The Coaster

By TOM SHORTELL
The Asbury Park Blue Bishops trounced the Mater Dei Seraphs 42-0 at Asbury Park Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Bishops defensive unit dominated from the start. The Seraphs didn’t cross the 50-yard line until 3:42 in the fourth quarter, and they lost possession on a fumble the next play. Mater Dei mixed in halfback passes trying to catch Asbury Park’s defense napping, but most of the passes missed their marks. Mater Dei’s quarterback, junior AJ Knautsen, had defenders in his face all day, throwing 4-12 for 39 yards, 32 of which came on a pass to junior wide out Nick Ault.

Asbury Park’s offense took longer to get going. The Blue Bishops lost a fumble on their opening drive, and when the Seraphs gave the ball right back with an interception, Asbury Park’s drive sputtered without scoring in Mater Dei’s red zone. The only points in the first quarter came from the special teams when senior Derrel Bell returned a punt for a touchdown.

The Blue Bishops kicked it into gear in the second quarter, scoring four times. In his first start of the season, junior quarterback Jamar Small went 5-8 with 128 yards and threw three touchdowns. Bell hauled in a 32-yard pass just behind the left pylon, and sophomore running back Devonte Thomas rumbled 40 yards on a screen pass for a score. Senior Will Johnson had a pair of touchdowns in the quarter as he dashed 39 yards for his first score and took in a 16-yard pass from Small for his second.

Junior Will Jones rushed for the last touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Despite the final score, Coach Don Sofilkanich seemed frustrated by the team’s effort at times. The Blue Bishops were called for seven penalties in the game.

“We muddled through a 42-0 point win. I don’t think we executed that well,” he said. “We’ll improve on it.”

At one point, Sofilkanich slammed his clip board to the ground after Bell jumped offsides. Bell, who has 197 yards receiving for the season, was immediately pulled from the game. “Everybody’s held accountable. It doesn’t matter who you are,” Sofilkanich said.

Thomas, who rushed six times for 55 yards, agreed the team needs to improve it’s effort. “We came out bumming it up,” he said. “We need to practice harder. We practiced like we played.”

The Blue Bishops will travel to Rumson-Fair Haven High School Friday night to face the undefeated Bulldogs at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs were the only team to defeat Asbury Park last year.

“We need to bring our A-game. They’re a quality club,” Sofilkanich said.

In the preseason, several Asbury Park players pointed to Rumson-Fair Haven as the biggest competition. Sofilkanich said that would only make preparation for this week easier. “I think the kids got to be ready to go and focused. I don’t know how they wouldn’t be.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 11:25 am and is filed under Asbury Park, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.