US Army Gridiron Classic Set/Cicardo, Acquaviva Make College Commitments

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This year’s U.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic pitting the senior all-stars from Monmouth County against their counterparts from Ocean County will be played at 7 p.m. on July 14 on the turf at Toms River North, according to game director Lou Vircillo of Lacey.

The Monmouth County head coach is All Shore Media Coach of the Year Shane Fallon of Rumson-Fair Haven, who led the Bulldogs to their first state sectional title in school history in the fall. Vircillo, whose Lions went 12-0 and finished No. 1 in the Shore, will most likely be the Ocean County coach but said he is still deciding. The practices will be at Rumson and at Lacey if Vircillo indeed serves as head coach.

July 14th is a Thursday, and I applaud this move by the Shore Football Coaches Foundation, which runs the annual all-star game. Instead of having everyone battle Garden State Parkway traffic on a Friday, everyone can make the trip to Toms River on Thursday for what should be a great game. The rain date is Saturday, July 16. The rosters are in the process of being finalized.

In college commitment news, Brick Memorial senior linebacker/defensive back Mike Acquaviva, an All Shore Media second-team All-Conference selection, will continue his career at Montclair State. Acquaviva had 52 tackles, 11 for a loss, 8 passes defensed, 2 sacks and a forced fumble for one of the Shore Conference’s top defenses to help the Mustangs reach the Central Jersey Group IV final for the third straight year. He was also selected to the Class A South All-Division team by the coaches.

Also, ASM first-team quarterback Craig Cicardo will continue his career at Rhode Island, according to Vircillo. A three-year starter, Cicardo capped his career by helping the Lions go 12-0 and win the South Jersey Group III title, their first since 2006. Running Lacey’s spread offense out of the shotgun, Cicardo finished 69-for-105 (66 percent) passing for 1,176 yards, 16 touchdowns and only three interceptions for the No. 1 team in the All Shore Media Top 10. He also ran for 592 yards on 151 carries and scored 18 touchdowns, giving him 34 touchdowns combined on the season between rushing and passing. He ran or passed for at least one touchdown in all 12 of Lacey’s games for an offense that averaged 36 points per game and beat Delsea 56-7 in the SJ III final. Cicardo was selected to the All-Class B South Division team and Co-Offensive Player of the Year by the coaches as well.

Here is the news release from Vircillo:

CRAIG CICARDO JR has agreed to attend Rhode Island University in the fall to continue his studies and play the game he loves which is football. Craig teamed up with his father Craig Cicardo Sr., for the last three seasons to install the Florida University offense “Lacey style” and the results culminated in an undefeated season as well as a South Jersey State Championship in 2010.

Head coach Lou Vircillo praised his offensive coordinator, Cicardo Sr., who also played quarterback for him back in 1982 and1983. “His presence over the last six seasons has made it a pleasure to coach. He rounded out my staff and gave me the “right arm” that brings a good football staff up to the level of a great football staff.”

The coach admitted he had spent many years traveling to the University of Notre Dame spring football sessions with his former player while the elder Cicardo was a young head coach at Mater Dei and then Pinelands. He noticed his great desire to learn the game and watched his development as an offensive coach. In 2005 the elder Cicardo agreed to join his mentor as a lead assistant and was given the opportunity to ultimately install the Florida offense which the pair of coaches observed and studied under Urban Meyer, former head coach of the University of Florida.

So coach Vircillo took over the defense and entrusted the offense to his former player. The fact that the younger Craig would become the Lion quarterback for the last three seasons was a bonus. The two Cicardo’s would get to work at the game morning noon and night giving the Lacey offense a big edge.

During the season Craig threw 16 touchdown passes and rushed for 18 more. He recorded the schools highest percentage in the passing category, and recorded the most touchdown passes in a single season becoming the second leading career scorer in Lacey’s 30 year history.

He was named to the 1^st TEAM ALL SHORE and ALL SOUTH JERSEY. He was also named ALL COUNTY PLAYER OF THE YEAR in the Star Ledger, New Jersey Coaches TOP 100 TEAM, and the ALL SHORE SCHOLAR TEAM.

“Craig Jr. worked extremely hard at the game as well as his overall conditioning.” Vircillo said. “He did everything he could possibly do to ensure his teams success.” Craig was a model student in high school maintaining a 4.37 GPA and becoming a member of the school’s National Honor Society. Craig also served his student government as its treasurer. Craig has received a Merit Scholarship at the RIU and will study finance.

 

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.

Recruiting Update on Lacey OL Tyrell Smith

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It looks like the headliners of the Shore Conference talent from the Class of 2012 (the juniors this fall) will be a pair of linemen, Long Branch’s Ryan Brodie and Lacey’s Tyrell Smith.

Those two look to be 25-plus offer kids, with Rutgers already all over Brodie, a 6-5, 265-pound lineman who started as a sophomore and is good friends and trains with Long Branch senior star Miles Shuler.

