Rams set to take on familiar foe
BY RICHARD JEROME
Staff Writer

It’s a formidable task that awaits the South River High School football team, which faces undefeated Keyport in Saturday’s CJ Group I sectional tournament game.

The 6-3 Rams, who defeated South Hunterdon 20-6 in their opening-round match, will take on a team that hasn’t lost a game in two years.

"We have to stop their running game," said head coach Rich Marchesi. "They have Kenny Cattouse, the state’s all-time leading rusher, and another Division I recruit, spread end J.J. Bedle. They’re not big up front, which is one area where we match up well, but really it’s Cattouse who makes everything happen."

Marchesi and his staff (Jim Mackiewicz, Mike Lepore, Ian Evanovich, Bob Young and Matt Musante) are pleased with the way his squad is performing late in the season.

"We’re jelling at the right time," he said. "We played well against South Hunterdon, when we had a couple of touchdowns called back."

Quarterback J.J. Adelino has stepped up in the past several games, raising his passing yardage to just under 750 yards. Also on offense, several other players have made outstanding contributions. Running backs Montcell Dodd and David Haney each had over 100 yards on the ground against South Hunterdon, while Zyhair Dotson added 65 rushing and 55 in the air. Tom Levefer had four receptions for 65 yards.

"Our offensive line did a great job blocking," Marchesi added, citing tackles Tom Scanlon and Jason Martin, guards Emil Imbriano and Darrell Byrd, and center Kevin Steigerwold.

They’ll need a similar effort on Saturday, when they take on a Red Raider team that was among the best in the Shore Conference this year on both sides of the ball.

The road to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I championship almost invariably pits Keyport and South River against each other. A year ago, the Red Raiders downed the Rams in a downpour to take the title, and the year before that, South River bested Keyport for the crown.

Keyport is coming off a stellar performance Saturday, when it downed Bernards 34-6 in the CJ Group I quarterfinal. The Red Raiders uncharacteristically found themselves down 6-0 halfway through the opening period. Any hopes Bernards had of pulling off an upset quickly came to and end.

By the end of the quarter, Keyport took a 7-6 lead when Cattouse ran for 49 yards and a touchdown. The Red Raiders were on their way to scoring 34 unan­swered points as Cattouse piled up 325 yards and scored twice more. The scary thing: Cattouse was not at his best; he fumbled four times during the game.

Keyport coach Mike Ciccotelli praised the big fullback’s strong effort, which also included three sacks. Ciccotelli noted that his team’s line, which includes Pat Di­nardo, Kevin Spears, Gary Petrizzo and Nick Johnson, did a stellar job as well. A good thing, because sure-handed wideout Bedle saw little action due to an illness.

"We’re not the biggest team, but we do have excellent team speed, and that’s been the difference for us all year," Cic­cotelli said. "Our guys make things hap­pen."

The return of Bedle will be important against South River, as will the play of halfback Daquan Cross, who quietly picked up 100 yards in 14 attempts against Bernards. That’s because the Rams are likely to key on Cattouse, who ran for more than 200 yards and four TDs in Keyport’s 37-6 Group I final win last season.

In fact, the last time Keyport lost it was against South River, 40-14 in the 2001 CJ Group I championship game. Since then, the Red Raiders are 20-0, with nine of those wins this fall.

"South River is a good team with good tradition," Ciccotelli said. "After what happened last year, they’ll be looking to come in here and shut down Kenny [Cattouse], so our offense will have to come ready to play. Defensively, we have to keep their running game under control. That will be a key for us."

Saturday’s contest starts at 1 p.m., at Keyport.

— Warren Rappleyea contributed to this story