Rumson-Fair Haven dominates to open football season

When “Sweet Caroline” starts blaring from the stadium speakers, you know you are having a grand old time.

Sure enough, early in the third quarter on the evening of Sept. 7 at Rumson-Fair Haven High School, the Neil Diamond classic started blaring from the speakers.

The football team at Rumson-Fair Haven put on a grand opening performance to the 2018 season when it rung up a 43-6 victory over Saint John Vianney High School.

That result marked the first victory by the Bulldogs over Saint John Vianney, its rival in the Shore Conference’s Colonial Division, since 2013.

Both squads return after berths in the state sectional playoffs a year ago. Rumson-Fair Haven reached the Central Jersey, Group 3 final when it fell to Somerville High School, while Saint John Vianney was eliminated from the semifinals in Non-Public, Group 3 to DePaul Catholic High School. The Wayne school eventually won the Non-Public, Group 3 state title.

 The black-clad students in the packed Rumson-Fair Haven side of the stadium on Sept. 7 danced and sang as a steady rain fell from the sky.

The music played  “Sweet Caroline! Bump bump bah! Good times never seemed so good! So good! So good! So good!”

The second half lasted about 40 minutes in real time, after the first half had lasted nearly 80 minutes because Rumson-Fair Haven kept stopping the clock with quick touchdown strikes.

The Bulldogs scored touchdowns on all six first half possessions, usually in less than two minutes.  Their final touchdown seriesof the half lasted 53 seconds.

Rumson-Fair Haven was so dominant that it only faced a  third down four times in the first half, converting all four attempts. Three of those four came on one methodical drive near the end of the half, when Rumson-Fair Haven was running the ball because it had a big lead.

Meanwhile, the Rumson-Fair Haven defense stood strong as the unit did not allow Saint John Vianney from picking up a first down on six possessions in the first half. The Lancers netted -14 yards on those possessions, while they picked up just 28 yards in the first half.

Offensively, the Bulldogs started five seniors, Tim Kelly, Evan Davis, Ryan McCann, Spencer Short and Ethan Ardolino, on the line. After years of growing and training, they are all tall, brawny and lean. And they play well together, too.

The group pushed defenders out of the way and opened gaping holes for running back Alex Maldjian. When they had to open up the middle, they sealed off defenders toward the sideline. When they had to open up the edge, they raced up field and knocked defenders to the turf.

Maldjian erupted for five touchdowns in the first half–each time the senior burst into the end zone standing up.

“Everybody was just doing their job,” Maldjian said. “I told the line after every play, ‘You guys are really showing up today.’ I can’t do anything without them. I’m so grateful we got the big guys up there. It’s nice to run behind them.”

Like most offensive lines,  the Bulldogs live to run block, and it showed. Maldjian ran for a 10-yard score and a three-yard score up the middle. On both plays, there was no linebacker in sight when he hit the hole.

Maldjian also bolted around the left edge for a 10-yard touchdown and a three-yard touchdown. On each play, he ran through an open seam.

“We just have that chemistry to open holes and make sure our running backs get where they need to go,” McCann said.

“On a sweep, all of us would lead step left, hook up our d-linemen and try to get them vertical upfield so we could get big gaps for our backs,” Kelly said. “Alex really found those holes well.”

 Quarterback Collin Coles is the guiding force behind the Bulldog offense. He takes most of his snaps from the shotgun and runs a spread offense, filled with angled runs and short timing passes.

Linemen have to be built like the Bulldogs’ linemen to run that offense effectively. They have to be lean and athletic because they need to get out in space and block downfield.

On Rumson-Fair Haven’s first possession of the game, the linemen showed that they are just as adept at pass blocking, and at getting out in space on pass plays.

Coles threw a screen pass to Maldjian on the right side. Maldjian turned and jetted through another wide hole. The crowd started roaring as Maldjian raced into space. He broke one arm tackle and sprinted into the end zone to complete a 34-yard pass play.

“All we had to do was get Alex past the first line,” Short said. “He did an awesome job reading our blocks.”

“We don’t see a weak link in our line,” Ardolino said. “We have that chemistry and we put in the work every day.”

Rumson-Fair Haven coach Bryan Batchler rested his starters for most of the second half after his Bulldogs had built a 43-0 lead. The starters spent the time cheering on younger teammates and talking to each other with grins on their faces.

After the game, as the Bulldogs huddled up and took knees around Batchler, one player said to another: “That was the most fun game I’ve ever played in.”

The player was on the edge of the huddle, so Batchler did not hear him. But immediately after the player spoke, the coach reminded the Bulldogs that, as fun as it was, this was only one game.

“We’ll practice again on Tuesday, JV guys and varsity guys,” Batchler said, before going over times, fields and all those logistics.

“Every person that asked me, ‘Do you think we’ll win tonight?’ I said to all of them, ‘No doubt in my mind,’” Kelly said. “I believe it’s a good preview of what we’re going to do this season.”