VIDEO, PHOTOS: Defense, ground game carry unbeaten Middle

Posted: September 16th 2023

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – There was a time not too long ago when the Middle Township High School football team had to score a lot of points in order to compete against good teams, simply because the Panthers had trouble stopping those kinds of opponents on defense.

Through the first four games of the 2023 season, that storyline has been put to bed.

Middle put forth yet another stout defensive effort and remained unbeaten with a thorough 45-16 victory over previously unbeaten Clayton Friday at Memorial Field.

Middle, which began the season with back-to-back shutouts, has now conceded just 40 points in its four games to date. Even the 16 points scored by Clayton were a bit deceptive, the Clippers getting both of their touchdowns on long runs in the second half with the game well out of reach as Middle had run out to a 31-0 lead.

“There’s been a very good attention to detail for the most part,” Middle coach Frank Riggitano said. “We’ve stuck to a practice regiment where the first two days of the week we’re doing nothing but recognizing formations and making sure we’re in the right spots. (Defensive coaches) Gavin (Liepe) and James (Marcheski) and the rest of the guys are doing a phenomenal job for us.”

Middle dominated from the start, scoring points on each of its first five possessions.

The Panthers opened the scoring with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Mark Oliver to Michael Zarfati. But while that first score came through the air, it was Middle’s ground game that made the difference throughout.

Remi Rodriguez tallied 179 yards on only 16 carries and scored two touchdowns, coming on runs of 36 and 26 yards on back-to-back possessions in the first half. Rodriguez led a running attack that produced 325 yards on 40 carries. Shaun Watkins added 90 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries and Jeremiah Jones and Josiah Santiago each added touchdown runs and a combined 77 yards on a combined 11 rushes.

Those backs were helped by an offensive line that continually created wide running lanes.

“I was concerned at the beginning of the week that we weren’t picking things up because I didn’t think the attention to detail was what it should have been,” Riggitano said. “But it got better as the week went on and they responded very well tonight.”

Defensively, Middle held Clayton star back Demetris Williams to only 18 yards on eight carries. Williams had entered the game with 441 rushing yards through three games. Clayton completed just one pass and even that went for minus-3 yards. Middle’s Tyree Moore recorded an interception at midfield that set up his team’s third touchdown early in the second quarter.

On special teams, Zarfati had an impressive 22-yard return of a short punt. Justin Verity made his first career field goal, a 27-yarder late in the first half. He was also 4 for 4 on extra-point kick tries. Austin McGraw caught a two-point conversion pass from Oliver.

The game was played in front of a large crowd that included a full band, a large group of cheerleaders, a sizable student section dressed in construction gear as part of an organized theme and members of the community curious to see a Panther team that has gotten off to one of the best starts in program history considering the competition it has faced to this point.

“Since our seniors were freshmen, they’ve gone 4-4, then 8-2 and then 6-4 to what we’re doing now. We’ve qualified for the playoffs two years in a row and hopefully it’ll be for a third year in a row. I think you’d be hard-pressed to see a lot of teams in our situation as a Group II school, a smaller school, to have done this,” Riggitano said. “We’re excited. The community is excited. This is what I’ve always wanted since I first took this job in 1989 and left and then came back.

“We’ve got a lot of good things going right now but we have to take the next step. We’ll break everything down, look at film and see where we can get better and get ready for next week.”

Middle hosts Gateway on Friday at 6 p.m.

(Highlight video courtesy Mike Frankel, MTHS athletics)

(Photos courtesy Billy Martin)