Mia Milkowski (25) of Rumson-Fair Haven tries to get around Maggie Grable (28) of Manasquan during the lacrosse game between Manasquan and Rumson-Fair Haven at Rumson-Fair Haven High School in Rumson 2024.Richard O'Donnell | For NJ Advan .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Reed Becker | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comMia Milkowski led Rumson-Fair Haven with three goals and five assists in its 16-13 victory over No The Bulldogs trailed 9-7 at halftime before outscoring Bridgewater-Raritan 9-4 in the second half Aly Megaw and Rachel James each scored three goals Rumson-Fair Haven (9-4) will travel to face Pingry on Tuesday while Bridgewater-Raritan (11-3) will visit Trinity Hall on Tuesday Reed Becker can be reached at rbecker@njadvancemedia.com The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now! 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All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices PHILADELPHIA – A Penn Relays medal is a big deal probably the hardest medal to get in high school track & field and the competition comes from all over North America After falling just short the past two years Rumson-Fair Haven’s 4x800 girls earned theirs Saturday The Bulldogs placed fifth in the Championship of America race with a program-record time of 9:04.11 They improved on an 11th-place finish in 2023 and an eighth-place showing in 2024 “That’s a huge win for us,” said senior Clemmie Lilley “We’ve never been able to stay with the field in the Championship of America – it’s always been a bit too quick for us So to be able to stay with this incredible field and place fifth was awesome.” a six-second improvement on her split from Friday’s trials Junior Reese Reynolds Malone carried next in 2:10.69 held the fort in 2:27 and Lilley took it from there they shaved four seconds off their trials effort “Proving ourselves today was a big deal for us,” Malone said “The past couple years we haven’t been able to do better the second day This year we definitely had a big mindset change and we’re better than what we’ve shown before.’ And we definitely showed that.” Rumson-Fair Haven was the second American unit to cross the finish line Rumson-Fair Haven was the only public school with an enrollment under 1,100 students You could make a cogent argument that the Bulldogs were the top American high school team in the race because IMG is a sports academy that draws from all corners of the country “We have something that no one else has – being a small public school where we have random pickings of 800 people,” Lilley said because we know the schools we’re competing against are taking people from across the country.” None of these Bulldogs ran track before high school None of them picked Rumson-Fair Haven because of sports None of them transferred from one school to another “We all came from humble backgrounds,” Rodriguez said “Freshman year I came out (for track) to stay in shape for soccer.” and that’s a credit to co-head coaches Tim McLoone and Bob Keogh who set the culture and mold Penn Relays contenders out of whoever signs up for the team “We wanted to do this for them,” Lilley said of the coaches “Penn Relays for them is so historic – it’s the peak of the season.” There’s a lot of running left for this group – Monmouth County NJSIAA Meet of Champions and possibly nationals One thing is certain: There won’t be a harder-earned medal in the trophy case than the one they took home from Franklin Field Rutgers closed out the meet with a quartet of strong performances in the field Senior Chloe Timberg defended her title in the women’s pole vault with a 14-7.5 clearance becoming just the second three-time winner of the event since it debuted in 1998 placed second in the men’s triple jump (49-1.5) placed second in the women’s triple jump (41-2.5) Senior Paige Floriea placed second in the women’s triple jump (20-1.75) a former Ocean Township High School standout helped the Quakers finish third in the men's 4x400 Championship of America (3:04.57) anchored a fifth-place finish in the men’s distance medley (3:55 1600 split) and a second-place finish in the 4xmile (4:08 split) anchored a sixth-place finish in the women’s distance medley with a 4:43 1600 split and ran a 2:10 leadoff on the seventh-place 4x800 Watch Penn Relays Live on FloTrack Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com --  The Rumson and Cherokee girls leveled up in the 4x800-meter relay trials on Friday morning as both New Jersey squads ran their way into the Championship of America race with strong performances at the 129th Penn Relays presented by Toyota on  at historic Franklin Field You have successfully subscribed to the newsletter There was an error while trying to send your request Allison Adams was thrilled to learn that she was pregnant with her third child resident had experienced preeclampsia and postpartum preeclampsia during her previous two births but she felt healthy and confident going into her third Allison’s obstetrician noticed some abnormal vascularity in the placenta “My doctor told me that I’d likely have to have a C-section a hysterectomy and I’d have to deliver early at a hospital that was over an hour away,” Allison says How could they know that so early in my pregnancy?” Allison was diagnosed with placenta percreta a condition that occurs when the placenta abnormally invades through the different layers of the uterine wall and can attach to nearby organs including into the bladder or to the pelvic sidewalls that run the arteries into the legs According to the National Institutes of Health, placenta percreta used to occur roughly in 1 in 2,500 pregnancies. But now its incidence is higher and thought to be as frequent as 1 in 1,000 pregnancies. The occurrence of a placenta percreta is thought to be related to abnormalities in the lining of the uterus often due to scarring after a C-section or other uterine surgery Allison had two previous C-sections and two D&Cs due to miscarriage What made this condition particularly unique is that Allison says she felt perfectly normal and I didn't look physically different,” she says told Allison that even though she felt fine “I couldn’t lift my two other kids He told me to limit the number of stairs I climbed but it was about as close as you could get to it.” she and her family should consider relocating to be closer to Hackensack—she lived 90 minutes from there Rather than risk needing a helicopter ride in case of an emergency she packed up her family and moved into her in-laws’ house just minutes from the hospital Allison began spotting despite her extremely limited activity This happened again at 24 weeks and 26 weeks Allison had a large intra-abdominal and vaginal hemorrhage and surgeons then removed Allison’s uterus via a hysterectomy.  Because she had lost so much blood before and during surgery Allison was given several units of blood transfusions “We have a very robust transfusion protocol and an incredible multidisciplinary team always ready to manage a situation like this,” Dr Allison stayed in the hospital for 10 days to recover and baby Claire stayed in the NICU for a few weeks “It was such a miracle that we found them That we were in the right place at the right time with the right people,” Allison says “I just have so much gratitude and admiration.” Allison organized a fully attended charity spin ride at a local spin studio and raised $8,000 for the new Claire Adams Fund at the hospital “My life was saved by receiving someone else’s blood so I’d like to return that favor,” she says The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician Always consult your physician for individual care tax-exempt charitable organization (tax ID 22-3474145) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law Rachel James (19) of Rumson-Fair Haven takes a shot during the lacrosse game between Manasquan and Rumson-Fair Haven at Rumson-Fair Haven High School in Rumson .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Lauren Knego | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comWhile it still might be early in the season Rumson-Fair Haven knew a lot was riding on Tuesday’s game against Trinity Hall the two teams met twice - once during the regular season and in the Shore Conference Tournament final The Bulldogs lost the first meeting by two goals but rebounded in the conference final and beat the Monarchs to win their 11th tournament title “I believe that last year after they beat us we knew that wasn’t our team,” Rumson-Fair Haven’s Chase Memmott said “We didn’t use our abilities to how we would be able to and I feel like we really capitalized on our strengths in the Shore Conference and wanted to show that we are the better team and are able to win.” definitely capitalized on Tuesday afternoon and defeated No 17 Trinity Hall 12-7 at Maria Gatta Community Park The win gives the Bulldogs the top spot in the Shore Conference American Division at 3-0 “We’re coming off winning the Shore Conference they wanted revenge and we told ourselves this is a business trip,” Rumson-Fair Haven’s Rachel James said “Everyone has a job to do and everybody succeeded at that job and that’s why we came out with the win.” The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter then held the Monarchs scoreless in the second quarter en route to a 5-1 halftime lead Trinity Hall opened the third quarter with goals from Chiara Donahue and O’Malley Eldridge in the span of 43 seconds Rumson-Fair Haven then scored six-straight goals in the final 7:22 to take a 10-3 lead after three I one hundred percent agree with that,” James said moving on ball and shot placement I think really helped us today and I think we just came out really Trinity Hall outscored Rumson-Fair Haven 4-2 in the fourth quarter but the damage had been done and the Bulldogs were able to hold on for the 12-7 final “We started out very strong and then we started to wear down We knew we were winning this game so we had to get right back into it and it worked out,” Memmott said of the second half We knew what their strengths were and we were able to capitalize on what we were able to do when guarding them Eldridge led Trinity Hall with a hat trick and five draw controls while Donohue also contributed a hat trick and three draw controls Lyla Lu also scored while Bridie Fitzgerald added one assist James recorded a hat trick and six draw controls Mia Milkowski finished with a hat trick and one assist O’Connor contributed two goals and four draw controls Chloe Kelly chipped in one goal and four draw controls along with winning the Shore Conference Tournament title Group 1 final where it fell to eventual Group 1 winner Glen Ridge by one goal The Bulldogs lost one key player from that team - Abby Boyle - who led the team with 246 draw controls and graduated with a career 637 Rumson-Fair Haven knows it can repeat that success “We’re still early in the season and we just want to keep building “Shore Conference and states is what our mind and eyes are on I think we can do that and we have all the potential in the world to do it.” I think we’ve built a lot of trust between each other and I feel like it shows,” Memmott added Last year we came in with a brand new team and this year we lost one player we got some underclassmen on the field that are fantastic and I feel like we bond as a team on and off the field every single day.” Lauren Knego may be reached at lknego@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on X at @laurenknego The N.J. High School Sports newsletter now appears in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now! Follow us on social: Facebook ’ Instagram ’ X (formerly Twitter) --  The Rumson girls turned their frustration into jubilation on Saturday when they broke their school record and finished fifth in the 4x800 Championship of America race at the 129th Penn Relays at historic Franklin Field This was the third straight COA appearance for Rumson's 4x800 squad and this was their highest finish as the foursome of Izzy Rodriguez and Clemmie Lilley ran 9:04.11 and earned medals for placing fifth overall and second among American teams in the 12-team race Rumson's former school record was the 9:04.48 it ran in the trials at Penn last year.   making their third appearance in four years placing eighth in a school outdoor record 9:13.67 IMG Academy of Florida won the race in 8:40.51 "We've never been able to stay with the field in the Championship of America So to be able to stay with this incredible field and place fifth was awesome." PISCATAWAY -- The scene was all too familiar for Rumson-Fair Haven The Bulldogs had walked onto the field at SHI Stadium at Rutgers University to compete in the Group 2 state final for the third straight year this time as the decisive favorite with a dominant 12-0 record Malcolm X Shabazz had just taken a two-score lead on Rumson-Fair Haven with five minutes