By Jim Hintelmann
MIDDLETOWN – It was far from pretty, due to numerous penalties and turnovers, but Mater Dei Prep coach Steve Sciarappa will happily accept a 30-20 B Division Central victory over Asbury Park Saturday.
The win was the first for Mater Dei over Asbury Park since a 27-14 victory over the Blue Bishops in 2006.
Mater Dei Prep (2-1) was coming off a 50-38 loss to Dunellen the previous week, but the Seraph defense played much better Saturday, holding the Bishops to just 37 yards rushing.
“The coach called us out publicly after that game,” Mater Dei Prep quarterback Christian Palmer said. He had a brilliant game scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 146 yards while throwing for the other two scores on passes of 63 and 2 yards, respectively.
“We just stepped it up and looked past Dunellen,” Palmer said. “It was one of those days when they had a better team than we did.”
Although doing a good job stopping the Blue Bishops running game, Mater Dei Prep had some problems with the passing game in the first half.
“On defense, we were looking more at stopping the run in the first half,” Sciarappa said, “but we came out and did a much better job in the second half.”
Mater Dei Prep jumped out to a 22-0 lead, starting with an 11-play 63-yard drive after the opening kickoff with Palmer scoring on a 43-yard run. He passed to Vincenzo Mezzacapa for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
The Seraphs scored again on their next series with Palmer throwing a 63-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Lewis. Tysaun White made it 16-0 with a run for two points.
Mater Dei Prep made it 22-0 in the second period on a 4-yard Palmer to White pass, but the pass for two points failed.
Asbury Park finally got moving following the kickoff when quarterback Sal Swain tossed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Devon Moore. The run for two points was stopped, leaving the score 22-6.
With just 8 seconds remaining in the half, Mater Dei Prep had the ball at midfield and the expectations were that Palmer would simply take a knee and run out the clock.
Palmer, however, took a direct snap, slipped away from a couple of tacklers, and raced down the left sidelines for a touchdown. White ran over for two points and a 30-6 lead.
“Actually, it was a broken play, but our line opened up and I was able to score,” Palmer said.
The Mater Dei Prep offense bogged down a bit in the second half thanks to three fumbles and an interception, but the big lead that it had built up was enough to hold off an Asbury Park rally.
“That is something that we are going to have to fix going forward this week,” Sciarappa said. “You won’t be able to win many football games like that.”
A 20-yard touchdown pass from Swain to Jaedon Stephens coupled with a 2-yard scoring run by Stephens narrowed the lead to 30-22 with 4:40 remaining. The Bishops got the ball back one more time after a Mater Dei Prep fumble, but the Seraph defense stopped the effort.
Mater Dei Prep takes a short trip Saturday, Oct. 4, to Keyport.
