FOOTBALL: Injuries, Manasquan too much for Bernards to overcome in Central Group II final

UNION TOWNSHIP (Union) – The Bernards High School football team knew it would need to play its best game of the year if it was to have a chance against Manasquan in Saturday night’s NJSIAA Central Group II final. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, their performance at Kean University might rank as their worst.

Riddled with injury and victimized by ill-timed mistakes, Bernards couldn’t capitalize on some early momentum, as Manasquan continued to pick up steam as the game progressed, ending the Mountaineers inspired season 42-6 at Kean University, just the second sectional-finals appearance in program history.

But while the final score certainly told the story of Manasquan (10-2) outperforming Bernards (8-4), it didn’t do justice to the character this team showed in the biggest game of their careers.

“We didn’t play well, that’s the number one thing,” Bernards coach Jon Simoneau said. “We picked the wrong time to not play our best games. We had a lot of guys play very, very hurt today and we tried to hide that a little bit. The fact that (fullback/linebacker) Marc Murphy (sprained ankle) got out here and payed a whole game on defense – he couldn’t walk for most of the last two weeks -- that’s how tough he is. Bobby (DePoortere) can’t raise his right shoulder, Matt (Tantleff) is pretty gimped up, and Stephen (Gribbon) couldn’t throw the ball. We didn’t even attempt to let him throw the ball until the last two days. These kids showed a lot of toughness. I think we matched their physicality, we just made too many mistakes.”

“Awesome year, definitely an awesome experience getting here,” said Tantleff, who scored Bernards’ lone touchdown on a highlight-reel kickoff return in the third quarter. “We worked hard and it paid off. They’re a very physical, good and well-coached team. They were just ready for us.”

It looked as if Bernards had the early momentum, as it began the first drive of the game at its own 11-yard line, marching seven plays to the Manasquan 33. But a tipped pass bounced off a helmet and into the arms of Warriors’ defender Tommy Antonucci for the interception, setting Manasquan on the first of six touchdown drives it would execute Saturday.

Bernards’ next drive also ended on a pick and the team committed four turnovers in all, clearly not a recipe for success.

“You can’t come to a championship game and turn the ball over four times,” Simoneau said. “You just can’t do that and win.”

While the Bernards offense was held off the field for most of the game, unable to get anything going – the Mountaineers had fewer than 5:00 of possessions in the second half – the defense could do little to stop Manasquan’s ground-and-pound rushing attack, surrendering 286 yards on the ground, including 120 to Connor Morgan, who missed the second half with an injury.

Manasquan also did a great job converting to keep drives alive, sustaining possessions and keeping the Mountaineers offense on the bench.

“They did everything I expected them to do,” Simoneau said. “A couple of fourth-down conversions, a couple of long third-down conversions, they just simply made a few more plays than we did. The score was certainly not indicative of what happened.”

The big highlight came in the final minutes of the third quarter as Manasquan kicked off, leading 28-0, and the ball was fielded by Curt Gouldin on the 10-yard line near the right sideline. The senior then lateralled the ball across the field to Tantleff at the 5-yard line, and he ran back and forth across the field looking for an opening, before finding one on the right sideline and streaking 95 yards for the touchdown.

“That’s some great blocks, but it was all Matt Tantleff,” Simoneau said. “It was a 95-yard touchdown, but I think he ran 185 yards. He’s a very special player and I’m sure he’ll be talked about for a long, long time.”

“It was fun, but I ran a lot and I was tired,” quipped Tantleff, who finishes with 172 points, good for second on Bernards’ all-time list. “It was a fun play. At least something good happened today.”

Bernards tried to hold onto that momentum on the ensuing kickoff, as Jonah Walsh sent a skidding kick toward the front of Manasquan’s line, hitting the ball off a player and bounding it back, where Ethan Caldwell recovered it for the Mountaineers. But the officials – after some discussion – flagged Bernards for kick-catch interference, ruling the Mountaineers kickoff team hit the Manasquan player before he touched the ball, negating the recovery, much to Simoneau’s chagrin.

“We had that onside kick, unfortunately the officials just couldn’t get it right,” Simoneau said. “They came across the line and touched it first, but they decided that we hit them first, instead. It was certainly not the reason we didn’t win this game today, but that certainly took away the momentum from us at the same time.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached atSPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN