T.J. Bellissimo scored two touchdowns for Southern Regional High School as the Rams rallied, then held on to beat visiting Brick Memorial 21-20 on Saturday in a Shore Conference A South game.
With Brick Memorial trailing 21-14 in the fourth quarter, Ryan Cieplinski scored his second touchdown of the game, but the potential tying kick failed.
The Mustangs then attempted an onsides kick with less than two minutes remaining, but Southern recovered and was able to run out the clock.
"We haven't had a game as crazy as this in a while," Rams coach Chuck Donahue said. "To come out on top of it was a really good feeling."
Quarterback Dan Higgins connected with DJ Pandolfo for a 4-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Pandolfo was voted the winner of the Dunfee Award, which is the voted on by former players for the MVP of the homecoming game.
The Rams are now 2-0 in the Shore Conference and Donahue said they will continue to work toward improvement.
"I know we're excited about today, but we have a lot of things to improve on," Donahue said. "I expect practice this week to be very, very focused."
Brick Memorial 0 0 7 13- 20
Southern Regional 0 7 0 14- 21
SECOND QUARTER
SR- DJ Pandolfo 4 pass from Higgins (kick)
THIRD QUARTER
BM- Cieplinski 2 run (Cieplinski kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
BM- Contrucci 63 pass from Cieplinski (Cieplinski kick)
SR- Bellissimo 1 run (kick)
SR- Bellissimo 1 run (kick)
BM- Cieplinski 5 run (kick failed)
Records-Southern 3-1; Brick Memorial 2-2.
Moore Catholic 34,
Cedar Creek 20
Damon Mitchell ran for a touchdown and passed for another, but Moore Catholic (N.Y.) outlasted the Pirates, who fell to 1-3.
Quarterback Russell Brown led Moore Catholic, passing for a touchdown and running for two more.
Nolan Seward caught a 33-yard pass from Mitchell for a touchdown, and Gary Melton ran one in from 14 yards out for the other Pirates' score.
Cedar Creek 0 7 0 13- 20
Moore Catholic 7 6 6 15- 34
FIRST QUARTER
MC- Imburgia 34 run (Andrews kick)
SECOND QUARTER
CC- Seward 33 pass from Damon Mitchell (Kruger kick)
MC- Ortiz 39 pass from Brown (kick blocked)
THIRD QUARTER
MC-Brown 6 run (run failed)
FOURTH QUARTER
CC- Melton 14 run (pass failed)
MC- Broady 40 run (Imburgia run)
CC- Mitchell 2 run (Kruger kick)
MC- Brown 27 (Andrews)
Records-Cedar Creek 1-3; Moore Catholic 4-0.
