Licensed to thrill: Leary, Stewart adjust and excel as Highland eliminates Manasquan
MANASQUAN – “Carte blanche” is putting it strongly.
But if Highland wide receiver Avant Stewart sees something he likes, he's free to exploit it.
“We talked about how they were playing him on the inside, trying to take away that slant,” Tartans coach Brian Leary said. “So we had kind of said stay on his outside. Get to the corner of the end zone. He made a good adjustment, Connor (Leary) threw a good ball – it was good to see. They can make adjustments. They feel comfortable enough to do that.”
Connor Leary and Stewart made two adjustments Saturday that resulted in two touchdowns, as Highland put a 32-7 bruising on host Manasquan in their Central Jersey Group 3 playoff.
Leary threw the ball just twice as Highland marched 81 yards on 10 plays on the way to its first touchdown of the game – a 23-yard run by Nehemiah Butler-Mayhew.
The next drive was much shorter. After the Tartans forced a three-and-out, Leary found Stewart wide open on the left side for an easy 56-yard touchdown. Stewart was wide open again late in the second quarter, when Leary hit him for a 27-yard score.
“The first one was just a post,” Stewart said. “The second one was just a straight fly; my coaches told me to run and I ran. The corner was playing me inside, so I had to get back outside. I actually thought I was out of bounds. I didn't think I scored on that until the ref put his hands up.”
Connor Leary knew it, though.
“Our connection is great, and we work every day to get it better,” the quarterback said. “In the huddle, they want slants, but me and Avant said back corner will be there, so we executed it. That was really big, and then we just kept going from there. We didn't let up.”
They did switch to a power game, though. The Tartans forced a three-and-out to start the second half, then marched 51 yards to a score on nine plays – all runs. Angelo Rodriguez scored from a yard out to make it 26-0. He added a 2-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter, after an interception and 37-yard return by Anthony Alford gave the Tartans a short field.
Manasquan's lone touchdown came a few plays later, on a 40-yard pass from Brett Patten to Julian Walthall.
There was 9:17 left in the game at that point. Highland erased every bit of that with 10 straight belly runs.
“It is (hard to stop them) and what made it even worse was we weren't producing first downs,” Manasquan coach Jay Price said. “We were on the field (defensively) for what seemed like the entire game. What'd they play, six quarters? It was frustrating all around, but it was just one of those days when you can't get out from under the steamroller.”
What it means
The fifth-seeded Tartans will be on the road again for their sectional semifinal at Seneca. The Golden Eagles, seeded first in the bracket, improved to 9-0 on Friday with a 47-33 win over Somerville.
Key play
Highland fumbled the ball away on the second play of the game and was in danger of coming up empty on its second drive, as it faced a third and 10 at the Manasquan 35, but Leary threw a screen pass to Angelo Rodriguez, who stiff-armed the first tackler and made his way to the marker to keep the drive alive. Butler-Mayhew's TD run came on the next play.
By the numbers
Highland has been a sectional semifinalist four times in the past 10 years, but has never reached a final. … Highland rushed for 220 yards as a team on 43 carries – an average of 5.1 yards per attempt. Rodriguez went for 116 on 25 attempts. Butler-Mayhew had 15 totes for 97 yards. … The Tartans intercepted two passes, forced four three-and-outs and held Manasquan to minus-6 yards rushing. The Warriors were facing fourth and 48 when they punted with 1:19 left in the first half.
“(The defense was) challenged a little bit this week, because last week, we gave up a lot of points,” Brian Leary said. “They take that on themselves, and even though we win or lose as a team, they take that personally. Coach (John) Small and those guys did a great job, and they came out and played an exceptional game.”
Unsung heroes
Byron Williams, Billy Taylor, Dominic Masselli, CJ Crowley, Andrew Dworacek and Amori Rodriguez – the offensive line for the Tartans. When Leary needed time, they gave him time. When the running backs needed room to run, they delivered that too.
They said it
Price, on looking back at this season:
“We're not over yet. We've still got another game; hopefully we're going to remember the last game we play as a good one. But this group of kids – our seniors came in underneath a class that was really good; good skill, good leadership, and I think these guys – it's not that they got caught by surprise, by what it means to step in and lead, but they grew into it. And it took us a while to find kids we could get behind and play behind. Now that we have, we have a lot to build on next year.
“But again, I'm hoping we've got one or two more games before I'm talking about that.”
Stewart, on being underdogs on the road:
“A lot of people believed in us, but a lot of people didn't. We just showed up and showed what we could do. My quarterback threw good passes, the line blocked, the backs did good. It was a team effort.”
Connor Leary, on what this win says about Highland:
“We're going to make a run in the playoffs, and we're back. It's a good win for the program.”
What's next
Manasquan will host Wall on Thanksgiving and has the option of playing a consolation game next weekend.
John A. Lewis is a sports writer for the Burlington County Times, the Courier Post and the Vineland Daily Journal. E-mail him at jlewis@thebct.com. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Highland thrives in underdog role; earns road win at Manasquan
