Matawan’s Larry Alston Getting Late Interest from Rutgers/More College Commitments

Matawan senior running back/safety Larry Alston III was close to committing to Old Dominion after visiting there this weekend, but Rutgers called former Matawan coach Joe Martucci on Monday morning with some late interest in Alston. Martucci said that Alston will sign his National Letter of Intent Wednesday with either Old Dominion or Rutgers, but either way he will make his decision by Wednesday. The schools project the 6-2, 225-pound senior as either a safety or an outside linebacker.

Several other Shore Conference stars have made their decisions, as Neptune quarterback Jaheem Woods is headed to Stony Brook, Asbury Park defensive tackle Ra’Zahn Howard is bound for Towson, and Red Bank Regional quarterback Terence Scanlon joined a Shore-heavy recruiting class at Monmouth University. Click here for the full story.

Offensive Explosions Highlight Opening Night

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There was no lack of offense on opening night, as nine teams scored 34 or more points, headlined by the 62-point firebombing Neptune put on a rebuilding Bishop Ahr team in the debut of new Scarlet Fliers head coach Don Sofilkanich.

I did not have Neptune ranked in my preseason top 10, which definitely raised some eyebrows, and even our basketball man, Mr. Nep84 himself, who was at the game on Friday night, jokingly texted “It’s now 62-0. Is this enough to be in the top 10 next week?”

All of the stars took turns making plays, but I think the most encouraging sign was the performance of junior Jaheem Woods. We all know about Charles Davis and Ikie Calderon, who did their thing on Friday, including a 50-yard punt return by Davis to get the avalanche rolling. Woods, however, is an excellent athlete who has been buzzed about since his freshman year, and he had a great day offensively and also returned an interception for a touchdown defensively. If he becomes a genuine threat at quarterback, whether running or passing, Neptune will be fearsome and I will be well on my way to looking like an idiot for not ranking them (although they could be ranked by the end of this weekend. We’ll see). They face No. 5 Red Bank Catholic, which was impressive in a 34-7 win over a young Southern team on Friday night, next week, which is a huge early game in the Class B North race.