On November 15th  in Rumson, New Jersey, the Shore Regional freshman football team pulled off an impressive feat, defeating the previously undefeated Rumson Bulldogs on the road with a score of 13-12. For a team that practiced six days a week, starting in August, the hard work put in from the freshman made it help the team do well. Tirelessly working to find correct assignment and execute it, Shore took an approach that enabled them to be successful on every play. That approach was best tested in the last game.

Throughout the season, Shore Regional consistently defeated teams by a solid margin. After defeating seven teams by more than ten points, Shore showed a determination not to be labeled as a complacent football team. Rumson had a similar way of destroying their opponents through their season; Rumson had barely been tested. Rumson beat five teams by more than ten points, only being tested against Manasquan.

In previous years, it was rare to see the freshman have as much success, as there have only been two known undefeated programs in the history of the school. Shore has enjoyed success, winning multiple championships on the varsity level and has been very competitive over the years. For the freshman, the only way to win a championship is to go undefeated (since there are no playoffs for the freshman level). This was quite a great feat to achieve for a freshman team because of how rarely freshman teams achieve that goal.

In the night game, Rumson had the advantage. With the game being an away game, Shore had to prepare to play on a different field. With both teams coming into the game without a loss in a full game, the stakes were set for a great game. During the season, Shore had always done a great job by preventing teams to score many points. Going into the Rumson game, our coaches for the away team had stressed the importance of “being the better team” during that night.

On the other hand, Rumson knew what they had to do. Rumson wanted to shut down the offense of Shore Regional, which had happened so many years in a row. This year, Shore came into the game motivated, trying to avenge the losses of past year’s teams. Shore offensive and defensive lineman coach, Coach Mullarney emphasized the idea of “which team wanted to win more.” Going into the game, Shore knew that had to be perfect to beat an 8-0 Rumson football team on the road to win.

As the game began, Shore had received the football first, going up against an outstanding Rumson Football defense, Shore marched down the field and scored the first touchdown. After a bobble on the extra point attempt, Shore lead 6-0. With the score, Shore had silenced a rowdy Rumson student section. Shore had showed Rumson with the first drive that they were at the game to play and would not be pushed around.

After the Shore Regional score, Rumson came back and answered with a score on a drive soon after Shore’s touchdown. Rumson relied heavily on running the football with their running back, who had powered over defenders all year long. Rumson went down the field and scored, but failed on a two-point conversion try, making the score 6-6. As both defenses stepped up their play, offense was limited as the game went on. In spite of the performance by two outstanding defenses, Shore scored against Rumson in the second quarter and the score became 13-6 at halftime. The second half began as Rumson came and scored on a running play, but failed on another two-point conversion attempt. This score made the game 13-12, with Shore leading with a rushing and passing touchdown. The second half continued to be like the ending of the first half, dominated by both defenses, Rumson and Shore could not score. The Shore Blue Devils turned the football over towards the end of the quarter. The team had became worried after the miscue. The Devils fought back, emphatically, not allowing the Rumson Bulldogs to do much on offense after penalties. The Devils got the football back after and they were unable to capitalize on offense. Rumson received the football, trying to score. A pass interference penalty gave Rumson good field position to win the game. On the next play, Rumson had what they thought was a big play, and a chance to ruin the hopes of a Blue Devil undefeated season. The penalty on the Bulldogs had made the play get called back; the nullified a big run from Rumson. After, as the clock had kept running, which made Rumson need to get the ball down the field to win. After a third down sack, Rumson had to throw a pass deep down the field to win. As the ball floated up in the air, it was a battle, which team wanted to win more. As it was coming down, the pass was intercepted on a great play from Shore. With the win, Shore had won the championship and completed an outstanding undefeated season.

As Shore won the game, it was a combination of the season in one night. Even though we had destroyed most of their competition, it felt like all the games in one night. The first games, when the offense worked, but the execution on every play was not perfect had been in bits of the game when the offense would stall on drives. At the midway point of the season, the offense and defense had became better and better with tireless practices and drills. This part was when the game Blue Devils responded with a touchdown pass in the second quarter to the score and close out the half. The end of the season, when Shore would do enough to win and there would be solid execution in flawless performances. This was seen more so on the defensive side of the ball, as Rumson was not able to score with their team. The Shore Blue Devils had a great season and it was well deserved with great effort and practice throughout the year.

 Author’s Note: Thank you to Coach Vac, Coach Rankin and Coach Mullarney for putting all the effort needed to make our team have a great season. Thank you to all the players with me for coming together as a team as the year went on, and for all the memories and great moments in our practices and in our games. It was a great season and hopefully everyone enjoyed this season as much as I did.