Shore Regional Football Edged by Asbury Park 14-13

WEST LONG BRANCH – While Shore Regional had to deal with the fact that it had Asbury Park one inch away from hitting the canvas in a bitter 14-13 loss to the Blue Bishops in a Class B Central game on Friday night, it could take solace in a possible silver lining.

“I told (Asbury Park) after the game, ‘We’ll see you again,’’’ said Shore head coach Mark Costantino.

The match-up of unbeaten at Robert E. Feeney Field may only be Round One between the two teams, as they could certainly see one another again in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I playoffs. Shore (2-1, 2-1) is the defending CJ I champion, while Asbury Park (4-0, 3-0) won three straight CJ I titles from 2007-09. Asbury Park’s victory on Friday night gives it the inside track to the No. 1 seed in the bracket, but Shore showed that it is not going to easily relinquish its state title.

For now, Shore will have to move past the one that got away, as the Blue Devils were leading 13-8 with 4:21 left in the game before Asbury Park sophomore quarterback Robert Barksdale hit senior Amir Conover for a 70-yard touchdown pass that proved to be the game-winner.

“We were right in there, but you can't let them hang around because they're a big play team,'' Costantino said.

Asbury Park had 48 yards of total offense in the second half before Conover outdid that on one play. Shore limited the explosive Blue Bishops to 188 total yards, but Conover stung them with his one big play.

"We got playmakers, baby, and when it's time to make a play, we'll make a play,'' Conover said. "I told my coach that we had one-on-one coverage on the outside. I told him, 'Give me a chance, and I'm going to bring this football game back to Asbury,' and that's what I did.''

The Shore Conference's No. 1 defense, which held the defending Class B Central champion Blue Devils to 151 total yards, was able to seal the win when senior Thomond Hammary intercepted Shore's Brendan Dula on a fourth-down pass with 1:59 remaining and Shore out of timeouts.

Asbury Park had taken an 8-0 lead when senior Armond Conover, Amir's twin brother, corralled a high snap and scored from two yards out to cap a 13-play, 56-yard drive with 4:44 left in the first quarter. Barksdale then hit senior running back Islam Joshua with the two-point conversion pass.

Shore answered with 13 straight points to take a 13-8 lead into the locker room. After sophomore defensive lineman Matt Proto recovered one of Asbury Park's eight fumbles in the game at the Blue Bishops' 24-yard line, senior halfback Stefanos Kousaris scored three plays later on a 19-yard run to trim the lead to 8-7 on the first play of the second quarter.

Junior Luis Bernardes later blocked a punt to give Shore the ball at the Blue Bishops' 27-yard line. On third-and-six, Dula found Kousaris coming out of the backfield on a wheel route for a 28-yard touchdown pass and a 13-8 lead. However, the extra point attempt was off the mark, which proved critical later in the game. Shore also had a missed field goal from 30 yards in the first half.

Things were looking solid for the home team at halftime considering that Kousaris had single-handedly outgained Asbury Park, 117-67, in the first half. However, neither team was able to really generate much offense in the second half between Asbury Park's tough front seven against Shore's Wing-T running game, and Shore doing a nice job of tackling in the open field and capitalizing on Asbury Park's miscues to put the Blue Bishops in third-and-long situations.

"On offense, we were struggling a bit, but we knew we would find a way to come through,'' said Joshua, who led the defense at middle linebacker. "The main thing on defense was to ready our keys and make sure nobody gets any open gaps.''

"We wanted to just make them drive the ball because they're not going to drive it on you,'' Costantino said. "They scored on a fumbled snap and a bomb.''

The Blue Bishops' defense was able to stand up to Shore's power rushing attack, limiting the Blue Devils to 103 yards on 31 attempts, including only 34 yards rushing in the second half.

"They tried to pound it on us today, and it wasn't happening,'' Amir Conover said.

"They're better than us up front right now,'' Costantino said. "They're a lot bigger and better. They kind of manhandled us a little there.''

Asbury Park's defense made the most crucial stand of the night when senior Corey Goodson sacked Dula to force a three-and-out and get the offense the ball back with 4:32 left in the game. One play later, Barksdale found Conover for the winning play.

"I was so hyped up when we got the ball back,'' said Barksdale, who was 11-for-22 for 137 yards passing. "(Conover) is a good athlete with great hands, and I don't think anybody can jump with him, so I really liked that match-up.''

Shore will now have another major challenge on its hands next week when it faces undefeated Manasquan (4-0) in a nondivisional game. The Blue Devils also will try to deal with two key injuries, as junior Mark Costantino, the head coach’s son, suffered a knee injury that forced him to leave the game, and starting senior wide receiver/defensive back Tom O’Horo may have a possible broken ankle.