Middlesex Defeats Union in Annual Snapple Bowl

The Middlesex County All-Stars defeated the Union County All-Stars Thursday, 28-14, at East Brunswick High School in the 17th mycentraljersey.com Snapple Bowl. Middlesex has now won five straight Snapple Bowls and has won 10 of the 17 played.

"You have to give Middlesex credit," Union County Assistant Coach and Summit Head Coach John Liberato said. "They played well and their kids did a great job."

Middlesex struck first in the game, a six-yard touchdown run by Mauro Tucci with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter. Union, though, was able to answer on the following drive.

The drive began with a snap over the quarterback's head, resulting in a 17-yard loss. After a three-yard run on second down, Union faced a third-and-24 from their own 26-yard line.

Union was able to gain the first down when quarterback Trell Myers hit tight end Anthony Arce for 25 yards to the Middlesex 49-yard line. After a one-yard run and one-yard pass, Union faced another third down, this time with eight yards to go from the Middlesex 47-yard line.

Union again picked up the first down, with Myers hitting running back Kevin O'Connor on a 17-yard pass play. After a four-yard loss and a two-yard run, Union faced another third down on the drive, this time with twelve yards to go.

That is when Myers hit Summit wide receiver Shawn Hillas for a 32-yard touchdown pass.

"I just saw a smaller defender on me," Hillas said. "I turned and saw the ball in the air, and I took my chances and was able to come down with the catch."

Union was unable to convert the extra point, and trailed 7-6 at halftime. Although trailing, Summit got off to a quick start in the second half. The first play of the half was a 34-yard pass play from Myers to Summit running back Matt Rea.

Myers was scrambling away from pressure, and as he was getting it flipped it forward to Rea. Rea reached down and grabbed the ball, turned, and made a potential tackler miss before finally being brought down at the Union 48-yard line.

"I saw [Myers] in trouble," Rea said. "He was going to get safetied, so I started to run towards him. Once I caught the pass I saw the open space and ran with it."

Rea followed with runs of four and eight yards on the next two plays, respectively, putting Union on the Middlesex 40-yard line. After three plays of forty-six yards by Rea, Myers threw a touchdown pass of 40 yards to wide receiver Matt Padlo, giving Union their first lead of the game.

Running back Giovanni Smith ran in the two-point conversion for Union, giving them a 14-7 lead.

"We came out and played well to start the second half," Liberato said. "Coach [John] Power does a great job with the offense, and the defense did a great job the whole game against the no-huddle offense [of Middlesex]."

However, Middlesex would score two touchdowns by the end of the third quarter, taking a 20-14 lead into the final quarter.

Controversy arose with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Middlesex held a 20-14 lead and had the ball at the Union 15-yard line. On third down and three yards to go, running back Anthony Tillman of Middlesex carried the ball up the middle, gaining about ten yards.

However, cornerback Dan Barletta of Union appeared to strip the ball and start running the other way with it. The referees blew the whistle, collaborated, and decided forward progress had stopped and Middlesex was awarded a first down on the Union 5-yard line with less than two minutes remaining. Middlesex went on to score a touchdown and record a safety on the final play of the game to win by 14.

"The officials said the runner was stopped," Liberato said. "It was a bad call, but that's just the way it goes sometimes."

Union did not get the ball into Middlesex territory in the fourth quarter, and Middlesex took a 26-14 lead with 1:43 left (following the controversial call). Middlesex recorded a safety on the final play of the game, winning the game 28-14.

Despite losing the game, Hillas and Rea looked at the whole experience positively.

"The whole week was really good," Hillas said. "I enjoyed everything, from playing the game to meeting other kids and making friends."

Rea agreed, saying "it was fun to meet new people."

"The result of the game is not what we wanted, but we had a great week. The best part is the visit to the Children's Specialized Hospital. That was kind of surreal for us."