Smith is an interesting player in that he is an extremely raw prospect who transferred to Lacey from Lakewood before this past school year. However, he is 6-foot-4 1/2 and 280 pounds with good feet and agility (he is also a basketball player). He recently had a strong performance at camp at Penn State and already had numerous coaches come to check him out in person in school this spring in the annual ridiculous “I can stand here and look at you to get an indication of you in person but can’t talk to you” mating ritual that goes on between recruiters and underclassmen because of NCAA regulations.

Wisconsin and several other Big Ten schools have been through along with several Big East programs, Rutgers included, to get a look at Smith. He will be well-coached at Lacey, which mainly runs a power running attack but has also mixed in the zone read option out of the shotgun since last season. When you are standing on the Lacey sidelines, Smith is hard to miss. He definitely passes the look test. He was the ultimate “Who is that huge kid?” last season and got better as the season progressed.

While I’m not advocating transferring in all cases, I think the Smith brothers coming to Lacey was a good decision given how much Lakewood’s program has struggled in recent years, although the Piners now have the legendary Warren Wolf at the helm. I don’t know how much better the two of them would have gotten if they had stayed and if they would received the academic support. I have seen a lot of talented Lakewood players over the year never heard from again because of grades or lack of support, but hopefully that starts to change with Wolf there.

Smith’s older brother, Deon, is a 6-2, 200-pounder who should also be a playmaker on both sides of the ball for the Lions this fall. He is another raw prospect but has pretty good speed. It will be interesting to see which way he goes. He could be everything from a preferred walk-on at a place like Monmouth or maybe even Rutgers or end up at a good Division I-AA program.

It certainly helps Deon Smith and others that the Division I-AA teams in the CAA, Northeast Conference and elsewhere should have some more scholarships for the Class of 2011. The one thing that hurt a lot of players from the Class of 2010 at the Division I-AA level was Hofstra, Northeastern and Iona dropping their programs. That flooded the market with experienced talent at that level, and many of those players who were dispersed because of those programs calling it quits took the spots that normally would have gone to high school seniors.

Howell Football Commitments/Lacey Football News Release

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Howell head coach Cory Davies has a host of football commitments to announce from a team that won the American Division title in the fall and reached the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV semifinals.

Senior WR/DB Rob Handy has committed to Division II Assumption College, where he joins Colts Neck quarterback Chris Chiarelli and Lacey defensive lineman Mike Stuppiello in the incoming recruiting class. Also as previously reported, senior WR Phil Adamo, an All-Shore Media first-teamer who set several school records, is headed to Monmouth University.

Senior quarterback Jimmy Ryan, who set multiple school records this season, led the Shore Conference in passing yards and was an All Shore Media first-team selection, is headed to Montclair State along with senior WR/DB Johnny Bukowiec.

Senior RB/WR/DB Will Hayes is headed to Milford Academy, a well-regarded prep school that has sent numerous players on to Division I programs. Former Howell star Ryan McGuinness did a post-grad year at Milford and has since gone on to a great career at New Hampshire.

Senior linebacker Rob Malfara has committed to Rowan, wide receiver Joe Murphy is headed to William Paterson, lineman Cole Panacionne is going to Widener.

Junior Ryan Handy, who will be one of the Rebels’ top returners next year, has received some Division I-A interest as a kicker/punter, according to Davies. He also has received Division I-AA looks as a receiver/defensive back. He recently was chosen as the Most Valuable Player at kicker/punter at the BigTime Football Showcase on May 7 at Rutgers.

—Also, to follow up on an earlier report on Lacey, Lions coach Lou Vircillo also had a news release on his four seniors committing to colleges that is below:

Four of the five senior starters of the 2009 Lacey Football Team have finalized their college intentions for 2010.

Mike Stuppiello, named the Defensive Player of the Year in the Constitution Division, and 1^st Team All Shore received a full grant to attend Assumption College Worcester, MA. He was highly recruited by D 1AA universities: Holy Cross, Sacred Heart and Marist. Besides being a two-way starter for three years in football, Mike excelled for three years as the Lion’s heavyweight varsity wrestler as well as participating in track.

Joe Tulino never played organized sports until he entered high school. Through his hard work and dedication, he started for two seasons on the Varsity Football Team as a lineman. He wrestled for four years and has started for two seasons in Lacrosse. Joe has developed physically through vigorous weight training. He has also maintained a 4.3 grade point average. He has been recruited by Sacred Heart University and received a grant to play the defensive line. He plans to study physical therapy. Both Mike and Joe are members of the National Honor Society.

Cory Neal also started organized football in his freshman year. He became a starter on the offensive line as a junior and was named All Conference and 3^rd Team All Shore as a senior. He is an honor roll student, he will attend Monmouth University on a full grant where he plans to play center on the offensive line. History will be his major field of study. During his four years in high school Cory also participated in three years of track.

Anthony Caputo was an outside linebacker and offensive back for the Lions, starting for three seasons. He also developed into a very competitive javelin thrower for the track team. He was named to the All Division 1^st Team in Football. Anthony is an honor roll student who will study criminal justice at Monmouth University on a full grant.

The Lacey Township High School Athletic Department is especially proud to announce  that all four student-athletes are members of this year’s All Shore Football Scholar Team.

They will be honored at a brunch at Gibbs Hall at Fort Monmouth, on June 6.