Long Branch, Shore Regional Football Teams Eyeing State Titles

Long Branch and Shore Regional will continue their marches toward state sectional titles this weekend when the Green Wave travels to Nottingham on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 1 p.m. and the Blue Devils host Asbury Park at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Long Branch

Long Branch comes into the Central Jersey Group 3 semifinals as a no. 3 seed after defeating Red Bank Regional last week and will face a tough Nottingham squad that is a no. 2 seed in the tournament. The winner will play the victor of Friday's Neptune and Allentown matchup.

Both teams enter the game at 9-1 and feature balanced and powerful offensive attacks. Long Branch has a strong running game with leading rusher Joscil Jackson and Dwight Clark and Deon Williams. Quarterback Avry Griffin is a threat as a passer and rusher.

Green Wave fans who wish to see their team this weekend can take advantage of a fan bus that is being sponsored by the Long Branch Green and White Association. The bus will leave Long Branch High School at 11 a.m. and will take fans to and from Nottingham, which is located in Hamilton Township in Mercer County.

Shore Regional

The Blue Devils are the no. 1 seed in the Central Jersey Group 1 semifinals and the Blue Bishops enter the game as a no. 4 seed. The winner will advance to play the winner of the Point Pleasant Beach-Florence game.

Shore Regional (8-2) will look to pound the ball on the ground against Asbury Park (6-3) after defeating them earlier this year 37-12.

Quarterback Matt Muh can also hurt opponents through the air, but Shore Regional will likely stick with its Wing-T rushing attack after its proved effective against Asbury Park in their last meeting.

For a full preview of these games and other state sectional semifinal games, click here.