By Matthew Rocco
The Keyport High School football team is on an eight-game winning streak. If they make it nine in a row, the Red Raiders will be state champions for the first time in 14 years.
With a late go-ahead touchdown, the Red Raiders knocked out Point Pleasant Beach High School, 27-14, in the semifinals and booked their ticket to the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group I championship game. Keyport will battle Asbury Park High School for the title Dec. 3 at Kean University.
The Red Raiders have counted on the running game to carry them to victory. Sophomore running back Devin Wallner has racked up 1,534 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Greg Robinson, also a sophomore, has 395 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, and Shykim Treadwell has scored four times with 262 yards on the ground.
In the semifinals, Wallner took the ball 30 times and amassed 228 yards. Wallner also scored a touchdown on the final play of the game — a 48-yard dash that cemented Keyport’s 27-14 win.
The game’s big play came with 1:34 left on the clock. Just minutes after Point Pleasant Beach evened the score at 14-14, Keyport was back on its on 28-yard line facing third down and 9 yards to go. Quarterback Chris Hogrefe fired the ball high into the air, and it found wide receiver Michael Vargas down the field. Vargas had to dodge some Point Pleasant Beach defenders on his way to a 72-yard touchdown.
The final turn of events stopped Point Pleasant Beach in its tracks. Point Pleasant Beach had momentum coming out of halftime, but stumbling after the last-minute heave from Hogrefe to Vargas, it fumbled the ensuing kickoff. While Keyport was running out the clock, Wallner found a gap and ran to the end zone for the icing on the cake.
Keyport (10-1) last took the field in a state championship game in 2003. A year earlier, the Red Raiders won their sixth title in school history. Head coach Jay Graham, who is in his first season leading Keyport, was an assistant coach under Mike Ciccotelli during that championship year of 2002.
The only loss this season for the Red Raiders was a 35-7 defeat in September to Mater Dei Prep, which is undefeated on the year and playing in the Non-Public, Group II finals.
Asbury Park (7-4) will be a formidable challenger to Keyport, as the Bishops search for their seventh state crown since 2013.
Both Keyport and Asbury Park have solid defenses, averaging a mere 12.5 and 15.9 points per game, respectively. For the Red Raiders, senior linebacker Jay Hansen, senior defensive lineman Zach Frick and fellow lineman Erik Nellis are the leading tacklers.
Third-seeded Keyport and Asbury Park, the No. 5 seed, will kick off at 4 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Central Jersey, Group I finals.
