SPORTS

Keansburg spoils South River football homecoming, denies Marchesi milestone win

Greg Tufaro
@GregTufaro
Keyport High School football team traveled into Middlesex County to take on South River in a varsity football game in South RIver on Saturday October 1, 2016. South River coach Rich Marchesi (center) on the sidelines during the game.

A year after upsetting South River for its only win of last season, the Keansburg High School football team spoiled the Rams’ homecoming and denied head coach Rich Marchesi of becoming the winningest mentor in school history as the Titans posted a 20-12 win at Denny Stadium on Saturday.

With former NFL All-Pro Drew Pearson, a 1969 South River graduate, in attendance, Marchesi remained deadlocked with legendary South River head coach Bill Denny. Both coaches have 193 career victories.

READ: Rich Marchesi ties legendary Bill Denny as South River's winningest football coach

Former NFL All-Pro Drew Pearson, a 1969 South River graduate, addresses the school-community before the Rams' homecoming game against Keansburg on Saturday

Keansburg entered the game with a 1-5 record, having snapped an 11-game losing streak, dating back to last season, with a victory last weekend over Sussex Tech. South River fell to 2-5 with the loss, its second straight since Marchesi tied Denny on the all-time wins list at the high school. The Rams have two regular-season games remaining against undefeated Mater Dei and winless Dunellen, which is mired in a 17-game losing streak.

READ: All-Pro Drew Pearson highlights South River football homecoming

Despite finishing with a 1-9 record each of the past three years, the Titans have fared well against South River, handing the Rams an 18-13 setback last season and dropping a 22-16 decision in overtime the previous year.

Wet conditions did not favor South River's offense. Running back Billy Drum carried 13 times for 118 yards. Quarterback Michael DeSantis completed 8 of 13 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Davine Mayes was on the receiving end of both scoring strikes. He had touchdown catches of 15 and 5 yards.

With the score tied 6-6, Keansburg scored two touchdowns to build a 20-6 lead. Mayes scored his second touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the Rams within striking distance. South River's final possession ended when it failed to convert a fourth-and-8 from midfield with less than two minutes remaining.

Keansburg, which ran the ball effectively behind a formidable offensive line, ran out the clock.