left in the second quarter taking a 16-6 lead after yet another explosive touchdown pass and catch The prolific Rumson offense had looked pedestrian and hope for a comeback was already dwindling And then this Rumson-Fair Haven Bulldogs proved they were unlike any of the predecessors in what became a thrilling 26-24 victory Arthur Tambaro sparked the comeback with a 40-yard kickoff return the first of many role players who played like stars under the bright lights in Rutgers University's stadium Rumson swiftly answered with a touchdown of its own in under a minute They seized control of the game further on the following possession after astute coaching by Jeremy Schulte he had his punt team on the field before suddenly substituting all 11 players and converting on a throw from Owen O'Toole to Jack Gyimesi Murray then cemented the Rumson advantage with a 17-yard touchdown run this year's Bulldogs had taken a 20-16 lead at halftime and they had proven that they were unlike any other team in the illustrious history of Rumson-Fair Haven football The role players continued to step up in the second half Another pivotal fourth down catch was made by Nicholas Economou to set up the key touchdown of the second half that gave Rumson a 26-16 lead The first play of the following Shabazz drive was an interception by Rumson junior Beau Devine who had previously been beaten deep by the impressive athleticism of the Shabazz receivers It was a testament to the total strength accumulated over the years by Rumson even after heartbreaking defeats in the previous two state finals This year's group of players was more than its stars And they proved it with the first undefeated season since in 1959 and the first state championship in school history the players in purple ran onto the field to celebrate their incredible victory It was a moment unlike any other in school history The battle of the Bulldogs got off to a surprising start as Rumson was stunned to find itself outmatched in certain situations on the field The lessons came early as Shabazz marched its opening drive into the red zone before turning the ball over on downs the first Rumson drive was a three-and-out As the tenacious Rumson defense forced a 3rd-and-12 on the following Shabazz possession again there was the shock of athleticism and explosive playmaking from the team from Newark Senior running back Jalen Cline took a 73-yard screen pass to the house for the game's first score And even as Rumson answered with a promising drive of their own it ended with a red zone interception thrown by O'Toole to Stanford commit Omari Gaines Rumson actually got lucky on the subsequent drive as a potential 75-yard touchdown throw by Romelo Tables was dropped by Ian Adrien Rumson found its own advantage to lean on: the offensive line "We're a special group of guys," said senior tackle Matt Smith "We knew the game plan was to run the ball because they had a lot of athletes on the outside The first scoring drive was finished off with attitude as Owen O'Toole easily punched in a quarterback sneak behind the push up front was finished off with a strong Murray run between the tackles But Rumson found an even better advantage on the perimeter There was a moment on the sideline when senior Henry Malpass saw an opportunity for the team to continue to run outside zone because of the team's leverage upfront and Rumson used that literal edge to its advantage so I was able to hook him really easily," said Malpass "And (tight end) Jack Gyimesi is able to get to the second level so easily And every time Rumson ran the ball off the tackle my favorite play is outside zone," Smith said and Murray finished with 175 of the team's 199 yards rushing as the dominance upfront was the foundation of Rumson's comeback The tight bond of that unit was of added significance as it were the key piece to finally getting over the hump in the state championship "We're friends and teammates," said senior Hayden Edwards And the defense that had been beset by big plays found its own path to success up front Rumson finished with two sacks and eight tackles for loss in numerous more pressures on Shabazz quarterback Romelo Tables who played a courageous game to keep his team competitive until the final seconds There was the aforementioned interception by Beau Devine but the Rumson defense nearly slammed the door shut to seal the win when Jacob Tobias had a big interception and run that was called back by penalty his ability to make tackles in space and contain the explosive playmakers of Shabazz was key to victory The combination of defense and effective running helped drain the clock down the stretch Rumson's last scoring drive extended the lead to 26-16 with 6:06 left in the fourth quarter and Devine's pick swiftly set up another drive that meant the team could ensure there was not enough time for a comeback Even as Shabazz put together a final scoring drive with three minutes left to cut the deficit to 26-24 there were only 17 seconds remaining as an onside kick attempt had no chance of being recovered we had some tough athletes we're gonna have to face "We just all stay composed throughout the whole game It was hardly Owen O'Toole's best game as quarterback for Rumson-Fair Haven but it was enough for the victory and to cement his place in history as one of the greatest passers the Shore has ever seen O'Toole entered the game just 15 yards away from becoming only the second player ever to reach 7,000 career passing yards after Donald Glenn hit the mark for Middletown North in 2016 He finished with 7,099 career passing yards in addition to captaining the Bulldogs to a 13-0 season and Rumson's first group state championship the senior concludes his career as the most prolific passer in Rumson's history He posted 2,893 yards passing with 25 touchdowns and only four interceptions in his final season and added 194 yards and nine touchdowns rushing S: Jalen Cline 73 pass from Romelo Tables (Daveion Porter run) S: Talib McLean 31 pass from Tables (Ian Adrien pass from Porter) RFH: Kellen Murray 7 run (Carson Memmott kick) S: McLean 7 pass from Karriem Coston (Zaiden McDonald pass from Porter) Rumson-Fair Haven rushes goalie Sydney Kiernan (32) of Rumson-Fair Haven after the girls lacrosse SCT final between Trinity Hall and Rumson-Fair Haven at Monmouth University in Long Branch 2024.Mile Djordjiovski | For NJ Advance Media .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Lauren Knego | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comLast season Rumson-Fair Haven’s 17-5 loss to Shawnee was forever burned into the back of the Bulldogs’ minds when the two teams met again in a non-conference matchup on Friday afternoon used a strong third quarter to pull away from No It was the fourth-straight win for the Bulldogs with wins over Southern and Red Bank Regional and losses against Lawrenceville “After last year we were really fired up and we wanted to make a comeback,” Rumson-Fair Haven’s Daisen Iwan said we started off a little bit slow but we quickly came back from this season and we’re all working as a team now and it’s been so much fun.” 5 Haddonfield and Manasquan before taking down their third ranked opponent in four games which started the season 1-1 with a win over Kingsway and a loss to No we had a pretty tough loss to them last year so this year we were kind of just focused on writing our wrongs,” Rumson-Fair Haven’s Clara Winters said we’re working with a similar team as last year but defensively it was just to shut down who we know to shut down - (Mackenzie) Borbi which is what gets us wins at the end of the day.” the Bulldogs opened the first quarter on a free position goal from Iwan with 10:45 to play then took a 2-0 lead after a goal from Rachel James with 4:39 left Maddie Goulburn then scored on an assist from Borbi to make it a one goal game after the first quarter Rumson-Fair Haven then took a 3-1 lead on a goal from Mia Milkowski with 9:49 left but Shawnee scored two goals in the span of 85 seconds to tie the game 3-3 with 7:06 left in the half A goal from James put the Bulldogs back in front 4-3 with 4:24 left but Borbi’s second goal of the quarter tied it 4-4 with 3:20 left Iwan scored her second of the day with 19 seconds left to play to put Rumson-Fair Haven ahead 504 but Goulburn scored with four seconds left to send the game to halftime tied 5-5 “We used to get a little nervous and tightened up when games started to get close but this time we really did keep our composure which I think was a great impact for winning the game at the end,” Iwan said “After halftime we all talked about how it’s 5-5 it’s completely 0-0 so we have to keep the momentum that we started with in the first half.” Rumson-Fair Haven opened the third quarter with three-straight goals in the span of two minutes to retake an 8-5 lead with 7:19 left Borbi scored on a free position with 6:28 remaining to cut it to 8-6 but the Bulldogs closed out the quarter with another two goals for a 10-6 lead after three Goulburn and Abby Davidson scored in the fourth quarter for the 10-8 final “Mainly we just try and keep our mindset good stay playing as a team and don’t break down because on defense if we break down mentally then it’s kind of over,” Winters said “We’re all friends outside of lacrosse so it’s pretty easy to stay composed together and work as a team we have so many amazing players which definitely helps defensively to give a little buffer but we definitely didn’t take our heads out of the game.” Goulburn led with a hat trick and two assists Borbi also had a hat trick and two assists and threw in one draw control Davidson chipped in one goal and four draw controls Iwan finished with a hat trick and one assist for Rumson-Fair Haven Chloe Kelly added one goal and four draw controls and Kat O’Connor recorded a goal and four draw controls keeping composure,” Winters said when asked what the Bulldogs did well on Friday “Sometimes that’s where we fall a little short and today we didn’t let ourselves get knocked down especially towards the end of the game which I thought gave us great drive to keep going.” Lauren Knego may be reached at lknego@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @laurenknego The Rumson girls completed a unique and amazing triple on Saturday 24 when Rumson won the Monmouth County Championship at the Bennett Center in Toms River the Bulldogs captured the Shore Conference title at the Bennett Center Both local championships were filled with record-setting performances on the way to runaway victories.  Rumson returned to the track two days later and completed the trifecta dropping a DMR bomb at the Ott Center in Philadelphia this past Saturday stopping the clock at 12:00.97 to finish first at the Penn Relays Winter Showcase and take over the national lead this season!!!  which shattered its school record by 18 seconds qualified the squad for the Penn Relays in April at Franklin Field in Philly 1 time in the nation that Rumson has burned this season The Bulldogs also ran 4:04.63 at the NJCTC Relays on Dec which still hands as the fastest time in the country Parker Shenman (1) of Rumson-Fair Haven races to third base during the NJSIAA Group 2 baseball final between Pascack Hills and Rumson-Fair Haven at Bob DeMeo Field at Veteran’s Park in Hamilton .