hard-fought losses.
Middletown South, which has one of the Shore’s top defenses, defeated Neptune, 27-3, while Shore downed Middlesex, 28-13.
Mater Dei Prep gave state power St. Joseph’s of Hammonton a battle before losing, 41-18, while SJV fell behind early to Delbarton Prep and never caught up, losing by a score of 38-26.
South’s win enabled the Eagles to reach the finals for the first time since 2012. It was the fifth game in a row that South has not allowed a touchdown.
After the two teams traded field goals in the first quarter, South’s Joe Timmins returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and put South ahead for good.
Cole Rogers added the other touchdowns on runs of 1 and 45 yards while quarterback Matt Mosquera kicked field goals of 30 and 25 yards and added extra points.
South will play Jackson Memorial for the title Dec. 6 Saturday at High Point Solutions Stadium, Rutgers University’s field in Piscataway.
Shore was held to a 14-13 halftime lead by Middlesex, which snapped a four-game shutout streak against the Shore defense.
“We just changed the defense a little bit at halftime,” Shore coach Mark Costantino said. “We also made a couple of tweeks and kept the game under control.
Tyree McCain scored a pair of touchdowns for Shore while quarterback Ryan Campi and Connor Rempel had the other touchdowns.
Shore will face South Hunterdon for the CJ I title at Kean University in Union. Game time will be 10 a.m.
Mater Dei held St. Joseph’s to a 21-18 halftime lead as quarterback Christian Palmer threw touchdown passes of 34, 74 and 8 yards to Ed Lewis, but St. Joseph’s pulled away in the second half.
Four first-half turnovers and a slow start cost SJV a chance for an upset against top-seeded Delbarton. The Lancers fell behind, 31-13 in the third quarter and never caught up.
SJV quarterback Anthony Brown scored a pair of 1-yard touchdowns while Khali Haskins scored two touchdowns on a 5-yard run and a 64-yard punt return.
