By Jim Hintelmann
COLTS NECK – With a crucial B Division North football game with unbeaten Red Bank Regional coming up this Friday, unbeaten Red Bank Catholic did not look past winless Colts Neck and coasted to an easy 25-0 win.
RBC (5-0) struggled a bit offensively, but its first team defense never let Colts Neck get past midfield as it posted its fourth shutout of the season.
“The line has been strong all season,” said RBC lineman Charlie Gargiulo. “They are hard to push back and tackle smartly.”
RBC quarterback Eddie Hahn, almost fully recovered from a torn meniscus injury suffered in the pre-season, ran and passed RBC to an 18- 0 halftime lead.
“Eddie is close to 100 percent,” said RBC coach Jim Portela. “He still needed to work some when he is scrambling, but he played very well. He doesn’t have his full mobility but that will come.”
RBC scored on its second series, going 82 yards in eight plays with Hahn scoring on an 11-yard run after having a 40-yard touchdown run nullified by a penalty several plays earlier. The extra point kick was wide as RBC was having problems with the kicking game,
“Our regular kicker was injured on the opening kick- off,” said Portela, “but hopefully he will be back next week.”
Hahn led an 80-yard drive on RBC’s next series, completing three passes for 68 yards to Michael Balzofiore before Dylan Murphy scored on a 5-yard run for a 12-0 lead.
“No doubt about it,’ said Portela, “Eddie is an out- standing quarterback and we need him.”
RBC made it 18-0 late in the first half when Michael Wilen scored on a 5-yard run, and it then played conservatively in the second half with Hahn not throwing a pass.
‘We just wanted to stay on the ground and control, the ball,” said Portela.”When a team falls behind, they become one-dimensional and that helps us.”
RBC scored its final touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 22-yard run by sophomore Zach Bair. He also kicked RBC’s only extra point of the game.
Colts Neck drove to RBC’s 23-yard line late in the game against the RBC reserves but were stopped.
“Colts Neck is a better team than its record,” said Portela, “They trailed Red Bank only 2-0 at halftime and played Howell, Long Branch and Woodbridge tough.”
Portela now looks ahead to the big game with Red Bank. It is the first time in the long series between the two teams that both squads were unbeaten when they played each other in a midseason game.
“Red Bank has an excellent team,” said Portela. “It looks as if they have 18 players on the field when they play defense. They seem to be all over the field.
“Red Bank’s offense has so many weapons and that will be a big challenge for us,” he said. “However, we look for ward to that and will be busy next week in practice looking at the tapes.”
