Unsung Raritan Football Just Kept On Winning

Photo courtesy of NJ.com

HAZLET – After navigating its way through the many obstacles the Covid-19 pandemic presented just to get on the field this season, Raritan then had to meet the challenge of starting eight new players on offense and another seven on the defensive side of the ball.

In total, 11 All-Division players from a year ago were lost to graduation.

So with a depleted depth chart that necessitated replacing most of their skill players and their entire secondary among other positions, the Rockets were an afterthought in the minds of most Shore Conference football prognosticators.

Then, after dropping its opening game of the season to rival Holmdel, 26-14, Raritan was viewed as a second tier team that would struggle to reach the .500 mark.

Undeterred, Raritan then reeled off six wins in a row to close out the shortened season at 6-1, including wins against perennial Shore Conference powers Brick Memorial and Lacy, and found themselves ranked tenth in the final Shore Conference football Top 10.

Raritan’s success on the field this season may have surprised some people but if you follow Shore Conference football year-in-and-year-out you know that this season was no fluke.

Hazlet is a blue-collar, working-class football town and Raritan football takes on the identity of the town it represents. They play hard-nosed football and grind it out the same way people do in their jobs every single day. The Rockets represent the work ethic of the people of Hazlet and they know that success is earned and you earn it through hard work, selflessness, dedication and a value system that’s been handed down to them throughout the years.

The Rockets have made 20 playoff appearances in program history advancing to the final six times and winning a state championship in two of them.

Since winning the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II title in 2015, the Rockets have posted winning records in four of the past five seasons and qualified for the playoffs in all five.

So, when they lost to Holmdel opening night, they just turned the page, put their nose to the grindstone and went back to work.

In their second game of the season the Rockets bounced back in a big way beating Saint John Vianney, 21-14. Junior quarterback Ben Hutchins in only his second start of his career at Raritan threw for 138 yards with touchdown passes of 25 yards to senior slot back Luke O’Hea and 65 yards to junior Joe Campanella, who led the team with 278 yards on nine receptions with two touchdowns.

The defense didn’t allow a point in the game as the SJV touchdowns came on kickoff return and a fumble return.

O’Hea was an All-Division selection a year ago when he combined for close to 500 yards rushing and receiving and entered this season with some real pressure on him to produce. As one of the few returning starters he was counted on heavily to lead by example and he responded admirably.

The 5-foot-8, 170 pound O’Hea is deceptively strong for his size and combines elite power with 4.5 speed to run over, through and around defenders. He met the challenge this season head on rushing for 378 yards and eight touchdowns on 38 attempts for a 9.95 yards per attempt average and had a team-leading 15 receptions for 269 yards and another three scores. He was also a leader on defense from his free safety spot where he led the team with 60 tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown. He has All-Shore written all over him.

Next up was Ocean Township and the Rockets didn’t blink. Behind O’Hea’s four touchdowns they downed the Spartans 34-12. O’Hea scored on two short runs to go along with a 23-yard scoring scamper before adding a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown. Hutchins also had a 36-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Robby Scarola, who finished the season with six receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

The Rockets season leader in rushing attempts (129) and yardage (625), Kieran Falzon, had two short touchdown runs and O’Hea added a pair of touchdown – a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hutchins and a 15-yard run - as Raritan improved to 3-1 with a 31-7 drubbing of Matawan in their fourth game of the season. Junior Jeff Spangler added a 30-yard field goal.

For the year, Falzon averaged 89.29 yards per game and close to five-yard per carry and had a team-leading nine rushing touchdowns during his breakout sophomore campaign.

O’Hea had another big night for Raritan rushing for three touchdowns in the Rockets 28-21 win over Red Bank to improve to 4-1 on the year. O’Hea scored the game-tying and go-ahead touchdowns as the Rockets rallied from a 21-14 deficit. O’Hea scored on a 39-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 21 and following a long completion from Hutchins to Campanella, O’Hea put the Rockets up for good 28-21 running it in from three-yards out. Hutchins also had a first quarter 28-yard touchdown pass to Scarola.

