By Rich Chrampanis
EAST RUTHERFORD – Last year, Red Bank Catholic had a halftime lead on DePaul Catholic and saw the dream of back-to-back state titles slip away in a 19-17 loss. A year later, the Caseys were caught in the same scenario but finished the job with an elite defensive performance.
Frankie Williams threw two first-half touchdown passes and the RBC defense was nearly flawless after giving up an opening drive touchdown in a 14-7 win over the Spartans at MetLife Stadium in the Non-Public B state championship.
“We went into halftime last year, we were up and we ended up losing,” senior RB/LB Luke Wassef said. “When we came out (this year) we said, ‘You know what? That’s not happening again,’ and we just held them.”
Wassef was a dynamo in his final high school game. He set the tone on the ground with 84 yards rushing and caught a 12-yard TD pass from Williams in the second quarter to break a 7-7 tie. On the defensive side of the ball, he had 12 tackles as part of the Caseys’ tenacious defensive effort.
DePaul opened the game with a pair of fourth-down conversions. QB Derek Zammit connected with running back Nolan James on a slant on a fourth-and-11 from the 33-yard line for a gain of 28. Zammit then plunged into the end zone from a yard out on a fourth-and-goal to give DePaul a 7-0 lead. The Caseys answered right back with Williams throwing over the middle to Stanford commit Emanuel Ross on a 24-yard scoring play. The early indication was that it could be a shootout. Instead, the defenses on both sides took over.
DePaul appeared to be in a position to tie the game in the third quarter when Zammit found Mason James on a 33-yard touchdown but the points came off the board due to an illegal formation penalty. The RBC defense would hold its ground keeping the game 14-7 through three quarters.
The Spartans were on the 16 when Ross broke up a pass on fourth down in the end zone intended for high-profile recruit Dez Jones. Ross played the entire game at defensive back in addition to his normal wide receiver duties, getting touches from the Wildcat formation and on jet sweeps.
“Coming into this game you gotta know that you have to give everything you got in order to come out with the W,” Ross said. “Whether I had to play quarterback, running back, offensive line, coach, referee, I don’t care. I do whatever I have to do to get the W.”
DePaul got one last chance to force overtime late in the fourth quarter. Zammit connected with Jones to get the Spartans to the 30-yard line. It’s here where RBC’s defense made its championship stand. Linebacker Jamie Gutridge came in on a blitz that forced an incomplete pass; Zammit suffered a hand injury on the play, forcing him to leave the game.
Backup quarterback Gavin Bickford was thrown into the fire and Logan Graham got to him, grabbed his jersey and threw him to the ground for a 16-yard loss. Zammit bravely returned to action to throw up one last heave that was batted down by the Caseys to seal the championship.
“It feels great to end my senior season like that,” linebacker Davin Brewton said. “I can’t ask for a better way. I give all praise to my defense; those other 10 players are dogs.”
RBC lost on the opening night of the season to eventual Non-Public A state champ Bergen Catholic but from there rolled off 10 straight wins to finish 10-1. From an out-of-conference win at Seton Hall Prep to back-to-back wins in Toms River against state champ Toms River North and state semifinalist Donovan Catholic to claim the top spot in the Shore, it was only fitting that head coach Mike Lange’s team faced one more hurdle in a stellar 2023 season.
“We preach about what are you going to do when your back is against the wall,” Lange said. “And you saw it. Our backs were against the wall lots of times and we just kept punching through and that says what we are as a football program.”
This article originally appeared in the November 30 – December 6, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