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Reed Becker | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comMiles Martin and Parker Shenman each hit a home run in Rumson-Fair Haven’s 4-2 win over Marlboro in Rumson Rumson-Fair Haven (7-5) scored all four runs in the third inning Martin finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base on top of his home run Casper Billington went 2-for-4 for Rumson-Fair Haven with a double and a run scored not allowing a run while giving up just two hits Rumson-Fair Haven will host Caldwell on Saturday while Marlboro will travel to face Christian Brothers Academy on Monday PHILADELPHIA – It’s easy to take the success of the Rumson-Fair Haven High School girls track program for granted look at the company they’re keeping at the Penn Relays The Bulldogs qualified for the 4x800 Championship of America for the third straight year posting the sixth-fastest time in Friday’s trials (9:08.76) out of 79 entrants The only squads that ran faster were IMG Academy (essentially an all-star team based in Florida) which has an enrollment nearly double that of Rumson-Fair Haven “We’ve always taken pride in that – we’re just a small school we don’t recruit or anything,” Bulldogs anchor Clemmie Lilley said “We know a lot of these schools are finding these girls from different countries or taking the best kids from around the country The Stanford-bound senior anchored in 2:08.67 the second-fastest split of the entire event Junior Reese Reynolds Malone ran the event’s fourth-fastest split to bring the Bulldogs from 10th place to fourth in their heat Isabella Rodriguez (2:22.25) and Cassedy Stypul (2:27.06) ran the first two legs “Hopefully we have something left for the final.” The Bulldogs finished 11th in 2023 (in 9:22) and eighth in 2024 (9:07) their runners did not double in the 4x400 the ensure fresher legs The top five finishers in the Championship of America receive medals That’s one of the few prizes Lilley and company have not captured they will represent the only public high school with an enrollment of under 1,000 students on the biggest of stages “The kids take a certain pride in being homegrown,” co-head coach Tim McCloone said The Braves competed in the distance medley Championship of America for the second straight year finishing 12th in 12:04.34 with Alivia Schweibinz (3:41.34 1200 leg) Sadie Honig (2:18.32 800) and Jessica Abbott (5:03.76 1600) Ocean Township freshman sensation Leah Starkey placed eighth in 9:41.91 roughly the equivalent of time in the low 10:20s for 3200 meters Other Shore Conference schools in the girls 4x800: Red Bank Catholic (9:39.22): Rhiannon Hill (2:24.29) Middletown South (9:48.99): Amelia Pattwell (2:25.94) the top Shore Conference time was posted by Long Branch (49.73) followed by Jackson Memorial (50.62) and Red Bank (50.90) Shot put medal for Julia SantosIt’s a big deal to get a Penn Relays medal – a prize reserved for the top five finishers in each event The Toms River South senior finished fourth in the girls shot put for the second straight year Livingston’s Jessica Oji defended her title (52-4.5) with Caribbean competitors finishing second and third it’s a good experience to be back out there,” Santos said “It’s a good opportunity to be able to compete against other people Toms River North also has two field-event competitors at the meet Senior May Hanlon finished sixth in the girls high jump with a personal-best height of 5-7 and senior Riley Brazier placed 16th in the girls javelin (111-10) .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Will Harrigan | For NJ Advance MediaThe long bus ride to the shore proved well worth it for Caldwell the Chiefs used the early rally to take a 6-2 victory over Rumson-Fair Haven in Rumson The Chiefs have won two straight and now sit at 8-5 on the season Nick Arvanites and Dante Placenti led the way for the Chiefs each driving in two runs to spur the offense Vin Brown tossed six innings of four hit ball only surrendering one earned runs along the way The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now and be among the first to get all the boys and girls sports you care about, straight to your inbox each weekday. To add your name, click here Get a weekly serving of the hottest NJ food news sent right to your inbox with our Side Dish newsletter Since 2013, the Rallo family has been known in New Jersey for its fabulous Italian restaurants (See NJM faves Undici Taverna Rustica in Rumson and Birravino in Red Bank) Just out of hotel/restaurant school at Cornell University Jake first thought he wanted to try his hand at working in the business world I should have come work for you.’ And I moved back to New Jersey Buy our February 2025 issue here Now they own and run this stunning new restaurant in downtown Rumson alongside the Diaco family There are booths with genuine leather banquettes “We wanted to give Rumson that New York City feel in the suburbs,” Jake says forget about all the craziness happening in the world and feel like they’re in a French restaurant in some bustling city It’s the food that keeps people coming back Chef Joshua Laurano had a Michelin star when he worked in Manhattan “He’s taking French dishes and kind of breaking them down and twisting them into his own version,” says Jake Judging from the packed dining room on a recent weeknight the Rallos are more than succeeding with their new venture [RELATED: Proud Jersey Native Eli Rallo Is One of NJ’s Top Influencers] Read more Eat & Drink articles the identity of Rumson-Fair Haven basketball is inextricably linked to a star player - Luke Cruz But in the final stretch of a do-or-die playoff bout against Holmdel the Bulldogs chose the ultimate counter move - taking Cruz off the floor altogether "They were just attacking him every time he got it," Rumson coach Chris Champeau said "I told the guys - Luke Cruz has carried us so many games let's have someone else handle it this time." This matchup was not a battle to be won by Rambo Champeau considered leaving Cruz on the floor in a defensive zone while continuing to leverage his size on offense but instead he deployed the team's "SQAT" unit of small quick and tough players that could run a full-court press with great switchability The audacious coaching decision worked to perfection Rumson held Holmdel to just six fourth quarter points while their speedy passing offense found the open man against the scrambling Hornet defense Riley Gill drilled a crucial corner three to make it a two-score game Carson Memmott delivered the finishing blow with two tough shots in traffic and Rumson closed out the 54-48 victory "(Cruz) is 6-foot-7 and he's got good hands But every time they would send two guys on him and every time we'd throw it inside and someone would pick it off from behind," Memmott said So I can get in the post and I can get it done." More: Shore boys basketball state tournament tracker: Schedule, times, results Memmott delivered the key buckets as a versatile wing adept inside and outside And even a contained Cruz was second on the team with 12 points and several blocks the Bulldogs impressed as they closed the game out while missing the mark in the key element of finishing games: free throws The team missed their final four free throws but compensated for that with stifling defense in the final minute we weren't closing them out," Memmott said We've got a lot of seniors that play and no one wanted it to be our last game the game was a masterclass in coaching and execution by both teams that were aptly prepared for the matchup Holmdel telegraphed the opening possession and turned it to a steal-and-score at the other end The Hornets shot out to a double digit lead in the first quarter and appeared destined to pull off the playoff upset after losing two regular season matchups to Rumson Champeau was effusive in his praise of his counterpart "He's the best coach in the Shore every year Holmdel is gonna be down?' You saw that: he doesn't have one big guy I think he's the best coach in the Shore." It was a game that exemplified the core tenets of great basketball The selflessness of both teams was a recurring theme and the biggest shot was delivered by a player with a nuanced game that has earned the respect of opponents across the Shore "One of my favorite words is perseverance," Champeau said Gill had endured several misses in the final minutes before delivering a make that outweighed them all The clutch three-pointer was his only score of the fourth quarter reiterating the instruction from his coach "That gives us the confidence to take those shots and make them And that's really what helped me make that shot there because I knew I had my coach and my whole team behind me even if I missed." It was the second straight year the Bulldogs beat the Hornets in the section semifinal and once again it is powerhouse Manasquan that awaits in the final Memmott was a key part of the Rumson football team that faltered two straight years in the state final before finally breaking through with a championship this past fall He aims to bring that recent experience to the hardwood on Saturday "We went and lost both years at Rutgers," said Memmott We were winning almost the entire game in both games and lost at the end So we're gonna go up against Manasquan and we're not gonna let them come back." But after three makes from beyond the arc in the opening quarter helped Holmdel go up 19-8 but then the Hornets' outside shooting went cold and Rumson chipped away at the lead After a Holmdel's Joe Currieri hit a three-pointer to open the second half Rumson answered with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 31-31 A three-point play by Gill gave Rumson a shot of momentum to end the third quarter as the Hornets clung to a 42-41 lead Rumson's defensive intensity set the tone in the fourth as neither team hit a field goal in the first two minutes of the quarter Two free throws gave the Bulldogs a 43-42 lead and they never relinquished it Holmdel senior Daxx Corneiro delivered his own impressive effort as he scored all six of his team's points in the quarter and twice cut the Rumson lead to just one point with his scores But Gill's three-pointer with two-and-half minutes left was the first dagger and Memmott produced the final deep cuts with two tough layups to seal the 54-48 victory In addition to Memmott's 16 points and Cruz's 12 point guard David Carr was also in double figures with 10 Joe Currieri and Ireoluwa Adesina were tremendous in their final game in white and blue Corneiro led the way with 14 points while Adesina had 11 and Currieri had 10 Holmdel vastly exceeded expectations as they gave Rumson-Fair Haven all they could handle for four quarters it was a stunning season from a team that was not expected to be a contender after losing their top three scorers from last season and also lacking a true a post presence no team in the Shore was a bigger surprise contender than the Hornets the anticipation is palpable for another edition Rumson-Fair Haven and Manasquan in the postseason The Warriors have put together an astonishing streak of six consecutive section titles but none of those finals were as close as last year's 36-30 victory over the Bulldogs It took a fourth quarter comeback for 'Squan to come out on top after the trailed 22-16 at the end of the third Manasquan beat rival Wall 53-36 on Wednesday to secure its spot in the section final and the 17-point margin of victory was the perennial power's smallest of the state playoffs Rumson and 'Squan met in the regular season back in December There is no shortage of possible outcomes for this championship game There are stellar playmakers that could win the day coaches that are master tacticians able to craft a result and role players capable of playing like stars in big moments Rumson-Fair Haven has been thisclose to an NJSIAA football group championship the last two seasons It was defeated by a combined five points by Caldwell and Westwood in the championship games The final 2024 football game involving a Shore Conference team gives the Bulldogs a chance to make it to the top - in the Group 2 final tonight against Shabazz (also the Bulldogs) More: Staff writer Steven Falk makes his Rumson vs. Shabazz pick Rumson-Fair Haven running back Kellen Murray has a wrap (almost a club) on his hand and wrist but looks ready to go But here are the Rumson-Fair Haven Bulldogs Shabazz takes the opening kickoff and has driven it to the red zone Rumson's Ben Gredell fourth-down sack at the Rumson 11 ends a good opening drive by Malcolm X taking the opening kickoff and driving 55 yards before the Rumson defense rose up Rumson-Fair Haven went three and out on its opening drive Shabazz strikes first on a third-and-13 73-yard screen over the middle from Romelo Tables to Jalon Cline and then Porter ran in for the 2-point conversion on a Wildcat run Shabazz has had two drives and both times it marched it straight down the field But it found the end zone on the second drive thanks to the long pass Rumson-Fair Haven needs some first downs to keep the defense off the field Rumson-Fair Haven drives, but doesn't scoreRumson-Fair Haven drives to the Shabazz 9 where on third-and-goal Omari Gaines intercepted an Owen O'Toole pass at the goal-line The interception came one play after Shabazz dropped an INT that it probably would have returned for a TD On top of dropping an interception that could have went for a touchdown A Kellen Murray 16-yard run moves Rumson to the Shabazz 26 Its 26 yards away from potentially tying the game O'Toole sneaks it in from one-yard out and Rumson-Fair Haven is on the board Shabazz leads 8-6 early in the second quarter Shabazz drivingAfter giving up points on RFH's first drive Tables scrambles for 18 yards and a Shabazz 1st down at the RFH 35 Shabazz leads Rumson-Fair Haven 16-6On a third-and-6 at the RFH 31 Tables scrambles to his right to avoid the rush and hits a wide-open Talib McLean in the back of the end zone for the TD and a Porter to Ian Adrien 2-point conversion pass makes it 16-6 Shabazz 5:34 left in the first half An Arthur Tambaro 40-yard kickoff return puts RFH in Shabazz territory And O'Toole hits Thomas for a 26-yard pass to the Shabazz 7 Kellen Murray with a 7-yard TD run pulls RFH within 16-13 with 4:40 left in the first half An illegal procedure on a fourth-and-1 from the Shabazz 39 results in a Shabazz punt Rumson takes over on its 34 with 2:41 left first half A pass interference penalty gives RFH a first