NJ Football: Brick Memorial's Thorpe scores 3 touchdowns in win over Toms River South

BRICK - Once Brick Memorial found its rhythm, the Mustangs simply exploded past Toms River South en route to a 35-0 Class A South victory.

After fumbling the ball away on its first possession, Memorial would reach the end zone on four consecutive drives connecting the second and third quarters. The overwhelmed Indians could not handle Mustang senior powerhouse Tony Thorpe, who rushed 18 times for 156 yards and scored three touchdowns.

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Last week:: Triple option key to Brick Memorial's win over Toms River North

Memorial, now 2-1, would score its fifth touchdown on the final play of the third quarter, and the final stanza was played with the aim of running down the scoreboard clock.

Turning point

Memorial was in front, 7-0, midway through the second quarter, mostly running the ball up the gut of the Indian defense with Thorpe. When South changed up its defense and put some extra Indians on the line of scrimmage, Mustang coach Walt Currie called timeout. Coach changed the play and quarterback Tyler Sindel (3-3-0-78 yards) threw a 27-yard six-point strike to Grant McKelvey over the top of the South's defense.

McKelvey beat the one-on-one defense, and Memorial was now up, 14-0, and the Mustang sideline was charged up, sensing this was their game.

First and last

South (1-2) got three first downs and marched 50 yards on the game's opening drive. But frosh Jack Huber’s fourth-down throw into the end zone was just off receiver Sam Conover’s fingertips. But South could not move the ball much until the fourth quarter, when it had another three first-down drive.

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They said it

Coach Walt Currie: “Two keys to the game. Our offensive line did a good job pushing off the ball all game, setting up our runs. Second, our defense gave us good field possession all game.’’

Tony Thorpe: “Last year (a South victory) our heads were a little too big. This week, we had a great week of practice. The coaches had a great game plan, and we were able to execute running mostly between the tackles.’’

Observations

Defensive standout Willie Garner was singled out for disrupting South’s offense.

This was Memorial’s first shutout in two years …. Back when the Mustangs had a ferocious defensive front.

The Mustangs rushed for exactly 300 yards. Quarterback Sindel played almost mistake free. He completed all three of his pass attempts for 78 yards and ran eight times for 51 yards.

Memorial’s four straight touchdown drives covered 80, 52, 62, and 42 yards. Once this team feels it, once they gain some confidence, they are very difficult to deal with.

The Mustangs fumbled on their first possession and lost the ball on downs at the South 18-yard line in the third quarter. But they were never forced to punt the ball.

After an opening day loss to the Brick Green Dragons, Memorial has knocked off two Toms River teams, South and North.

What's next?

Memorial will be up against it next Friday afternoon, colliding with unbeaten Sayreville (3-0). Toms River South travels to Jackson Memorial to take on the Jaguars.

