‘PEOPLE FORGOT WHO THE TOP DOG IS’: NO. 2 RBC STIFLES NO. 1 DONOVAN CATHOLIC

TOMS RIVER – Red Bank Catholic didn’t so much play a football game on Friday night as let out a 150-minute primal scream.

“It seemed like some people forgot who the top dog in the Shore Conference is,” senior linebacker Luke Scaturro said. “We had to remind everyone tonight.”

The Caseys viewed being seen as an underdog against a Shore Conference opponent as an insult considering they entered with an 11-game winning streak against Shore competition, so they went out and did something about it. RBC, ranked No. 2 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, sent a bruising reminder about which team rules the Shore with a 24-10 nondivisional win over No. 1 Donovan Catholic (7-1) on the road.

RBC (6-2) will almost certainly lock down the final No. 1 ranking in the Shore if it takes care of business against No. 8 Wall next week, but there is the possibility the Caseys could see Donovan Catholic again in the NJSIAA Non-Public B playoffs. If they do, no one will consider them an underdog.

RBC had been No. 1 all season until a nonconference loss to Winslow Township on Oct. 3, coupled with Donovan Catholic being undefeated, dropped the Caseys to No. 2.

“We took a lot of disrespect,” sophomore star running back Gabe Kemp said. “We’re the No. 1 team in the Shore and that shouldn’t be doubted.”

Kemp said during the week that Donovan Catholic would not stop him. It ain’t bragging if you back it up.

The Shore Conference’s leading rusher grinded out 147 yards rushing on 34 carries and scored three touchdowns against a defense that hadn’t allowed more than 14 points in a game all season. He hurled himself into the maw of Donovan Catholic’s defense time and time again, with no run longer than 15 yards, chopping at the tree until it fell.

The Caseys handed the Griffins their first loss with a clock-eating offense that completed three drives of 70 or more yards and limited Donovan Catholic to only six possessions in the game outside of two plays shortly before halftime. It was a bare-knuckle fight in the trenches, and the Caseys won it.

“They have a lot of threats on offense,” Kemp said. “We didn’t want them having the ball, so as much as possible we wanted to run the clock out.”

Sophomore quarterback Rahmir Rivera also kept the chains moving with 46 yards rushing on only five carries and 13-for-15 passing for 140 yards.

A defense that has taken its lumps at times this season executed its gameplan to perfection to hold a team that entered averaging 36.5 points per game to a season-low 10 points and 187 total yards. They also rose to the occasion by forcing a huge turnover on downs at their own 30-yard line early in the fourth quarter while holding a seven-point lead.

The Caseys wanted to put the game on the shoulders of Donovan Catholic senior quarterback Kahden Davis by stifling Griffins senior running back Alex Staten, who entered the game as the Shore’s No. 2 rusher behind Kemp. RBC held him to 53 yards rushing on 13 carries, including only two carries for one yard in the second half.

“The gameplan was to stop the run,” junior defensive end Asher Cummins said. “We know Staten was coming into this game with a bunch of great games, a bunch of 200-plus-yard games, so we needed to stop the run and trust our DBs in the back end, and they played phenomenal.”

Davis was limited to 64 yards on 11-for-21 passing by a secondary that entered surrendering an average of 252.3 passing yards per game. Donovan Catholic also played most of the game without its leading receiver, senior wideout Aidan Kelly, who was injured in the first quarter and didn’t return.

“This was the perfect time to show what we’re made of,” Scaturro said.

The Caseys set the tone from the outset by getting a stop on the opening possession and then embarking on a monster 14-play, 96-yard drive against a defense that had been impenetrable much of the season. Kemp had eight carries for 32 yards on the drive, including a one-yard plunge for a 7-0 lead with 1:37 left in the quarter. The drive took nearly five minutes, and the key play was a 31-yard strike from Rivera to junior wide receiver Ethan Kennedy to the Griffins’ 1-yard line.

Donovan Catholic answered with a 59-yard drive that culminated in a 37-yard field goal by senior kicker Sal Reynoso to cut it to 7-3 with 8:16 remaining in the first half. The Griffins then appeared to have the momentum when senior defensive back Nyron Snerling intercepted Rivera and returned it to RBC’s 35-yard line, but the Caseys’ defense forced an incompletion on fourth down to neutralize the threat.

The offense rode that swing to go on a 10-play, 48-yard drive that ended with a 35-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Simon Picinich and sent them into the locker room up 10-3.

RBC started to tighten its fist around Donovan’s throat when it took the opening kickoff of the second half and went 80 yards in 16 plays. The Caseys ate up more than half the quarter before Kemp punched it in from two yards out for a 17-3 advantage with 5:10 left in the period. The crucial play was a 23-yard connection from Rivera to junior wideout Jason Berecsky on third-and-16 to the Donovan 22-yard line.

“I said to Lorenzo (Tartamella), they’ve had the ball for eight minutes off the clock, and (Donovan) is continuing to wear down,” Cummins said. “Like they don’t want to play football anymore, and we continued to pound them. It’s so easy on the defense when the offense takes up half the quarter.”

The Griffins looked dead in the water before East Carolina commit Ja’el Hester took the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to RBC’s 28-yard line to liven up the home crowd. Four plays later, Davis found sophomore Chris McClaren, the backup quarterback who was playing receiver with Kelly out, for an eight-yard touchdown pass. That made it a one-score game at 17-10 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

The home team appeared to be turning the tide when the defense forced a three-and-out, and then Donovan Catholic drove 31 yards to the RBC 24-yard line. However, Cummins sacked Davis for a six-yard loss on fourth-and-5 to take the wind out of the Griffins.

“Coach called us a stunt for me and ‘Scat,’” said Cummins, who also had a tackle for a loss in the win. “That was a great call.”

RBC then went to work on the decisive drive with a six-play, 70-yard march. Rivera hit senior tight end T.J. Walsh for an 18-yard gain and Berecsky for a 19-yard gain before Kemp scored from five yards out for a 24-10 advantage with 9:33 left in the game. The Caseys threw a wrinkle at the Griffins with Walsh, who had seven catches all season before making five on Friday night.

Donovan had one last chance to make it interesting, but the Caseys forced an incompletion at their own 12-yard line to wrap up their fifth win over Donovan Catholic in their last seven meetings.

The Caseys’ two losses this season came in nonconference games against defending Non-Public B champion DePaul and defending Group 4 champion Winslow Township. When it comes to their own backyard in the Shore, no team has beaten them since 2024.

“We took it extremely personal that we were the underdog,” Scaturro said. “Everyone was picking against us. We kept quiet, we came out here, shut them down, got the ‘W’ and couldn’t be happier.”

Head coach Mike Lange was barking at anyone in earshot after the game about underestimating the Caseys.

“It motivated us throughout the whole week,” Cummins said. “It was personal between all of us. We took it to heart and we played phenomenal. As long as Coach Lange is our coach, we’re always No. 1 in the Shore.”