Asbury Park Improves to 2-1 with 21-14 win over Mater Dei
By ANDREW CANGIANO
A young Asbury Park football team is growing up fast, as the team won its second game Saturday on the road against Mater Dei High School, 21-14, to improve to 2-1 on the season.
The victory came a week after the Blue Bishops rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit to beat Point Pleasant Beach 36-21.
Head Coach Joe Stinson said the come from behind win could prove to be huge for the team, but wont know its true importance until the year is over.
You really wont know, I dont think, the real value until the season ends, he said. It could be a maker. If we would have lost that game it could have been a breaker. 0-2 is tough to come back from, especially in a very competitive league for one, and a playoff section for another.
Well see the real value of it down the line, he said, but right now it was like a savior.
The team has undergone a number of changes this year, as the Blue Bishops are starting a number of young players. The team has three sophomores on the offensive line, three sophomores in the secondary, and a couple sophomores on the defensive line, Stinson said.
The team has also changed its offense from a Run N Shoot style where the quarterback threw nearly every down, to a Delaware Wing-T that is more oriented towards the ground game.
Hut, Hut, Hike!
The Asbury Park football team runs a play during a practice last Friday at Asbury Park Stadium.
This means less touches touches for certain players who normally would have had their hands on the ball if the team threw more often, such as Senior Wide Receiver Corey Scotlin, one of the teams co-captains.
Stinson said Scotlin has hardly gotten any credit, but certainly deserves it, for his continued hard work, despite a lack of touches.
Along with changing his offensive style, Stinson is also doing something he has never done before: starting a freshman at quarterback.
So far Will Johnson, the only freshman to start at quarterback during Stinsons 25 years as a coach, has exceeded his coaches expectations.
Stinson said he has opened the offense up a little more each week for Johnson, as the young quarterback continues to grasp the teams system.
Johnson had a 78-yard run against Point Pleasant Beach in the teams first win.
Hes what you want your quarterback to be, Stinson said during the teams practice last Friday. Hes a good kid first of all. Hes very coach-able. He listens. Hes the kind of kid who will be a player down the line.
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