GMC Football: QB Whitford leads Sayreville over Edison

No quarterback in the Greater Middlesex Conference had bigger shoes to fill than Sayreville High School sophomore Mark Whitford.

The rookie signal caller, who succeeded three-year starter Jayson DeMild, led the defending sectional champion Bombers to their second straight victory, a 28-0 shutout of Edison in which the offensive line played a huge role.

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Whitford completed 10-of-12 passes for 136 yards, including a 54-yard scoring strike to Elijah Clark, on which the offensive line provided the quarterback enough time to fake a toss and to sell a pump fake before airing the ball downfield.

The touchdown, on which the safety bought the fake, leaving Clark wide open, broke a scoreless deadlock with 10:49 remaining in the second quarter and epitomized the ability of Sayreville’s offensive line to handle Edison’s sizable and physical defensive front.

“Our line is great,” said Whitford, who also connected with Jacari Carter on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 7:17 left in the third quarter. “They provided really good protection. I haven’t gotten sacked. They gave me more than enough time to throw the ball.”

The line blocked equally well for running back Connor Holmes, who rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

“I really can’t do it without them,” Holmes said of his line, which opened holes for scoring jaunts of 18 yards with 2:20 left in the second quarter and 20 yards with 10:04 remaining in the game. “They do the hard work. I do the easy work.”

Holmes has now rushed for 266 yards on 25 carries, while Whitford has completed 21 of 27 passes for 227 yards.

“Just like last year I played a role, this year I just had to step up a little bit more,” said Holmes, who succeeded 1,000-yard rusher Michael Liberti. “They (DeMild and Liberti) are gone. Now we’ve got to make a new generation for our younger kids. We always have talent in this town. We always have great fans. We always get so much support in this town. It’s awesome.”

Sayreville played the game without head coach Chris Beagan and first-team All-Area linebacker Mike Germann, who were both serving a one-game suspension under NJSIAA rules after they were ejected during the fourth quarter of a 48-21 season-opening victory over East Brunswick.

Offensive coordinator Mike Novak served as the head coach. He called the game from his usual perch atop the press box, while defensive coordinator Mark Poore maintained his usual position on the field in an attempt to maintain a semblance of normalcy.

“I didn’t want anything to change,” Novak said. “I just didn’t have (Beagan) to bounce ideas off of. He coached a little extra this week. He gave me a million ideas. I had his voice in my head the whole time, so he was there (in spirit).”

The Eagles were out-gained 400 to 113 in total yards from scrimmage with more than a third of their offense coming against the second-string defense late in the fourth quarter. Bruising running back Donavan Benoit, who rushed for more than 200 yards in a 28-16 season-opening victory over Monroe, was limited to 64 yards on 19 carries.

The Eagles lost starting quarterback Dean Escobar, who injured his left (non-throwing) hand when it collided with an opposing player’s helmet late in the second quarter. Escobar, who will get an X-ray on his hand, did not return in the second half as backup Frank Vega ran the offense.

Edison signal callers endured five sacks as their offensive line, which performed exceptionally well the previous week, had difficulty against the Bombers, who packed the box to stuff the run and relied on their impressive secondary to provide single coverage.

The outside linebackers did an excellent job of spilling, while Colton Redding and Shane O’Neill, who was essentially filling Germann’s spot, had a monster game on defense including multiple tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

“The defense was the story of the game,” said Novak, noting Sayreville’s goal was to negate Benoit’s ability to run between the tackles. “All week we worked on stopping their power. They were fantastic.”