down at the Shabazz 49 Rumson was going to punt on a fourth-and-5 but it rushed its offense back on the field and O'Toole hits tight end Jack Gymesi for 16 yards Then a defensive holding penalty moves RFH to the Shabazz 18 Murray's 18-yard TD run gives Rumson-Fair Haven a 20-16 lead with 1:28 left first half RFH scored the final two touchdowns of the first half and go into intermission with a four-point lead The RFH Bulldogs are 24 minutes of football away from a state championship Some halftime stats from the great Steven Falk: Kellen Murray has 12 carries for 84 yards and 2 TDs O'Toole is 7-for-12 for 86 yards and has 16 yards rushing and a TD Second half underway, RFH drive stallsRFH drives to a 1st down to the Shabazz 31 before Shabazz defense stiffens and forces RFH to punt on a fourth and 16 A Tables swing pass to Adrien on a third-and-8 nets 25 and a Shabazz first down at its 47 yard line Rumson does not convert a fourth-and-8 from the Shabazz 39 Shabazz takes over with 3:39 left third quarter Rumson-Fair Haven gets the ball backShabazz's pass attempt on a fourth and 11 from the RFH 36 falls incomplete RFH takes over with 1:03 left 3rd quarter with a 20-16 lead They're 13:03 way from a state crown with the lead and the ball Rumson-Fair Haven 20, Shabazz 16 headed to fourth quarterThere was no scoring in the third quarter and the RFH Bulldogs have the ball and a fresh set of downs as the fourth quarter begins They're on the Shabazz 48 with a four-point lead RFH didn't get too far on its drive and has to punt it back to Shabazz the two teams have been unable to get it going offensively in the second half The Shabazz Bulldogs didn't do much with the ball and they're forced to punt it back to RFH The RFH Bulldogs have the ball and the lead Rumson has a fourth-and 7 at the Shabazz 34 with 6:35 left RFH calls its second time out before the fourth down play O'Toole hits Carson Memmott for 22 and a first down at the 12 and then Thomas runs for 9 to the 3 A touchdown would give RFH a nice lead late in the game RFH takes commanding leadMurray runs for 3 and the TD to give Rumson-Fair Haven a 26-16 lead late in the fourth quarter RFH Bulldogs are in position to win this game RFH forced a turnover on the next Shabazz drive when Beau Devine picked off a pass Shabazz drivesThe Shabazz Bulldogs have advanced it inside the RFH 10-yard line A touchdown would get them back in the game but they still have work to do and better do it in a hurry RFH holds 26-16 lead A Romelo Tables to Talib McLean 7-yard TD  and Tables to Daveion Porter 2-point conversion pass pulls Shabazz within 26-24 with 17 seconds remaining Shabazz recovers the onside kickThe third time was the charm so its RFH ball and they will take a knee and wins Rumson-Fair Haven are your Group 2 champions RFH wins 26-24 and win its first overall Group 2 state championship after being defeated by a combined five points in the last two Group 2 finals It is also the Bulldogs' first unbeaten season since they went 7-0 in 1959 More: Group 5 football championship: Toms River North makes memories in win over Union City More: Toms River North run inspired by great coaching 2024 at 9:31 am ET.css-79elbk{position:relative;}Rumson Police will be out with extra patrols on Mischief Night and Halloween NJ — Rumson residents should be aware of a Halloween curfew that will begin for children and teens on Wednesday night Anyone under 18 years old and not accompanied by an adult Police are encouraging residents to keep the following safety tips in mind as they approach the upcoming holiday: Rumson Police will be out with extra patrols on Mischief Night and Halloween Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. PISCATAWAY - Sonny Amato was not worried even though Rumson-Fair Haven was leading Caldwell by just six points entering the final bout of the NJSIAA Group 2 championship match Senior and returning state qualifier Elijah Bayne was the wrestler who was on the mat at 120 pounds to cllinch the Bulldogs' second consecutive Group 2 championship Rumson-Fair Haven's defending 144-pound state champion Bayne pinned Yankee Mabee in the second period to put the finishing touches on the Bulldogs' 40-28 win Sunday at Rutgers University's Jersey Mike's Arena Southern won its third straight NJSIAA Group 5 championship with a 58-18 rout over outmanned Bridgewater-Raritan and Brick Memorial denied its 10th group championship The Mustangs were defeated 45-30 by Delsea in the Group 3 final It was Delsea's fourth straight Group 3 title Bayne said it was the first time all season where a match came down to him in the final bout there was a lot of pressure when I went out there,'' Bayne said I knew what my job had to be and I knew I had to get it done for the team.'' Bayne built a 5-1 lead on a takedown in the first period and two back points in the second before he put Mabee to his back with an arm bar "My game plan going out there was to do my job and get it done as fast as I could,'' Bayne said "I love getting on top and I love working that bar (arm bar).'' The match was still in the balance heading into the final bout because Rumson-Fair Haven (28-1) forfeited at 215 pounds even though two-time state qualifier Conor Delaney Rumson-Fair Haven head coach Eleazar DeLuca was tight-lipped about why Delaney did not wrestle for the second match in a row Delaney did not wrestle in the Bulldogs' 57-24 win over Middle Township in the Group 2 semifinal The forfeit created at least a nine-point swing Caldwell closed to wihtin 34-28 headed into the final bout on a pin at 106 and a 7-4 win by Carmine Sipper at 113 over Eamon Fry in a matchup of returning state qualifiers Rumson-Fair Haven had built its lead on pins by Amato and returning state qualifier Matt Smith (heavyweight) and a win by technical fall by returning state qualifier Luke Dougherty (190) 18-point run that also included a forfeit to Cole Pangborn at 165 and decisions by returning state qualifier Mario DelVecchio (150) and Walker Skove (157) I give all respect to Caldwell and props to their coaching staff,'' Amato said it was a special season for Rumson-Fair Haven In addition to repeating as Group 2 champions the Bulldogs defeated Group 5 champion Southern Group 4 finalist Phillipsburg and Non-Public A semifinal St John Vianney within a 13-day span in January it is the first time Southern has won three straight group championships in any sport Southern had to overcome adversity during the season It wrestled the last five weeks of the season without returning state third-place finisher Hayden Hochstrasser (175) and returning state fourth-place finisher Bryce Manera (132) Roy said Manera will not be entered in the District 26 Tournament due to an ankle injury Roy said Hochstrasser's status for districts was still uncertain "We've been talking about winning a third straight since last summer We just kept wrestling and had kids that stepped up along the way.'' said the wrestlers talked it over after the Rams' loss to Rumson-Fair Haven on Jan That was Southern's third defeat in a 20-day span All of the defeats came while wrestling short-handed "We took losses that we should not have taken,'' Stout who recorded one of the Rams' seven pins Sunday "We all just came together as a group collectively and said Southern won eight straight after the Rumson-Fair Haven defeat Its five state tournament wins were by an average of 49.4 points "Being able to ovecome adversity made us tougher overall,'' Stout said "It's great that I had seniors that were able to take on that role (leadership) and help these younger kids and kind of keep the team together,'' Roy said I just feel like the kids really pulled together at the end.'' Roy said the defeats to Group 2 champion Rumson-Fair Haven John Vianney and Shore Conference Class A champion Christian Brothers Academy may have benefitted his team in the long run even though Southern is a program that never likes to lose to anybody "When you get a couple of losses like that some of the pressure comes off,'' Roy said "Wrestling good competion enables you to find out what you need to work out I think we were able to coach these guys up for the end of the year once we were able to evaulate what's going on with each kid.'' the Rams (18-3) received pins from returning state runner-up Anthony Mason (113) returning state qualifiers Cash McVey (126) and Scottie Sari (138) Levi Foote (190) and Caleb Counts (heavyweight) Freshman Cade Collins (106) had a technical fall Delsea too much for Brick MemorialDelsea's firepower in the middle weights was too much for Brick Memorial The Crusaders (21-2) built a 33-0 lead after six bouts which was too much for Brick Memorial's firepower from 190-106 to overcome "I'm so proud of these kids and the way they've gone about their business,'' Brick Memorial head coach Mike Kiley said They have great senior leadership with Harvey (Harvey Ludington) I think seniors are what get you to these type of matches The match started in a bad spot for Brick Memorial (14-5) at 126 pounds which meant a trip through some weights where the Mustangs have struggled all season before the match hit their firepower A key result was the second bout at 132 pounds where Delsea's three-time state qualifier Gage Summers pinned returning state qualifier Gavin Martin early in the third period Martin was winning 6-2 in the second period "I would have liked to have started a little bit higher Kiley was perturbed Delsea coach Tom Maxwell decided to forfeit to two-time state champion Ludington at 215 Ludington weighed in at 190 with two-time state qualifier Trey Tallmadge and was bumping up to 215 Delsea had two returning state qualifiers in Sal Marchese and Alex Grippo weighed in at 215 Marchese bumped up to heavyweight to wrestle two-time state qualifier Ben Szuba Szuba came from-behind to defeat Marchese 10-6 "Harvey wanted to wrestle here,'' Kiley said "This (wrestling in a state group final) is something high school gets excited about He's definitely hurting they didn't send a guy out.'' MIDDLETOWN -- The Rumson-Fair Haven boys basketball team was well aware of the manner in which it faltered in two earlier matchups against rival Red Bank Regional the Bulldogs finally found a path to the perfect ending in a 51-44 victory in the quarterfinals of the Shore Conference Tournament Saturday As they dismantled their opponent in the fourth quarter Clinging to a 42-40 lead with 3:15 remaining astute ball movement gave way to senior point guard David Carr driving the lane to draw defenders before firing a kick-out pass to junior Luke Lydon in the corner for a dagger three-pointer Carson Memmott caught the ball in a transition with a wide-open path to the basket and capitalized with an emphatic dunk The senior had delivered similar highlight moments on the football field as a key piece of the Bulldogs' state championship run and he recognized the parallels during this winter on the hardwood we lost two years in a row at Rutgers (in the state final)," Memmott said More: St. Rose, CBA advance with SCT quarterfinal wins Shore Conference Tournament semifinals scheduleWednesday Junior Luke Cruz provided an encore performance with his own transition slam to finish it off The group of mostly juniors and seniors confronted the past mistakes head-on and they finally found success with that same uncompromising perspective The floor general Carr led the way as Red Bank was on the precipice of a comeback we knew we should have won that," Carr said we've got to stay together and we can win this game Momentum in the game vacillated back-and-forth by the slimmest of margins Rumson led by a point after the first quarter Red Bank led by a point at halftime and Rumson led by two points heading into the fourth quarter But in stark contrast to the first two bouts the final eight minutes was when the Bulldogs found their stride The Bulldogs responded the Bucs' haymakers like a foul-and-score by Zayier Dean that cut Rumson's lead to single digits And the offense was arguably as balanced as it had been all season as Cruz and Carr were at their playmaking creating for others with a fine-tuned passing Memmott led the way with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds Cruz added 14 points with several impactful blocks while also being a force on the glass Lydon and Carr were clutch performers with a combined 13 points in the fourth quarter the Bulldogs always knew that their upside was as high as any team in the Shore we had so much potential to be great," said Memmott We're going to be great the rest of the tournament Wednesday's semifinal game against the Colts who won decisively by 25 points against Holmdel But the afterglow of victory was also the time for Rumson's seniors to reflect on their accomplishment We haven't made it past the Elite Eight," said Carr "So for us to get to the Final Four is huge Manasquan rolls in 30-point win over Colts NeckThe