Mega-Preseason Camp Report – Matawan, Keyport, TRS and More

Follow Scott Stump on Twitter

E-mail: stump@allshoremedia.com

I hit a couple scrimmages and camps in the last few days and did some writing on top of it, so I’m pretty much throwing it all in a blender here.

I’ll start with Matawan, which returns all of its top skill players from last year’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II champions and has added some more to the arsenal. The Huskies look like the preseason No. 1 team in the Shore Conference, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

I watched the Howell-Matawan scrimmage on Friday morning and here are some notes from that about the Huskies and Rebels.

Camp Reports: RBC, Midd. South, Midd. North/Coaching Change at Manalapan

Follow Scott Stump on Twitter

E-mail: stump@allshoremedia.com

Before I get to the reports from Thursday, Manalapan is going to have a new head coach, as Tom Gallahue has stepped down after being approved as an assistant principal at Manalapan on July 26, which forced him to resign as coach because he cannot be an administrator and head coach, which was first reported by the Asbury Park Press. That means that an interim coach will be approved on Aug. 30 at the next Freehold Regional Board of Education meeting. The Braves have two former head coaches on their staff in Dom Lepore, who was Freehold Township’s head coach before stepping down after last season, and Eddie Gurrieri, who was Manalapan’s head coach before Gallahue took over in 2007. The position is open to candidates now, but you would think that someone from the current Manalapan staff would be elevated to ensure continuity, although I guess anything is possible.

Manalapan went 14-13 under Gallahue in three seasons and should be a contender for the Class A North crown this season behind Rutgers-bound quarterback Mike Bimonte. I guess we will find out if a change at the top this late in the preseason will have an affect on a talented team that has had several slow starts in the past few seasons.

Now, on to some quick reports from Thursday.