Eagles roll with help from Campbell, Martino

After a special teams miscue on the opening kickoff led to a Pinelands an early 7 point lead, Middletown South came roaring back to win their second game of the season by a score of 49-21.

The opening kickoff of the game by Kyle Gross was short and miscommunication between Rob Sarbu and Mike Farrell led to the ball dropping and eventually being secured by the Wildcats at the 14 yard line. Gross eventually punched it in on a quarterback keeper. Pinelands led 7-0 with 11:00 left in the first quarters and it was the last time they held the lead.

On the first play from scrimmage in their home opener, the Eagles scored on a 66 yard touchdown pass from Pat Campbell to Craig Sweeney. After Alex Romanski tacked on the extra point, the score was 7 all with 10:40 left in the first.

The Eagles scored again on their next possession with Campbell picking up a touchdown on the ground after he was set up by a big gain by Chris Bunge to take the lead.

Then, Scott Vigar intercepted a Gross pass that bounced off his receivers hands, and took it into the endzone for a 14 point advantage. As the final seconds of the first quarter clicked off the clock Gross completed a 65 yard touchdown pass that brought the Wildcats back to within a touchdown, at 21-14 at the end of the first.

But from there on in the Eagle defense shut down the Pinelands offense and allowed their offense to pound the ball and take control of the game.

Four minutes into the second quarter, Pat Campbell found the endzone again from 14 yards out. On their next possession, Matt Martino broke a 40 yard run down the sideline which, after a defensive pass interference penalty in the endzone, set up a 2 yard score of his own. The score remained at 35-14 as the teams headed in for the half.

In the third, a Martino 47 yard touchdown run, and Bunge's 16 yard dash put the game out of reach at 49-14. The Eagle's second team offense fumbled the ball inside the red zone, which the Wildcats picked up and ran back for an 80 yard recovery to finish off the scoring.

Middletown South improves to 2-0, with a game at Central Regional High School next Thursday. Pinelands drops its second straight, falling to 0-2 and will play against Neptune next week.

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