NJSIAA FOOTBALL: South Brunswick-Manalapan CJG5 championship preview

South Brunswick High School head football coach Joe Goerge knows his Central Group V championship opponent is far from one-dimensional, but the Vikings’ primary defensive focus will be attempting to slow down Manalapan’s potent ground game, something no team has been able to accomplish this year.

Senior running back Naim Mayfield, who enters the sectional final with 2,546 yards and 45 touchdowns, is on pace to break the Shore Conference’s single-season rushing record and has an outside shot to break the state’s single-season rushing mark.

Kickoff for Saturday’s sectional final at Rutgers University’s High Point Solutions Stadium between the top-seeded Braves (11-0) and second-seeded Vikings (10-1) is 1 p.m.

Mayfield needs 270 yards – 39 below his season average – to eclipse the state standard former Salem running back Jonathan Taylor, now a Heisman Trophy candidate as a true freshman at the University of Wisconsin, established last season.

Stacking the box or overly concerning itself with Manalapan’s running attack is dangerous for South Brunswick because the Braves, whose offensive line is stellar, feature a gifted veteran quarterback in Luke Corcione, who has completed 62 percent of his attempts (78 of 127) and burned opponents for 1,317 passing yards and nine scores.

“You start with Mayfield,” Goerge said about preparing for Manalapan’s high-octane offense, which is averaging 391 yards from scrimmage and 40.7 point per game.

“He’s capable of doing it alone, but he’s not doing it alone. I don’t know if anyone in the state right now is having the kind of season they’ve had – public or private (school) – to be honest with you. No question they are balanced. (Corcione) is one heck of a quarterback, and they’ve got receivers out there.”

South Brunswick’s 3-3 stack defense features nose guard Jalen John, end Sean Goldsmith and end Darrin Seavers up front. The linebackers include Mike Slover (54 tackles) in the middle with Xavier Cargile (53 tackles), Dylan Kriz (62 tackles) and Jayvon Palmer rotating outside. The secondary features Penn State University commit Justin Shorter and Felix Quinones at the corners, along with Jaylan Lawson, Thomas Joe-Kamara (66 tackles) and Katibu Martin as the safeties.

With the exception of a 28-14 setback to Piscataway, in which the Vikings allowed running back Juwon Jackson to amass 200 yards on the ground, South Brunswick has been stellar against the run all season.

Goerge said South Brunswick’s strategy against Manalapan will be to attempt to make the contest a “9-on-9 type of game,” meaning cornerbacks Shorter and Quinones will be in single coverage to give the Vikings their best shot at defending a balanced attack.

The Braves and Vikings are no strangers in the postseason with the schools having split four meetings over the past five years.

Goerge and counterpart Ed Gurrieri, who has transformed Manalapan into a perennial state power with trademark line play, faced one another decades ago when the two coached at Staten Island’s Port Richmond and Wagner high schools, respectively. Gurrieri’s teams have always been big and physical up front.

“We certainly have to keep that in mind, Goerge said. “We are not the biggest defense by any stretch, but they have responded every week this year and made it difficult for teams in terms of running the football. It’s going to take that and probably more (Saturday).”

Goerge said South Brunswick, which features an abundance of two-way players, is also concerned with Manalapan’s depth.

“They play few guys, if any, both ways,” he said. “They’ve been able to maintain some really high (roster) numbers at a time when numbers in a lot of places are not maintained.”

Manalapan has already defeated three Greater Middlesex Conference schools this season including an impressive 28-0 blanking of Piscataway and a deceptive 34-13 win over Old Bridge in which the Braves led just 20-13 with under six minutes remaining before Mayfield broke off two touchdown runs. Manalapan opened the postseason with a 42-0 drubbing of Perth Amboy.

South Brunswick twice defeated Old Bridge, rolling to a 35-6 win in the season opener and rallying for a 21-10 comeback victory in the sectional semifinal, during which Quinones, who doubles as a quarterback, injured his elbow midway through the first quarter.

An outstanding athlete who has run South Brunswick’s triple-option with machine-like precision to the tune of 1,291 yards from scrimmage, as well as a total of 22 touchdowns passing and rushing, Quinones sat out a Thanksgiving eve game.

Quinones’ status for the sectional final is unclear, but the Vikings, like Manalapan, are not one-dimensional. South Brunswick has a stable of gifted backs and Shorter (36 catches, 522 yards, seven touchdowns) is among the country’s best receivers.

With six backs who have 200 or more yards on the ground, the Vikings are averaging 229 rushing yards per game.