Battle of the Beach – Timber Creek vs. Red Bank Catholic

Antoine Hicks

September 6, 2021 @ 06:36 PM

Mother Nature did everything she could to ruin a good time last weekend as 11 games were scheduled for the first Annual Battle of the Beach in Ocean City, NJ. The WJFCA did a fantastic job dealing with extreme heat on Friday, long lightning delays on Saturday and finally torrential rain on Sunday which moved several games to Camden Catholic HS to finish the series. Through it all, everyone remained professional, providing live streaming of all the games and a great venue to open the 2021-22 season. Hats off to the coaches, administrators and officials that persevered and got all the games in. Red Bank Catholic put up a dominant performance against a young Timber Creek team, winning the game 34-0. In some places, the size difference was visibly apparent from the stands and while Creek’s defensive line had their moments rushing the passer they often didn’t finish plays, letting RBC QB [player_tooltip player_id="28007" first="Alex" last="Brown"] escape sure sacks multiple times in the game. Brown, a transfer from Mater Dei, completed 13 of 19 passes and threw a dime in the back of the end zone to TE [player_tooltip player_id="27967" first="Alex" last="Bauman"] for a TD. He also had an impact with his legs, scrambling for some big downfield throws and added a rushing touchdown as well. RB [player_tooltip player_id="183633" first="Sabino" last="Portella"] carried the ball 18 times for 138 yds and 2 TD’s behind a massive Red Bank Catholic Offensive line, a line that to me was the story of the game. A pair of sophomores, 6’6 300lb Tackle Tyler Burnham, and guard Lorenzo Portella dominated the right side of the line making things difficult for Timber Creeks 3-man front all game. The Charger’s Devin Leary, a 3 star QB committed to Illinois, struggled mightily against the RBC defense completing 6 of 13 passes for just 70 yards and a pick. With game out of reach, Leary was pulled from the starting line up in the second half. Timber Creek’s Chad Smallwood, a 6’3, 300 lb sophomore DT, more than held his own in the middle of the defense despite being double teamed most of the game. Timber Creek’s next game will be against an always athletic Camden team featuring 3 star Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="27970" first="Nyair" last="Graham"] and 3 star RB [player_tooltip player_id="27981" first="Nazir" last="Dale"]. Red Bank Catholic’s next challenge will be against a Wall on September 10th. Wall went 7-0 in the Covid shortened season and return a defense that gave up just 5.4 points a game last year led by All-Shore Defensive Lineman [player_tooltip player_id="156704" first="Blake" last="Rezk"].

Mother Nature did everything she could to ruin a good time last weekend as 11 games were scheduled for the first Annual Battle of the Beach in Ocean City, NJ. The WJFCA did a fantastic job dealing with extreme heat on Friday, long lightning delays on Saturday and finally torrential rain on Sunday which moved several games to Camden Catholic HS to finish the series. Through it all, everyone remained professional, providing live streaming of all the games and a great venue to open the 2021-22 season. Hats off to the coaches, administrators and officials that persevered and got all the games in.

Red Bank Catholic put up a dominant performance against a young Timber Creek team, winning the game 34-0. In some places, the size difference was visibly apparent from the stands and while Creek’s defensive line had their moments rushing the passer they often didn’t finish plays, letting RBC QB Alex Brown Alex Brown 6'3" | QB Red Bank Catholic | 2022 State NJ escape sure sacks multiple times in the game. Brown, a transfer from Mater Dei, completed 13 of 19 passes and threw a dime in the back of the end zone to TE Alex Bauman Alex Bauman 6'4" | DL Red Bank Catholic | 2022 State NJ for a TD. He also had an impact with his legs, scrambling for some big downfield throws and added a rushing touchdown as well.

RB Sabino Portella Sabino Portella 5'11" | 185 lbs | RB Red Bank Catholic | 2023 State NJ carried the ball 18 times for 138 yds and 2 TD’s behind a massive Red Bank Catholic Offensive line, a line that to me was the story of the game. A pair of sophomores, 6’6 300lb Tackle Tyler Burnham, and guard Lorenzo Portella dominated the right side of the line making things difficult for Timber Creeks 3-man front all game.

The Charger’s Devin Leary, a 3 star QB committed to Illinois, struggled mightily against the RBC defense completing 6 of 13 passes for just 70 yards and a pick. With game out of reach, Leary was pulled from the starting line up in the second half.

Timber Creek’s Chad Smallwood, a 6’3, 300 lb sophomore DT, more than held his own in the middle of the defense despite being double teamed most of the game. Timber Creek’s next game will be against an always athletic Camden team featuring 3 star Linebacker Nyair Graham Nyair Graham 6'1" | LB Camden | 2022 State NJ and 3 star RB Nazir Dale Nazir Dale 5'9" | RB Camden | 2022 State NJ .

Red Bank Catholic’s next challenge will be against a Wall on September 10th. Wall went 7-0 in the Covid shortened season and return a defense that gave up just 5.4 points a game last year led by All-Shore Defensive Lineman Blake Rezk Blake Rezk 6'5" | 230 lbs | TE Wall | 2022 NJ .