Defense, a strong point of this year’s Eagles team, certainly played a vital role in Midd South’s unreal upset over the #2 team in the Shore and top 20 team in the state — The Rumson-Fair Haven Bulldogs.

The game-sealing play was Dylan W’s interception late in the fourth, and the Eagles held a very potent Rumson attack to a mere 7 points. A big help to the Eagles defense, however, was the absence of the Bulldogs’ star running back Alex Maldjian in the second half. Before he went down with an ankle injury late in the second quarter, he scored RFH’s lone TD on the first drive of the game and was on pace to put up over 100 rushing yards. With him off the field, the Eagles were able to focus in on disrupting the RFH passing game — a task they worked to perfection. That aside, South really flaunted, in this bounce-back win against such a quality team, the efficiency of their offense. Trevor B. was a nightmare for the Dogs, as he scored both South touchdowns off of QB sneaks and showed confidence in the pocket, highlighted by his 32 yard bullet to Luke A. that was the longest throw of the night for either team. Running Backs Jaime P. and Chris L., off pitches from Brey, were shifty enough to consistently net positive yards every carry. Fullbacks Vinny C. and Dylan W. simply muscled their way upfield, able to get key first downs by plowing through the defensive thanks to the stellar efforts of their offensive line. Receivers Matt Krellin and Luke A. were huge in securing clutch catches. The best part about all of this is that the Eagles did this against a full-strength RFH defense that was able to seriously curtail the scoring of opponents like RBC, Brick Township, and SJV.

As Middletown South looks to make serious noise in the state playoffs following an astounding victory, offense like this combined with their already-great defense will keep them loud and proud deep into the postseason.