final game of the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals Saturday was certainly less dramatic but provides a glimpse forward at one of the most compelling storylines in the entire season Nine-seed Colts Neck got on the board on the team's opening possession after tip-off and after that the result was never in doubt again Top-seeded Manasquan answered with a 9-0 run to take a commanding 16-7 lead after the first quarter thanks to Griffin Linstra's seven points The machinations shifted back into gear in the second half as they outscored the Cougars 35-18 and rolled into the SCT semifinals with a 61-31 victory "I real think it comes from our town — it's a town full of winners," said Linstra It's safe to say the they'll be focused on both as they try to replicate Rumson's success in their third game against a familiar rival Rose in the semifinal after losing their first two divisional matchups against the Purple Roses the Warriors squandered a fourth quarter lead in the first meeting and couldn't fully keep pace in the second this is when it really matters," said Linstra rebound and hopefully we get the outcome we want." The recipe for success was cooking Saturday Linstra finished with 13 points while sophomore Rey Weinseimer had a game-high 18 Senior Brandon Kunz and sophomore Logan Cleveland both had nine points while junior Jack O'Reilly had eight That starting five accounted for 57 of the Warriors' 61 points Manasquan's suffocating defense was unwavering as they only allowed four points in the fourth quarter despite leading 44-27 after the third But that type of success will not come as easy against powerhouse reigning Shore champion St which found itself locked in a tight battle against Central Regional in the first half before surging to a lopsided victory The Purple Roses outscored the Eagles 40-21 in the second half to win 73-51 For a team that's accustomed to high-stakes games in big moments the competition itself is something to cherish And then we have three more days to practice to get even better." RUMSON – Rumson-Fair Haven rode its high-powered balanced offense – keyed by four touchdown runs from Kellen Murray - to a 56-28 victory over Delran in a Central Group 2 sectional semifinal Friday night The result sends Rumson to a sectional final for the 11th straight time but Murray said the team is also eyeing another trip to the state Group 2 championship game which the Bulldogs have played in but lost the last two years but we’re just playing it one game at a time,” said the junior tailback Rumson-Fair Haven (10-0) will host Wall (8-1) in the Central Group 2 title game next week More: NJSIAA football playoffs Week 2: Shore Conference schedule, scoreboard, highlights The Bulldogs found the end zone on each of their first four possessions Senior quarterback Owen O’Toole was another of the team’s offensive heroes but Delran (9-2) also had pretty good success moving the ball and got touchdowns from four different players O’Toole connected with senior wideout Nicolas Thomas on a 58-yard catch and run touchdown on the game’s third play from scrimmage After RFH held Delran to one first down on its opening possession scoring his first TD on a 9-yard run to make it 14-0 Delran bounced right back with its own 11-play 80-yard scoring drive capped with a 26-yard Vinny Sacca touchdown pass to junior running back Nick Pena who shed three would-be tacklers along the way to cut the RFH lead to 14-7 Nick Pena was misidentified in the original verson.) “They’ve got some playmakers so we knew it wasn’t going to be the easiest game,” said RFH coach Jeremy Schulte Defense made a few mistakes but we’ll be fine.” How Rumson-Fair Haven sealed the dealMurray then capped an efficient 8-play 51-yard scoring drive with a 15-yard run and O’Toole found Jordan Angstriech over the middle for 50-yard touchdown strike and Beau Devine’s on the goal-line interception helped preserve the halftime lead The second half featured a heavy dose of Murray on the ground for Rumson-Fair Haven Rushing for large chunks of yardage behind a bruising offensive line anchored by Matt Smith Murray added touchdown runs of 3 and 47 yards to close out his day 1/652025 NJSIAA Wrestling: Group 2, Caldwell vs Rumson-Fair Haven, Feb 16, 2025..st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Joe Zedalis | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comIn Bayne With Rumson-Fair Haven wrestling without its 31-1 Bayne scored a pin in the final bout in the NJSIAA/IBEW Local 102 Group 2 final to secure a 40-28 victory over Caldwell at Rutgers University the Bulldogs won their second-straight Group 2 championship and finished the season 28-1 The Rumson-Fair Haven forfeit at 215 and then a pin at 106 by Matt Ruane and a decision at 113 by Carmine Sipper pulled Caldwell to within 34-28 with only the 120-pound bout remaining but as soon as I stepped on the mat I knew what we needed and what I had to do,” Bayne said “It was the first time I was the last match all season “My teammates put their faith in me,” he added “I wanted to go out and get it done as fast as I could.” “He’s one of the better kids in a situation like that,” said RFH’s 144-pounder “It was a lot closer than we thought it would be,” Amato said RFH found itself in a final-bout situation because it was missing Conor Dalaney Rumson head coach Eleazar DeLuca shed little light on the absence of Delaney DeLuca answered the question with a question: “Why do you need to know that The forfeit at 215 came in between a technical fall at 190 by Luke Dougherty and a 56-second fall at heavyweight by Matt Smith the top-ranked public school in the NJ.com Top 20 The teams split the first four bouts but then Rumson took control with four straight wins between 144 and 165 The came back-to-back decisions by Mario Del Vecchio (9-4) and Walker Skove (6-0) Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription Joe Zedalis covers Shore Conference football for NJ.com. He can be reached at jzedalis@njadvancemedia.com Follow us on social: Facebook | Instagram | X (formerly Twitter) Clemmie Lilley has two goals for her final season with Rumson-Fair Haven High School girls track & field an always good program that she’s helped elevate to the realm of dynasty and be friends with everyone on the team – in the end we’re all people just trying to run in circles,” Lilley said I want everyone to see the race for second place when they’re racing us.” Everyone has been looking at the Bulldogs’ backs for a few years now a perfect season that included Shore Conference and NJSIAA Group 2 titles they’ve already won Group 2 in cross country and indoor track and now it’s legacy time as Lilley and most of the core hits the bell lap Shore Conference and state records – it’s all on the table for a small public-school team with less than 30 athletes but the fact that they like team championships makes a difference,” co-head coach Tim McLoone said “Some of our top kids in the past didn’t care about that We think it helps the whole experience if you’re motivated by team scores.” who is headed to Stanford University in the fall on a track scholarship and is aiming to run 2:03 in the 800 and 54 seconds in the 400 this spring The Bulldogs are one of the few girls teams in America with three runners under 2:10 in the 800 – and quite possibly the only public school of their size with that kind of firepower “Clemmie has altered the trajectory of everything that happens since she showed up because she works harder than anyone,” McLoone said “And she brings other people along with her.” Those people include fellow seniors Izzy Rodriguez (who will run collegiately at Penn next year) Hannah Nitka (who will run at Army West Point) and Cassedy Stypul (who will run at George Washington) Then there is junior Reese Reynolds Malone a budding superstar who is right there with Lilley in practice and races “It’s so fun to watch her emerge – and to have a training partner like her,” Lilley said “There’s no limit when we’re pushing each other every day When we get to the (starting) line we’re able to tell each other ‘We have something no one else has.’ And she’s my genuine best friend They have the benefit of two highly knowledgeable coaches in McLoone and sprint coach Bob Keogh who cooked up a peak interval workout called “jet fuel.” It consists of three or four sets of 400-200 repeats with a diagonal jog across the infield between the 400 and 200 Lilley and Malone knew they were ready to rip after wrapping the workout with a 61-second 400 and a 29-second 200 “It’s one we all get mentally prepared for and locked in for “The best part about it is definitely it being over.” When it comes to her final high school season the Stanford-bound senior ranks in the upper echelon of track athletes in Shore Conference history She placed second in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions 800 indoors Toms River SouthThe senior owns personal bests of 48-6.5 in the shot put and 136-0 in the discus She finished second in the shot at the indoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions and fourth in the event at last spring’s outdoor MOC The versatile junior owns personal bests of 2:07.97 in the 800 24.79 in the 200 and 12.15 in the 100 dash she placed second at last spring’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions and third at the MOC this past winter The senior owns a personal best of 139-7 in the javelin winning the Shore Conference and placing third at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions in the event last spring She’s also posted top marks of 35-7 in the triple jump 5-0 in the high jump and 15.62 in the 100 hurdles ManalapanThe junior owns personal bests of 4:53.84 in the 1600 10:47.16 in the 3200 and 2:12.25 in the 800 She placed third in the 1600 at the indoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions winning the Shore Conference gold and placed second at the indoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions in the event The senior owns personal bests of 1:03.50 in the 400 hurdles She finished tied for fourth in the 800 at last spring’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions Ocean TownshipThe freshman phenom already owns top times of 4:57.30 in the 1600 and 10:24.86 in the 3200 She placed third in the 3200 at the indoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions ManalapanThe senior owns personal bests of 10:36.88 in the 3200 4:58.90 in the 1600 and 2:14.52 in the 800 Last spring she finished third in the 3200 at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions and she took sixth in the cross country MOC this past fall The junior owns personal bests of 4:53.94 in the mile 10:46.42 in the 3200 and 2:17.52 in the 800 She placed fourth in the 1600 at the indoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions The senior owns personal bests of 41-1.5 in the shot put and 120-8 in the discus She is the reigning NJSIAA Non-Public A shot put champion both indoors and outdoors The senior owns personal bests of 12.25 in the 100 dash 15.24 in the 100 hurdles and 17-9.5 in the long jump Point Pleasant BoroughThe senior owns personal bests of 12.50 in the 100 dash The senior owns personal bests of 2:12.62 in the 800 The junior owns top marks of 18-2.25 in the long jump and 35-0.75 in the triple jump Indoors she clocked 8.43 in the 55-meter hurdles Middletown SouthThe freshman impressed this winter with a time of 10:40 in the 3200 placing fifth at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions The senior owns personal bests of 25.71 in the 200 1:06.42 in the 400 hurdles and 2:20 in the 800 Point Pleasant BoroughThe junior owns personal bests of 15.08 in the 100 hurdles 26.38 in the 200 and 4-10 in the high jump The junior owns personal bests of 2:11.97 in the 800 4:55.60 in the 1600 and 10:49.36 in the 3200 The junior won the pole vault at the indoor Shore Conference meet with a height of 10-6 and cleared 10-7 to strike gold in Central Group 3 The senor owns personal bests of 39-6.5 in the shot put and 110-1 in the discus The senior owns personal bests of 15.30 in the 100 hurdles 16-6 in the long jump and 33-9.5 in the triple jump The senior owns personal bests of 5-2 in the high jump 16-2.5 in the long jump and 12.90 in the 100 dash Brick TownshipThe senior owns personal bests of 5-2 in the high jump and 17-0 in the long jump The senior placed fourth in the Group 4 indoor 55-meter dash (7.26) and owns personal bests of 12.56 in the 100 dash and 26.13 in the 200 April 24-26: Penn Relays at Franklin Field May 1: Monmouth County Relays at Middletown North May 2: Ocean County Relays at Southern Regional May 6 & 8: Monmouth County Championships at Monmouth Regional May 7 & 9: Bill Bruno Ocean County Championships at Jackson Liberty May 21: Shore Conference Championships at Neptune May 30-31: NJSIAA state group championships: 4 & 1 at Franklin June 