RBC Wins Battle of Red Bank in Decisive Fashion

 
By Jim Hintelmann
RED BANK – The long-awaited football showdown between Shore powers Red Bank Catholic and Manalapan will finally come to pass this Friday at Count Basie Field as both teams posted impressive victories last Friday.
RBC, which had won 38 straight games against Shore Conference competition, crushed crosstown rival Red Bank Regional, 53-0, in a B North game. Manalapan, winners for 30 straight against Shore teams, defeated Middletown South, 22-6, to take over first place in the A Division North.
“Manalapan is good in every part of the game,” said RBC coach Jim Porella after the Buc game, “but we are looking forward to it. It will be a big challenge for us.”
It was all RBC from the start against RBR with the Caseys building up a 39-0 halftime lead before turning over the game to the reserves in the second half. The RBC defense held Red Bank to just 57-yards total offense while not permitting the Bucs to get past the Caseys 39.

“This was still a big game for us,” Portella said. “Red Bank is a rivalry game and this was Senior Night. We honored 27 seniors tonight.”
Junior quarterback Eddie Hahn had a fine game for the Caseys, completing nine of 12 passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns.
“We hope that we can carry this game over the Manalapan,” Hahn said. “We’ve been looking forward to it since the start of the season.”
RBC went to the air almost from the start, going 75 yards in just three plays following a Buc punt. Tommy Spernal raced 15 yards on the first play. Hahn threw a 42-yard pass to Nick Lubischer, who made a brilliant over-the-shoulder diving catch at the Buc 29. Hahn then passed to John Portela for the touchdown. Vince Gallo kicked the first of five extra points.
“I spotted a weakness in their defense,” Hahn said, “and I was able to take advantage of it. That set the tone for the game. The last three weeks we finally came on and played a complete game.”
RBC scored again on its first play of its next series as Hahn tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Cowley for a 14-0 lead.
RBC went 60 yards in eight plays on its next series with Dylan Murphy scoring on a 4-yard run.

Once against RBC held for downs; this time it was Michael Cordova scoring on an 8-yard run to finish up a 59-yard drive. Hahn set it up with runs of 12 and 17 yards along with a 12-yard pass to Lubischer.
Hahn threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cella and Gallo followed with a 25-yard field goal to give RBC its 39-0 halftime lead.
RBC scored twice in the second half on touchdown runs of 9 and 26 yards by Murphy and Mike Wilen, respectively, to close out its scoring.
Red Bank suffered a severe loss when running back Trevor Riley suffered a season-ending leg injury in the second quarter.
RBC’s defense did a good job shutting down Red Bank’s top receiver, Sadiq Palmer.
“He’s a great player, but I think we held him to just two receptions,” Hahn said.
Red Bank returns to action Friday, Oct 24, when it plays host to Ocean Township.