One More Look at the Football Season

On the eve of the start of the high school basketball and wrestling seasons our Shore Sports Network has wrapped up its coverage of a record-breaking football season.

There were many highlights and quite a few of them came from Freehold’s Ashante Worthy who has received our first-ever Most Valuable Player award.  What he did this season was simply epic and it may be quite a while before anyone surpasses the incredible numbers he put up.

Worthy set a state record by rushing for 2,860 yards and he scored 41 touchdowns on the ground which is even more amazing when you consider he is a quarterback.  Yes he did most of his damage with his legs but he also threw for 2,106 yards and another 20 touchdowns.  When you combine those numbers you get state records of 4,966 yards and 61 touchdowns and you have guys like me running out of adjectives.

Not to be lost is the amazing season that Naim Mayfield of Manalapan had as he was named our Offensive Player of the Year.  The Fordham recruit ran for 2,681 yards and 46 touchdowns and he also ran two kickoffs back for scores.  His 48 combined touchdowns is both a Shore Conference and state record.

Of course there was defense played and nobody played it better than St. John Vianney linebacker Johnny Buchanan who is the SSN Defensive Player of the Year.  Buchanan was a big reason why the Lancers stretched their Shore Conference winning streak to 38 games and he’s headed to the University of Delaware.

Point Boro’s magical season ended with a disappointing loss in the Central Jersey Group 2 Finals but the Panthers won a third straight Class B South title and finished 11-1.  It earned second-year head coach Matt Cilento our Coach of the Year award for leading Point Boro to their best season in a decade.

It took St. John Vianney all season to get to the top but the Lancers finished #1 in the final Jeep Store Top Ten.  Vianney’s 10-1 record included wins over Rumson, Red Bank Catholic, Brick, Middletown South and Monmouth Regional.

Our awards were announced and presented last night during our weekly Gateway Toyota Coaches Corner show which was broadcast from the showroom of the auto dealership in Toms River.

Special thanks to Mulberry Street Italian Food Center in Brick for catering the event.  For more on our award winners visit shoresportsnetwork.com