4: NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Pennsauken 2025 at 11:23 am ET.css-79elbk{position:relative;}The Community Yard Sale will take place on Saturday NJ — For those looking to do some spring cleaning this year you can check out Fair Haven’s Community Yard Sale on Saturday the sale will take place throughout the borough An interactive map of participating locations will be posted online on Friday and physical lists and maps will be available at Borough Hall for distribution by noon the same day “Springtime is a great time of year to clean out the closets and garages and make room for new stuff,” borough officials said To learn more, you can visit the Fair Haven Borough Facebook page RED BANK -- Moments before the opening face off at the Red Bank Armory Monday night Rumson-Fair Haven hockey coach Eric Zullo had a final send off for his team as he encouraged them to play for the Bulldog on their sweater this year's combination of old dogs and young pups had combined to deliver for their coach The sixth-seeded Bulldogs prevailed at home in a hard-fought South Public section state hockey tournament battle beating 11-seed Old Bridge 2-1 to secure their spot in the quarterfinals on Thursday The offense was the work of the team's seniors as Matteo Darcy delivered the first goal less than two minutes into the game and Grayson Goldin had the decisive score in the second period everybody always has that stress when it's win or go home," Goldin said "I've been playing in those games my entire life I feel like it brings an energy that you've got to play for the guys next to you and we said that in the locker room before the game — that every play out there is for the seniors goaltender Matthias Doumas understood that as well as anyone His older brother Nik was Rumson's star last year dazzling in the playoffs before finally coming up short against Westfield Whether through familial wisdom or the rarified "clutch gene" of sports punditry He stunned the anxious home crowd as he stifled two Old Bridge breakaway opportunities and sealed the narrow victory "Really just played for the seniors," said Doumas "Trying not to make it the last game of the season More: Every Shore hockey team in the NJSIAA state playoffs plus storylines for each section Moments before a final defensive possession with 11.8 seconds remaining and face-off in Rumson's zone Doumas was left alone in goal to prepare for the final sequence He and his teammates ensured that the Bulldogs (12-8) had a monopoly on the clutch performances on the night as they cleared the puck away and the buzzer sounded "I was just in my head thinking about what's gonna happen," said Doumas And pretty much just wanted to win the game." In a season that has been notable because of the rapid growth of Rumson's underclassmen it were the seniors that were the catalyst to victory in their final night on their home ice "You're using the seniors to teach the younger kids how to play in a game like this but you're also motivating the younger kids by them playing for the seniors," said Zullo We knew we already were going to Hillsborough if we won and if we lost So you're counting on the seniors to be the guys in this game Matteo was our best player on the ice all night The swift start provided a mirage that Rumson-Fair Haven might cruise against a tenacious Old Bridge team (14-9-2) that came into the game with better record but also a squad the Bulldogs had beaten 8-4 in a regular season bout Darcy caught the goaltender off balance on a rebound and put back the score with ease to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 with 13:18 remaining in the opening period Rumson continued to look strong as they lived in the offensive zone for most of the first and outshot the Knights 9-4 in the opening 15 minutes Old Bridge's Maksim Gorelik collected a rebound and buried it back into the right side of the net to even the score at 1-1 heading into the second Rumson caught an early break in the following period with the game's first and only power play coming three minutes into the second but the Bulldogs couldn't capitalize on several good looks it was a face-off in the right circle that provided the team with a decisive opportunity A shot by Rumson senior Fabian Froberg was initially saved but Goldin battled through two defenders on the cross check to put back the rebound for a goal that gave the Bulldogs the decisive 2-1 lead with 1:18 remaining in the second It was Doumas' turn to shine in the third with several pivotal saves but the potent forecheck of Rumson was key as they outshot Old Bridge 31-22 and battled their way into a quarterfinal duel with Hillsborough yet vulnerable Hillsborough in playoff rematchThe Bulldogs will hit the road to face 14-10 three-seed Hillsborough in a rematch of last year's quarterfinal as Rumson-Fair Haven prevailed at home in overtime 5-4 Hillsborough is sure to be starved for revenge after that defeat and an 8-3 regular season loss to the Bulldogs last month The Raiders flexed their strength with a 7-0 against Middletown South in the opening round of the playoffs but they have not been consistently strong against the Shore this season and lost by a combined eight goals against Rumson and Toms River There is a clear path to victory for the Bulldogs but they'll have to play cleaner than they did against Old Bridge Rumson squandered several opportunities on errant passes and fumbled pucks But with those playoff jitters out of their system there is a good chance that the Dawgs can put together another playoff run FREEHOLD - Dismissing arguments that a Missouri man feared for his life when a police officer drew a gun at him and fired during a Rumson burglary investigation a judge Monday ordered the defendant held in jail without bail saying the dangerous situation was of his own creation In granting the state's request to keep Rasheen Yarbrough behind bars while awaiting trial Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O'Malley noted the defendant struck one police car manned by a Rumson officer and accelerated at a Fair Haven officer during the Sept 6 investigation into residential burglaries in Rumson said his client acted out of fear because of his race that night "The officer has a gun to his head in the middle of a dark road,'' Cherry argued at the detention hearing for Yarbrough "He could be at the wrong end of his bullet because of the nature of his skin.'' Cherry said Yarbrough was not thinking about trying to elude arrest "Let me get away from this officer because I'm going to die.'' viewed a police dash-camera video of the incident The video did not show the Fair Haven officer pointing a gun to Yarbrough's head it showed him firing eight shots at Yarbrough's vehicle as it drove at him before veering off into a bush O'Malley said Yarbrough had no concern for anyone's safety She noted the encounter with police occurred after Yarbrough and Atumodo tried breaking into cars at one home in Rumson before moving on to another home where they broke into a garage and stole children's bicycles before trying to get inside the home through multiple entry points the pair stole an Amazon package from the porch and left "Donning ski masks and latex cloves and attempting to enter an occupied home at 4 a.m certainly has the potential for violence - it's as simple as that,'' the judge said "The defendant and his codefendant drove around a residential area at 4 o'clock in the morning and tried to break into a home where a mother was hiding in her bedroom and calling 911,'' the judge said "These incidents are ripe for violence and it is the defendant who created this dangerous scenario.'' O'Malley said Yarbrough has similar charges pending against him in Missouri from last year showing a pattern of behavior that helped to convince her that he must remain incarcerated As the judge ordered Yarbrough to stay in jail identified by Cherry as the defendant's mother "because he's black,'' before a sheriff's officer warned her to be quiet O'Malley also ordered him held in jail without bail to await trial noting he was on parole from prison in a robbery case when the Rumson incident occurred The two brothers are charged with burglary and related offenses O'Malley scheduled a pre-indictment conference for Yarbrough for Oct RUMSON - After striking a Rumson patrol car early Friday a car occupied by two burglary suspects was heading toward a Fair Haven police officer prompting that officer to fire his weapon at the vehicle and wound the passenger when his order to stop was ignored The affidavit of probable cause to charge Rasheen Yarbrough and Nnamdi Atumudo with burglary and related offenses outlines what police say led to the pre-dawn shooting of Atumudo by the Fair Haven officer in this usually quiet The incident began with a 911 call at 4:39 a.m from a Woodmere Avenue resident who reported two men dressed all in black were on her property spoke to the resident and reviewed her home-security cameras which revealed two men dressed in black and wearing ski masks One of the men was pictured wearing red sneakers a resident of nearby Avenue of the Two Rivers South called police to report two men dressed all in black were trying to break into her house That resident described the suspects' vehicle as one bearing Missouri license plates a Rumson police officer reported the suspects' vehicle hit his car and continued traveling north on Avenue of the Two Rivers More: Man shot by cop in Rumson released from hospital to jail, now facing burglary rap A police officer from neighboring Fair Haven who responded to the area to assist in the burglary investigation was stopped in his marked patrol vehicle on Avenue of the Two Rivers when a blue Chrysler with Missouri license plates drove toward him The original Rumson officer was in pursuit with the emergency lights and siren on his patrol car activated the Fair Haven officer fired multiple shots at the Chrysler at which point the vehicle drove off the road and into some bushes and stopped then complied with orders to get out of the vehicle and Yarbrough were both taken to a hospital for treatment Both are now in the Monmouth County Jail awaiting hearings to determine if they will be held without bail to await trial Authorities have not revealed the identity of either of the police officers involved in the incident The affidavit of probable cause said Yarbrough light-colored sneakers and purple latex gloves a black head covering and black and red sneakers Their clothing was consistent with that worn by the two individuals captured on surveillance footage trying to break into cars at the Woodmere Avenue location child's electric bike in the back seat of the suspects' vehicle The homeowner at the Avenue of the Two Rivers crime scene reported that a blue and a piece of a purple latex glove was found in the door jamb of the garage More: Officer shot Newark man in pre-dawn burglary probe in Rumson: Prosecutor That homeowner later told police that the two suspects had entered his detached garage to steal the bike and that they also tried to enter his home by turning the door knobs of several exterior doors The victim at the Woodmere Avenue crime scene told police the two men had rummaged through a vehicle Atumudo and Yarbrough are charged with two counts of conspiring to commit burglary They also are charged with burglary into a vehicle in the driveway of the Woodmere Avenue home burglary into the garage at the home on Avenue of the Two Rivers Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com 2025 at 10:58 am ET.css-79elbk{position:relative;}Three of the four suspects are currently lodged in the Bergen County Jail while the fourth suspect is in Essex County Jail NJ — Four people were recently arrested and charged in connection to a September burglary and attempted motor vehicle theft were charged with burglary to an occupied home conspiracy to commit auto theft and conspiracy to commit burglary when patrol officers were dispatched to a home on North Rohallion Drive for a burglar alarm activation the homeowner told police that three unknown suspects had fled his property through the back door and that his Porsche was found running in the driveway Rumson Police Detective Stephanie Lehner investigated the case and developed four suspects while working in collaboration with Union Township Three of the four suspects are currently lodged in the Bergen County Jail To see the release from the Rumson Police Department, you can click here .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Matt Bove | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comLuke Lydon and Joseph Whitehouse found the back of the net four times each for Rumson Fair-Haven Britt Lumsden added three goals and one assist in the victory while Grayson Goldin was the orchestrator of the attack with three assists James Esposito and Finnegan Buchan scored for Holmdel (2-2) The N.J. 