RED BANK CATHOLIC ROLLS PAST OCEAN

OCEAN - On any given day that Red Bank Catholic’s defense comes close to matching its offensive excellence, the result is a foregone conclusion. That was precisely the case against Ocean, as RBC cruised to a 47-0 victory. The Casey offense continues to torch whoever it lines up against, scoring all 47 of their points before their starters exited in the third quarter. Senior Zach Bair led the scoring with four rushing touchdowns. He had 187 yards on just ten carries, as well as a pair of catches for 15 yards. Junior quarterback Steve Lubischer added a pair of touchdowns himself, one rushing and one passing. Meanwhile, the defense lobotomized any and all Spartan drives. The Casey’s held Ocean without a first down until 20 seconds left in the first half only after helping to create a 27-point cushion. In that first half, the parsimonious defense allowed just 24 yards of offense and forced three-and-outs on each of Ocean’s first four drives. On Red Bank’s opening drive, Lubischer set the tone. After a pair of holding penalties, one of which negating a Bair touchdown, the Casey’s forced themselves into a third and 21 from Ocean’s 34-yard line. Lubischer dropped back to pass but was flushed left out of the pocket. With no receivers open, he took off just in front of the left sideline. He weaved around defenders, marauding across the field to the right pylon for a 34-yard touchdown. Three who mattered Zach Bair: A ludicrous 18.7 yards per carry, Bair looked like scoring every time he touched the ball. He had a treble of touchdowns from distance: scoring on runs from 25, 34 and 50 yards each. The senior could only be contained by the sideline, as he was removed in the third quarter with the rest of the starters or his already astronomical numbers could’ve hit another stratosphere. Steve Lubischer: The quarterback completed 11 passes to six different receivers, a truly egalitarian distribution of touches. He was efficient with his opportunities: a touchdown on one of his three rushes, and 129 passing yards on 15 throws with those 11 completions. John Columbia: Columbia led an overwhelming defensive unit. The linebacker had a huge sack on an expertly executed stunt blitz to punctuate an imperious defensive performance. Turning point If not the opening whistle, then the turning point would be the aforementioned sack by Columbia. It was third down when RBC were only leading 14-0, and the sack resulted in a loss of 19 yards. The play was a deflating moment in the arc of the game; not a noise could be heard from the Ocean sideline or stands. Even home Ocean booth took a few seconds to announce the play, with a dejected voice. Observations Overwhelming in the trenches: Both the offensive and defensive lines for RBC dominated the entirety of the game. Bair was able to gain a head of steam before contact on many, if not all, of his carries. While on defense there was an ubiquitous presence of white Casey jerseys in Ocean’s backfield. Pick your poison: Bair will get the headlines with his four touchdowns, but any number of Casey’s are liable for pyrotechnics. Lubischer had the long touchdown run and sprayed the ball all over the field to a half a dozen of receivers, each of which consistently created windows for the quarterback. They said it Zach Bair, on his offensive line: “They’re great. In my opinion they’re one of the best offensive lines in the Shore Conference. We have great players across the board and they opened up holes for me.” Coach Frank Edgerly, on line play: “I don’t care what level of football you’re at, if you can run the football and stop the run then you have a great opportunity to win games.” What’s next? On Thursday, Ocean travels to Matawan while Red Bank Catholic travels to Colonia on Friday.

RED BANK CATHOLIC ROLLS PAST OCEAN

THOMAS BOGERT

Asbury Park Press | 9/23/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bank Catholic Athletics