By Warren Rappleyea
Although the Middlesex County All-Stars fell, 13-7, in the 23rd annual Snapple Bowl July 21, three Sayreville War Memorial High School football players were key members of the team.
The game pits all-stars from Middlesex and Union counties against each other. The victory was Union’s ninth overall, but Middlesex still leads the series, 14-9. Middlesex had won nine of the previous 10 games.
Founded by former East Brunswick High School head coach Marcus Borden, the game’s broader purpose is to raise funds for both the Lakeview School for Cerebral Palsy in Edison and the Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside. More than $550,000 has been raised for the two charities since the game’s inception.
Bombers linebacker Corey Clark and cornerback Coray Williams were both key cogs in a Middlesex defense that held Union scoreless for three quarters at Nicholas A. Priscoe Stadium on the campus of Woodbridge High School. With Union driving into Middlesex territory in the second quarter, Clark stepped up to make a huge tackle that prevented a first down on a fourth-and-1 play.
“I was glad that I was able to make a few plays during the game,” said Clark, who will play for Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, this fall. “It was tough to lose, but I had a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of great guys. We were only together for two weeks as a team, yet we had great chemistry and we came together as brothers.”
Union got on the board early in the fourth quarter after a bad snap on a Middlesex punt. Quarterback Ja’Quill Birch of Hillside High School connected with Elizabeth High School’s Kyron Paige for a 14-yard scoring pass. Union scored again with just under four minutes to play when Guirvenson Guillaume of Linden High School scored on a 3-yard run.
Middlesex battled back, however, as Woodbridge quarterback Tracy Fudge connected with his Barrons teammate, James Modica, for a 40-yard scoring pass to make it 13-7 with about three minutes left to play. Middlesex got the ball back with 1:40 left and marched into Union territory, but the drive ended with an interception that enabled Union to run out the clock.
“I’ll always remember coming out at the beginning of the game and seeing so many people in the stands,” Williams said. “It was a great feeling, and we did all for a good cause.”
Williams, who played wide receiver and cornerback at Sayreville, also got a taste of how things will be in college playing on just one side of the ball.
“It was pretty cool to just be able to focus on defense,” said Williams, who will line up for Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, in the fall. “In high school, I was on the field all the time and I liked that, but just playing defense gave me an entirely different perspective.”
Like Clark, Williams made a lot of new friends.
“At the first practice, I’d be thinking, ‘There’s so and so from a particular team,’ ” he said. “As time went past, he wasn’t ‘so and so’ anymore. It was a tremendous experience to meet and be on the field with so many great players who are all good guys.”
Anthony Porcaro, a standout two-way lineman for the Bombers, manned the offensive line for Middlesex. He also upheld a family tradition as his dad, Nick, and uncle, Vincent, have played in prior years.
Porcaro, also a region champion wrestler, will attend Blair Academy in Blairstown and will continue wrestling and playing football.