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To add your name, click here Matt Bove can be reached at mbove@njadvancemedia.com RUMSON - The memory of coming up short in the last two NJSIAA Group 2 championship games has stuck with those in the Rumson-Fair Haven football program for what seems like an eternity for them "It's not fun (the memory of the previous defeats) a lot of anger,'' Rumson-Fair Haven senior quarterback Owen O'Toole said Friday night after the unbeaten Bulldogs' emphatic 44-10 win over Point Pleasant Borough in a Group 2 semifinal at Borden Stadium propelled them into a third straight Group 2 final 4 at Rutgers University's SHI Stadium in the Group 2 championship game Shabazz defeated Hanover Park 8-7 in the other Group 2 semifinal Friday night The Bulldogs' two defeats in the Group 2 finals have come by a combined five points to Caldwell and Westwood The 21-20 defeat in overtime to Westwood last year is one that really stung because the Bulldogs had multiple chances to win "Every single day we wake up and we think about it,'' junior defensive lineman Tobias Najenson "If you look at the background on every phone's it's a picture of Westwood holding that trophy (after last year's Group 2 final) The urge to get back to the state final and see if they can get that elusive state title almost set up a state final or bust scenario for the Rumson program for this season More: More proof that Rumson-Fair Haven football is gold standard for punching above its weight "These guys are incredibly dialed in,'' Rumson-Fair Haven's third-year head coach Jeremy Schulte said "They're focused on every thing and they do what they're supposed to do They've had pictures of Westwood on their phones you're going to be disappointed if you don't get there We have one more game to play and hopefully will get there.'' The season O'Toole has had has been well-chronicled After he went 29-for-39 for 325 yards Friday night O'Toole has thrown for 2,779 yards on the season and 25 TDs with three interceptions He has thrown for a school-record 6,985 yards and 68 TDs for his career he also ran for two TDs and has eight on the season - five in the last two weeks O'Toole's best attribute is leadership skills "He's a coach on the field,'' Schulte said I blow the whistle and tell them what the next part is and he Nick Thomas a (senior receiver and defensive back and Jacob Tobias (a senior linebacker) are the ones who get them all going It shows the younger guys what it takes to truly lead "It's really been a lot of fun watching Owen's maturation since sophomore year to now Corny (Rumson-Fair Haven offensive coordinator John Cornieulsen) were looking at each other and said Rumson-Fair Haven has a deep receiving corpO'Toole completed passes five different receivers Friday night Thomas had 11 receptions for 129 yards; Angstreich who is the first receiver in Rumson-Fair Haven history to have over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season Senior Nicholas Economou had six receptions for 59 yards Senior Carson Memmott and junior tight end Jake Gyimesi also both had receptions The Bulldogs did not have a TD through the air junior running back Kellen Murray had two 2-yards and Memmott who booted three field goals and kicked four extra points concluded his 19-point night with a 31-yard interception return combine the spreading of the wealth with the fact Rumson-Fair Haven plays with a tempo on offense that resembles the Indianapolis Speedway during the Indianapolis 500 and it all kept the heads of the players on the Point Borough defense spinning like they were on a swivel "It's the greatest receiving corp in school history,'' O'Toole said I think it's the first time since I've been playing here I don't even know who I throw the ball to half the time.'' The defense did its part Friday night.Point Borough's triple option offense out of the flexbone alignment is a pain in the neck for any defense to prepare for especially with only one week to get ready for it the Bulldogs held the Panthers (10-3) to a season low in points and came up with four turnovers including interceptions on two of the three passes Point Borough attempted The Panthers rushed for 210 yards on 44 attempts "I think you have to take away the quarterback (running the ball),'' Najenson said when asked what a defense wants to take away first when defending the triple option "He's (Point Borough sophomore quarterback Jake Clayton) a talented quarterback the game plan John Bellavance (Rumson-Fair Haven's first-year defensive coordinator) and the defensive staff put together and I knew right away it was going to be good,'' Schulte said Point Pleasant Borough 10Point Pleasant Borough 0 3 7 0 - 10 PBo: Calvin Videon-Perino 51 pass from Jake Clayton (Sullivan kick) RFH: Memmott 31 interception return (Memmott kick) RUMSON A police officer stands outside his cruiser as a vehicle being chased by another police car comes toward him "Get out of the (expletive),'' the officer shouts before immediately firing off eight rounds in rapid succession as the car comes closer Dramatic police body camera and dash camera footage show what happened in the early morning hours of Sept when a Fair Haven police officer responding to reports of burglaries in Rumson shot a suspect in the vicinity of Avenue of the Two Rivers and Shrewsbury Drive The footage also reveals the Rumson police officer initially chasing the suspect reported that the suspect vehicle struck his police car The police officers tell the driver of the vehicle to get out of his car with his hands up and to get on the ground and crawl to them "The passenger is shot - that's my brother,'' the man says as he exits the vehicle and begins crawling "You just tried to run me the (expletive) over,'' the first officer tells him The driver tells the officer he has only one passenger in his car The officers assure him help is on the way The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday released the video pursuant to an Open Public Records request also released recordings of two 911 calls that precipitated the shooting masked on my front porch,'' the first caller tells a dispatcher "Two men in masks on the front porch of my home.'' The woman tells the dispatcher her two children and husband are also at home Another Rumson resident made a subsequent call "There are people in our driveway,'' she tells the dispatcher "I think they're trying to steal our car.''  She tells the dispatcher the suspects are dressed all in black "It looks like they're going to break into the house.'' Two men were arrested in the incident - Nnamdi Atumudo Both are charged with burglary and related offenses and are in the Monmouth County Jail the resilience of Rumson-Fair Haven football was part of the program's impressive identity The Bulldogs could take their lumps while battling the "bigger" programs of the former American Division finishing 4-4 in the regular season both years and using that experience to fuel their postseason runs as they made it the state final both years 2 Bulldogs (7-0) proved it once more on Friday night as their offense was unstoppable and their defense was lights out in the second half of a 56-32 win over No 10 Donovan Catholic - overcoming a huge night by Donovan's Michael Thomas More: Shore Conference football schedule, scoreboard, highlights: Week 7 and we haven't been in a shootout like that in a while," said running back Kellen Murray "That was kind of our first big test of the year and it kind of showed who we are as a team — stepping up and making big plays when we needed to." It was an impressive display of the sheer talent on both sides as the teams traded haymakers offensively But it was the Bulldogs' defense that produced the knockout blow: a 36-yard pick six by senior Evan Ridgeway to extend the lead to 49-32 in the fourth quarter and put the game out of reach for the explosive Donovan offense sat in my zone and saw the out route coming and jumped it It was the pinnacle moment of a great half of football for the Rumson defense which held the Griffins to just six points in the second half the no-huddle offense repeatedly marched down the field as Donovan Catholic could only muster one stop the entire night (on the Bulldogs opening possession) It was an impressive showing against a talented Donovan squad that boasts arguably the best senior football recruit and best junior football recruit in the state but the ability of Rumson to meet that challenge is a new dimension of confidence for the perennial contender the two Shore powers sought out each other this season I'm friends with that staff and they're good guys we requested that," said head coach Jeremy Schulte "I'm always a believer in iron sharpens iron." It's safe to say the Bulldogs are as sharp as they've ever been The unbeaten squad understands the importance of a week-to-week mindset but there's no denying some of the excitement around the current immaculate record But we know that RFH hasn't had an undefeated season ever I'm pretty sure," said Murray "We're definitely trying to chase that and be the first team to do that." Rumson has had four one-loss seasons (11-1 in 2013 most recently) but has never had a perfect season As impressive as the Bulldogs were in ultimately getting the victory there is no denying who was the singular star of the night put in an iconic performance for the Griffins in his first game back from injury It started on the team's first play of the game At their own 6-yard line after a goal line stop Thomas came out at quarterback in the wildcat formation clad in his customized Rutgers cleats He put them to good use as he darted up the middle in a hole cleared by star junior Kai Pritchard and went 94 yards to the house The star senior's day wasn't even close to finished Rumson had their own star receiver bearing the name Thomas who put on a show as Nick Thomas made a dazzling catch to set up the Bulldogs inside the 10 and another impressive toe tap touchdown to give the Bulldogs the 7-6 lead Murray got his first of four touchdowns to extend the lead to 14-6 Trailing and once again pinned inside their own 10 Donovan turned to their superstar in the wildcat formation darting around the edge for a 93-yard score and again Thomas had an answer with a third touchdown out of the Wildcat to cut the Rumson lead to 21-20 Donovan's run-heavy approach was able to keep pace with the constant scoring of Rumson through the first half and the dedication to the ground game set up a play action touchdown pass from Kyle Dow to Isaac Correa in the final minute to cut the Bulldogs lead to 28-26 at halftime But shorthanded without several starters on defense and with no kicker there was only so much the Griffins' offense could do Michael Thomas pulled out one more impressive play out of the wildcat showing off yet another talent as he threw a touchdown pass to Jayden Nascimento early in the third quarter that cut the Rumson lead to 35-32 Thomas finished the day with 278 yards rushing with three touchdown runs and a touchdown pass And he even produced a great effort on defense that controversially went against Donovan Bulldog quarterback Owen O'Toole uncorked a deep ball to Jordan Angstreich that appeared to be first caught by cover man Thoma The following play was Kellen Murray's fourth rushing touchdown of the day to extend the lead to 42-32 Donovan Catholic falls to 2-4 after the loss and will face a gauntlet to close out the regular season the Griffins will face crosstown rival Toms River North at 6 p.m and the following week they'll close out the regular season on the road against Red Bank Catholic Rumson will close out the regular season with a home divisional matchup against 0-7 Colts Neck on Friday at 7 p.m The matchup is undoubtedly an opportunity to put an exclamation point on a terrific regular season 1st QuarterDonovan: Michael Thomas 94-yard touchdown run (2-point attempt no good) Rumson: Nick Thomas 6-yard touchdown reception from Owen O'Toole (Carson Memmott kick) Donovan: Thomas 93-yard touchdown run (2-point attempt no good) Isaac Correa 16-yard touchdown reception from Kyle Dow (2-point attempt no good) Rumson: Jack Gyimesi 10-yard touchdown reception from O'Toole (Memmott kick) Murray 5-yard touchdown run (Memmott kick) Murray 2-yard touchdown run (Memmott kick) Donovan: Jayden Nascimento 9-yard touchdown reception from Thomas (2-point attempt no good) Rumson: Murray 23-yard touchdown run (Memmott kick) Rumson: Murray 6-yard touchdown run (Memmott kick) Evan Ridgway 36-yard interception return for touchdown (Memmott kick) O'Toole 1-yard touchdown run (Memmott kick) Luke Cruz (34) of Rumson-Fair Haven tries to score against Trey Moore (33) of Red Bank Regional during the boys basketball game between Rumson-Fair Haven and Red Bank Regional at Rumson-Fair Haven High School in Rumson .