Red Bank Catholic High School only stopped Malik Ingram when it mattered on Nov. 24 at MetLife Stadium, home of the National Football League’s New York Giants and New York Jets.
The Mater Dei Prep running back rushed for 250 yards in the NJSIAA Non-Public Group 3 football playoff championship game. His 51-yard touchdown in the second half got the Seraphs back in the game.
Late in the second half, Ingram looked ready to score again and give Mater Dei the lead. The Seraphs had a first down and goal. Four chances to score the go-ahead touchdown.
Ingram got the ball on first down and chugged ahead for four yards. But on second down, the Caseys stuffed him for a loss of one.
Then, on third and fourth down, quarterback Rob McCoy kept the ball and ran behind the right guard. The Caseys blew up his hole, too, stuffing McCoy for minimal gains.
The goal line stand preserved Red Bank Catholic’s 14-10 victory and undefeated season (10-0). Minutes later, quarterback Steve Lubischer took a knee and the clock ran out, closing out RBC’s first NJSIAA playoff title since 2014, and just its third in history.
On the turf after the game, Red Bank Catholic’s players and coaches hugged each other, shouting “Yes!” and “Let’s go!” every couple seconds.
Red Bank Catholic never trailed in the championship game. Lubischer’s 11-yard touchdown run broke a scoreless tie in the first half. After halftime, Billy Cuidetti’s three-yard touchdown plunge gave the Caseys a 14-3 lead.
Their defense did the rest.
“We just stood tough. We all did our job,” said Red Bank Catholic linebacker Charlie Gordinier. “Once they get yards, we don’t get down on ourselves. We just keep playing and stick tough in the red zone.”
The Caseys’ offense was not perfect, either. Mater Dei actually out gained Red Bank Catholic, 410-263, and picked up nine more first downs, 18-9.
But Lubischer and his RBC teammates, like their defensive brothers, made big plays when it mattered. Lubischer hit Jaden Key for a 42 yard gain to set up RBC’s first touchdown. Cuidetti took a screen pass 44 yards down the left sideline to set up the Caseys’ second touchdown.
Then, after the goal line stand, Red Bank Catholic put the game away one last time. From his own two, Lubischer faked a handoff to Cuidetti, rolled right and floated a spiral downfield to a wide open Kevin Bauman.
The big tight end caught the ball and rumbled up field before getting caught from behind near the NFL logo at midfield. Bauman’s 56-yard gain gave the Caseys room to breathe and forced the Seraphs to burn their timeouts.
“That was a great play call by coach (Frank) Edgerly,” Lubischer said. “I didn’t even see that coming when he called that.”
“Our quarterback is a great quarterback. Everybody knows that,” Key said. “And we have a good receiving core. You can’t overload on anyone.”
After the game, the Caseys were lingering on the field, talking, smiling and taking pictures with the trophy. They didn’t want the moment to end. Security guards had to ask them to move to the sideline so the teams in the next game could warm up.
It’s hard to blame Red Bank Catholic. An undefeated state championship season is rare. Edgerly is in his 13th year as a head coach, and he never did either before 2018.
“These kids earned and deserved what happened,” Edgerly said. “That was just a lot of guts and toughness. Different players stepped up at different times.”
