Shore fun: Seton Hall Prep football team blanks Red Bank Catholic, 17-0, improves to 4-1

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Last Friday night, Sept. 30, the Seton Hall Prep football team traveled down the shore to Count Basie Field in Red Bank to take on Red Bank Catholic. The Pirates shut out the Caseys 17-0. This victory was the Pirates’ second in a row and raised their record to 4-1 on the season. In their all-time series against Red Bank Catholic, the Pirates hold a 12-1-1 record. 

In the first quarter, following a Red Bank Catholic punt, the Pirates took over on their 39-yard line with 5:16 left and drove 61 yards in 11 plays with senior Darren Burton II scoring on a jet sweep 8-yard run and junior Jack Catchpole Jr. adding the extra point to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead with 10:58 left in the second quarter. Junior quarterback Liam Londergan was 5-of-6 passing for 39 yards during the drive. 

Both defenses clamped down for the rest of the quarter, and that was the score at the half. Following the third-quarter kickoff, Seton Hall drove 44 yards in 10 plays with Catchpole hitting a 33-yard field goal with 4:56 left in the third quarter, as the Pirates extended their lead to 10-0. During the drive, Londergan was 3-of-3 passing for 22 yards and junior Luigi Pantano had four carries for 20 yards. Later in the quarter the Pirates took the ball over on downs with 1:45 left. Three plays later, Londergan hit a screen pass to his left to senior Andrew Daly, who eluded defenders after the catch and raced down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown. Catchpole added the extra point for a 17-0 Pirate lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter. Both defenses clamped down again in the fourth quarter, and the final score remained 17-0.

Following the game, SHP head coach Bill Fitzgerald said, “I thought we did a great job defensively and on special teams to take control of the game. Offensively, we stayed out of trouble for the most part and did enough, especially in the third quarter. We have talked about getting better as the season progressed. I think we are starting to see that come to fruition.”

Defensive coordinator Ed Stinson added, “The story of this game lies in the final statistics. Our defense held Red Bank Catholic to 88 yards rushing, 90 yards passing. We won the turnover battle, four for Red Bank on downs and one for Seton Hall, an interception. We also had 11 tackles for loss or no gain, hitting very hard and initiating contact. The final telling stat is that Red Bank got into Seton Hall territory two times the entire game, and the second time was their last drive of the game that stalled on our 10-yard line.”

SHP stats

• Quarterback Londergan: 12-of-17 passing for 133 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception.
• Running back Pantano: 12 carries for 54 yards.
• RB Daly: 1 catch for 40 yards, 1 TD, 1 blocked punt.
• Senior defensive back Elijah Rippey: 10 tackles.
• Junior safety Jaylen McClain: 10 tackles.
• Senior linebacker Daniel Carlucci: 10 tackles.
• Senior linebacker Kelvin Williams: 8 tackles

SHP rankings

• Star-Ledger: No. 5 in New Jersey, No. 1 in Essex County, No. 5 in nonpublic schools.
• MaxPreps: No. 5 in New Jersey.
• USA Today Network: No. 4 in the New Jersey Top 25.

  Seton Hall Prep football