The 6-foot-2, 170 pound Hutchins is a dual-threat quarterback who has shown a strong, accurate arm with the ability to tuck the ball in pick up chunks of yardage on the ground when his number is called. He passed for 867 yards and 10 touchdowns with only two interceptions completing 38-of-75 passes on the season and has rushed for another 111 yards on 37 attempts.

Hutchins was aided by an offensive line that gave him time in the pocket to go through his progressions and opened gigantic holes in the line that facilitated O’Hea and Falzon’s success in the running game. Senior right guard Pat Gull (5-foot-10, 205), junior right tackle Jason Trotta (6-foot-4, 240), senior center Dennis Brown (6-foot-1, 215), senior left guard Paul Defalco (5-foot-11, 230), senior left tackle A.J. Fitzsimmons (5-foot-10, 212) and junior two-way standout Mani Abas jelled into cohesive unit that could dominate the line of scrimmage.

Raritan’s anticipated matchup with Red Bank Catholic in week six was cancelled due to a Covid-19 positive test at Red Bank Catholic so the Rockets regular season record stood at 4-1 with the two-game “post season” still to play.

Raritan was placed in a “pod” with Lacey, Central and Brick and drew Lacy in week seven and the Rockets continued to roll.

Falzon rushed for 115 yards on 18 attempts and had touchdown runs of four, 36 and 31 yards while Hutchins had a huge game passing for 222 yards, including a 21-yard scoring strike to Chris Gonzalez, who had three catches for 76 yards and on the year has three touchdowns and 165 yards receiving. Campanella chipped in with three receptions for 76 yards and O’Hea had four catches for 58 yards and a two-point conversion.

The Rockets were scheduled to face Brick in their final game of the season but that game was a Covid-19 casualty with an outbreak at Brick as was the Holmdel, Brick Memorial game with an outbreak at Holmdel so the Rockets were rescheduled with the Mustangs.

Hutchins stayed on fire leading the Rockets to a 42-20 win over the Mustangs to close out the season completing 3-of-4 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, including 74 yards to O’Hea, 55 yards to Gonzalez and a 69 yarder to Campanella. Falzon rushed for 62 yards on 11 attempts with touchdown runs of five and 15 yards while O’Hea added a 58 yard touchdown run.

On the defensive side of the ball, the unit just kept getting better and better as the season progressed. All-Division selections Paul DeFalco (27 T, FF) at tackle and Abas (19 T) at end anchored an aggressive defensive line that also included senior defensive end Jack Yenella (22 T, TFL) and 6-foot-3, 230 pound senior tackle Mike Alaimo (9 T). The line consistently won the battle at the line of scrimmage with opposing offensive linemen finding it impossible to get any push against them.

A strong linebacking corps that was fast, athletic and tough was headed up by All-Division middle linebacker Angel Marquez who tied for second on the team in tackles with 48 and was adept at stuffing the run. Outside linebacker Alex Dekis had breakout junior season tying Marquez with 48 tackles along with two sacks and four tackles for loss. Dekis is a sideline-to-sideline defender that had success rushing the passer as well. Anthony Bavaro (13 T) is another rising junior who had nice season opposite Dekis at outside linebacker. Three rising sophomores, Jack Colman (14 T), Nick Dalmau (14 T) and Matt Agar (12 T, INT) worked their way into the linebacking rotation and have bright futures ahead of them.

At the cornerback spots, Gonzalez (30 T, INT, FF) and Scarolo (13 T, TFL, INT) made it tough on opposing wide receivers with quality coverage skills with Gonzalez excelling in run support as well. Junior Dan Maiers stepped in at strong safety and made a name for himself picking off three passes to lead the team in that category while chipping in with 23 tackles and one TFL while senior Tyler Ruzzano (9 T) saw time at safety as well. And of course as mentioned above, O’Hea played at an All-Shore level at free safety.

It was disappointing that there was no conventional playoffs this season especially the way the Rockets were firing on all cylinders towards the end. Who knows how far they might’ve gone, but we’ll leave that up to speculation. However, what can’t be lost in all of this is that the seniors got to play some football and that in itself is a blessing.

It truly was a season to remember for the Rockets.

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