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Chris Nalwasky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comLuke Cruz netted a game-high 24 points to lead second-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven past seventh-seeded Metuchen the Bulldogs will next host third-seeded Holmdel in the semifinals Carson Memmott also reached double figures with 13 points in the win for Rumson Ten players scored in all for the Bulldogs Camerson Hayes-Durina scored 13 points and Jason Woods had 11 Chris Nalwasky may be reached at cnalwasky@njadvancemedia.com. 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Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription PISCATAWAY - An exciting and outstanding Shore Conference football season concluded Wednesday night with Rumson-Fair Haven’s hard-earned 26-24 win over a talented fast and physical Shabazz team in the NJSIAA Group 2 championship game at Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium It was Rumson-Fair Haven’s first overall state group championship after defeats by a combined five points to 13-0 Caldwell and Westwood teams in the Group 2 championship game the last two seasons Toms River North won its third straight Group 5 championship last Friday with an emphatic 41-14 win over Union City at MetLife Stadium there was one thing missing from the season: A matchup between 13-0 Rumson-Fair Haven and 14-0 and Group 5 champion Toms River North "It would have been a fun game to prepare for,'' Toms River North coach Dave Oizerowitz said Wednesday night The two programs have been the only Shore Conference public school programs to advance to Group championship games in the three seasons the NJSIAA has played out to overall public school group champions Toms River North has gone 40-2 since the start of the 2022 season won 15 straight playoff games and 39 straight against public schools Rumson-Fair Haven has gone 29-10 since the start of the 2022 season and 13-2 in playoff games More: Group 2 NJ football state championship: Rumson-Fair Haven beats Shabazz “I know a lot of people want to see that game too,” said Rumson-Fair Haven junior running back Kellen Murray who rushed for 170 yards and three TDs on 28 carries Wednesday night “They’re a tough team - they’re always great competitors and we love playing against them.” Toms River North and Rumson-Fair Haven have a recent historyThe two programs had met the last four full seasons from 2019-23 They did not meet in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season because the Shore Conference went to a geographical-based schedule they were in the same division – the power-packed American Division That’s when the Shore Conference aligned its divisions by strength of program without an emphasis on geography The other time two met was in a season-opening game showcase at SHI Stadium in 2022 season That was the varsity debut of current Rumson-Fair Haven senior quarterback Owen O’Toole who Wednesday night became the second Shore Conference quarterback to surpass 7,000 passing yards in a career Toms River North won three of the four games but all its wins were in games that were extremeley competitive Why Rumson-Fair Haven and Toms River North did not meet this seasonPart of the reason Rumson-Fair Haven and Toms River North did not meet this season is because they were placed in different divisions as the Shore Conference went to a more geographical alignment for its divisions in addition to evaluating the strength of program which was the power division in Monmouth County which consisted of Ocean County’s power five programs and Group 5 Monmouth County school Howell More: Dad's love for football was passed to championship Rumson coach: 'I think of him all the time' Each school had three nondivisional games against Shore Conference teams during the regular season Two of Toms River North's out of division slots were taken up by games against its sister schools - Toms River East and Toms River South Those are games the Toms River Regional schools district administration wants to be played The Toms River North-Toms River South rivalry is one of the Shore Conference's most historic Toms River North and Toms River East were long-time Thanksgiving rivals The Mariners' other nondivisional game was against Southern - a team it was in the same division with for many years Rumson-Fair Haven's nondivisional games were against Point Pleasant Borough - the team it also beat in the Group 2 semifinal More: Live updates: Rumson-Fair Haven beats. Shabazz, wins NJ state Group 2 championship Long-time Shore Conference schedule-maker Nick Pizzulli does a great job - with help from certain requests from member schools on who they would like to play - in making the conference's schedule the easy switch this year would have been for the teams to have met Oct That's the night Toms River North beat Southern 35-32 and Rumson-Fair Haven won a 56-32 shootout over Donovan Catholic in a game that was highly competitive for three quarters A Southern and Donovan Catholic matchup would have been a good one A game that needs to be played every yearThe reasons why Rumson-Fair Haven and Toms River North did not meet this season are understandable and nobody's fault even if the two teams are in different divisions it is a matchup the Shore Conference needs to schedule It is a matchup scholastic football fans want to see and deserve to see Knowing how the two coaching staffs love to see their teams challenged by playing the best it was a Shore Conference showdown for the ages with the ramifications to ripple across the state Because Friday night’s NJSIAA Group 2 semifinal a middleweight title fight with heavyweight ramifications is the latest in what is emerging as one of the area’s great rivalries which over the past 15 seasons has been the gold standard for punching above its weight taking on all comers while winning nine NJSIAA sectional titles and playing in the last two Group 2 championship games Now the Bulldogs are in search of their first unbeaten season in 65 years And in the other was upstart Point Pleasant Borough which lost a heartbreaker against Toms River North - a team moving closer to a third straight Group 5 title as the state’s top big public school pound-for-pound there’s still no one that can touch Rumson as the quest for a state group championship rolled on with a dominating second half resulting in a 44-10 victory More: NJSIAA football group semifinal playoffs: Shore Conference schedule, scoreboard We haven’t had a team like this in a while,” said junior lineman Toby Najenson “Every team has been really talented but there is something special about this group When the two teams met in Week 1 this season it was the first game between them since 2005 in the midst of a 12-0 season that culminated with a 43-0 win over Camden in the South Group 2 final Rumson built a 28-7 halftime lead and held on for a 41-28 win before exploding in the second half after the Panthers scored an early third quarter TD to cut the lead to three points “We’ve taken the keys to the vehicle and are driving it really well and we just need to keep doing it,” said quarterback Owen O’Toole We have one more and we’re always on to the next We try to go 1-0 every week and we’ve done that all year and we’ve got to do it one more time.” This was a battle in brutal weather conditions with Rumson’s experience showing as the Bulldogs methodically built a 13-3 halftime lead on the strength of a defensive turnover and defensive stand deep in its own territory to hold the Panthers to a field goal and it shows,” said Rumson head coach Jeremy Schulte and this is a really tremendous team and they are friends actual friends they play for each other and there is not a single ego on this team and it’s been so much fun to watch This game was supposed to be about how Point Boro was closing the gap on Rumson The Panthers beat South Group 4 finalist Brick Memorial one of three Group 4 programs they knocked off in 2024 it was a statement abut how the Bulldogs are still the top dogs that the only team that is going to beat us is us,” Schulte said And the Bulldogs haven’t beaten themselves yet .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Dylan McCoy | For NJ Advance MediaSophia Miranda pitched a complete game and drove in two RBIs as Manalapan recorded its fourth straight victory defeating Rumson-Fair Haven on the road 13-3 in six innings Manalapan (5-1) opened up a 5-0 lead before Rumson-Fair Haven (3-3) responded with three runs in the second inning Manalapan would score seven runs in the sixth to invoke the mercy rule Kylie Courter and Julianna Cherbini each recorded three RBIs for Manalapan Molly Weiss drove in a run for Rumson-Fair Haven Jessie Martinelle registered a multi-hit ballgame and came around to score a run Dylan McCoy can be reached at hssports@njadvancemedia.com RED BANK - The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School football team played with a chip on its shoulder Thursday night in its emphatic 26-11 win Thursday night over Red Bank Catholic at Count Basie Field in a Shore Conference Class A North game "We were angry,'' Rumson-Fair Haven senior quarterback Owen O'Toole who threw for 254 yards with a 79-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Jordan Angstreich "We came out of last year and were told its not a rivalry anymore.'' Thursday night's win was the Bulldogs' first over the Caseys since 2019 and just its second over Red Bank Catholic in the last 18 meetings Red Bank Catholic still leads the series 36-26-6 "There's been talk all year about all year about how this could be the greatest memory we've had in high school,'' O'Toole said "I was talking to John Volker (a former standout Rumson-Fair Haven running back) (Thursday morning) and he said it was the greatest memory he had in high school More: Shore Conference football schedule, scoreboard, highlights: Week 6 which rallied from an 11-0 deficit after the first quarter made its memory by doing what Red Bank Catholic has done to so many teams in the Shore for most of the last 20 years - dominate the game on both sides of the line of scrimmage O'Toole had a clean white jersey at the end of the game because the Bulldogs' offensive line did not allow him to get touched with Angstreich leading the way with eight receptions for 205 yards "They (the offensive line) and our defense are the reasons we won this game The Bulldogs offensive line also paved the way for junior running back Kellen Murray to run for 185 yards and three TDs on 31 carries Rumson-Fair Haven wound up with 452 yards of total offense "One of the question marks people had coming into this season was our offensive line "They've done a tremendous job across the board,'' Rumson-Fair Haven coach Jeremy Schulte said "We've got four seniors and a sophomore starting for us I think Joe Murphy (Rumson-Fair Haven's long-time offensive line coach) is one of the best position coaches in the state Senior left tackle Matt Smith said there is another reason for the success of the Bulldogs' offensive line '"We're just a bunch of really smart guys,'' Smith said 'Hey we've got to get here and then Kellen (Murray) has to kick out that other pressure' Rumson-Fair Haven's defensive front also had its way in the second half as the Bulldogs came up with six sacks held the Caseys to minus 38 yard rushing in the second half and just 2 yards rushing in the game The Caseys lost yardage on five of their six plays of the second half which included a recovery of a punt that touched a Rumson-Fair Haven player including interceptions by Carson Memmott and Evan Ridgway in the second half had built its 11-0 lead on a 22-yard Frankie Williams to Jason Berecsky TD and a 45-yard Blake Caruso field goal O'Toole hit Angstreich over the middle and then Angstreich outraced everyone into the end zone to pull the Bulldogs within 11-7 "We've been working on that all week,'' Angstreich said had a 19-11 lead on TD runs of 2 and 8 yards by Murray Murray added a 4 yard TD run with 26 seconds left in the third quarter did not and grew in confidence with each play over the final three quarters "I think a lot of that boils down to Owen (O'Toole),'' Schulte said he has stepped up and just on a different level He needs 21 yards to break Mike Roberto's school-record of 5,635 yards which is 6-0 for the first time since 2021 clinched a tie for the Class A North divisional championship with just a divisional game remaining against Colts Neck (0-6 A win over Colts Neck would enable the Bulldogs to win the divisional title outright The Bulldogs are one game ahead of Red Bank Catholic (3-3 Rumson-Fair Haven will host Donovan Catholic (1-3) in a nondivisional game Red Bank Catholic will host state-ranked Paramus Catholic (3-2) on Oct Red Bank Catholic 11Rumson-Fair Haven 0 19 7 0 - 26 RBC: Jason Berecsky 22 pass from Frankie Williams (Patrick McGonnell run) RFH: Jordan Angstreich 79 pass from Owen O'Toole (Carson Memmott kick)