By:
Matt Manley SSN Senior Editor
WORTH THE ‘WAITE’ O Head Coach: John Bird, 7th season Career Record: 21-34
ver the past four seasons, Keansburg has turned the corner with a record above .500 during that span, punctuated by a 4-3 2020 season thanks to a solid group of seniors.
Sat. 9/11 Keyport 12pm Sat. 9/18 Monmouth 12pm Fri. 9/24 @ Point Beach 7pm Sat. 10/2 Lakewood 12pm Fri. 10/8 @ Pinelands 6:30pm Sat. 10/16 @ Keyport 12pm Sat. 10/23 Point Beach 12pm Fri/Sat 10/29-30 Shore Conference Pods TBD
Assistant Coaches: Jim Reid (Off. Coordinator/QB/DB), Nic Vloyanetes (WR/DB), Nick Varanelli (OL/DL), Dan White (TE/DL), Uriel Morfin (RB/LB), Kelli Hudson (Athletic Trainer)
Team Record Last Five Years: 2020: 4-3 2019: 5-4 2018: 4-5 2017: 5-5 2016: 2-8
Offense: Spread Defense: _________________3-4 ___________________________ Player to Watch : Mikal Braithwaite, Sr., QB/FS Braithwaite was an All-Shore performer as a junior, passing for 897 yards with 11 touchdowns through the air and six on the ground. He is a dual threat as a quarterback and will also be an impact defender for Keansburg as the team’s free safety. The Shore’s small schools don’t produce many First-Team AllShore players with all the large-scale programs topping the conference, but Bird believes that if Braithwaite doesn’t already belong in that conversation, he will be part of it by season’s end.
Player Under the Radar: Ryan Comey, Jr., TE/FB/ILB Comey saw more and more time as the 2020 season went on and was one of the few sophomores to make an impact of any kind on last year’s experience-laden team. After that taste of success, Comey will get a bigger bite of playing time as fullback-slash-tight-end on the offensive side and as a linebacker on the defensive one.
I MPACT N EWCOMERS : Nasun Lee and Mike Alonso (Jr., WR/DB) Lee is a transfer from Freehold Boro and Alonso is a first-year high-school football player who has previously played varsity basketball at Keansburg. Both will be noteworthy additions to the overhauled receiving corps, as well as part of the rotation of defensive backs.
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are two things the Titans are hoping to prove this season. The first is that they can keep churning out winning seasons with a predominantlynew group of ( L- R ) R YAN C OMEY (21), M IKAL B RAITHWAITE (1), I AN M ENDEZ (12), J ON B EATTIE (72) starters, albeit with a few Those seniors did not get a crack at the NJSIAA returnees led by one of the Shore’s top returning Playoffs due to the cancellation of the state-run all-around players. postseason, which sets up a potential program“Physically, we have a very good team,” defining challenge ahead of the 2021 team. Keansburg coach John Bird said. “The key is While Keansburg has proven it can win with going to be how quickly can the juniors grow up. experienced teams of the past four years, there
Projected Offensive Starters: (RS=returning starter, 3RS=3rd-year returning starter)
QB: RB: WR: WR: WR: TE: LT: LG:
MIKAL BRAITHWAITE, SR. 3RS IAN MENDEZ, JR. YOSEF ABDOU, SR. J.P. DEBOW, JR.; SHANE DEBOW, JR. NASUN LEE, JR.; MIKE ALONSO, JR. REILY JANKOWSKI, JR.; RYAN COMEY, JR. MIKE MENTURE, JR. ROBERT CONAWAY, SO.
C: RG: RT:
KYLE SCOTT, JR. JON BEATTIE, SR. RS ANTHONY MASCOLINO, SO.
Projected Defensive Starters: DE: DT: DT: DE: OLB:
KEYSHAUN COPPINGER-WARD, SR., RS JON BETTIE, SR. RS, RS PATRICK SMIT, SR. MIKE MORRO, SR., RS ZAHERE TINSLEY, JR.
The other mission for Keansburg this season is to make that deep playoff run that the Titans have been building toward over the past four seasons. That might seem like a pipe dream considering how inexperienced Keansburg will be a most positions on the depth chart but the return of senior quarterback and safety Mikal Braithwaite to lead the team should make the Titans a player in Central Jersey Group I.
ILB: OLB: CB: CB: SS: FS:
RYAN COMEY, JR., RS JOE RICCIARDELLI, JR. MIKE ALONSO, JR. TONY ALEJANDRO, JR. JAHEIM HILL, JR. MIKAL BRAITHWAITE, SR., 3RS
Projected Special Team Starters: K:
JOE SAUTNER, JR., RS
T OP P OSITION G ROUP :
B IG S HOES
Quarterback
Ian Mendez, Jr., RB/ILB
The Junior Class
Keansburg will need its emerging core to learn quickly in order to compete but ultimately, its success will depend on how far Braithwaite can carry them throughout the course of the season. Part of his performance this year will hinge on his ability to uplift the new receivers and help them produce while also learning on the job.
If there was one player outside of Braithwaite who drove what Keansburg did last year, it was Patrick Beltran – who was a leader on offense (606 rushing yards and six touchdowns) and defense (52 tackles and three sacks). With Beltran now graduated, Mendez will assume that role as the feature back on offense and as an inside linebacker in Keansburg’s 3-4 scheme.
A full senior season of Braitwaite at quarterback is likely to keep Keansburg in the running but to get over the hump and continuing pushing toward a sectional championship game, the Titans will need a promising junior class short on experience to grow up quickly. Linemen Keyshaun Coppinger-Ward, Mike Morro, Jon Beattie and Patrick Smit, as well as wide receiver Yosef Abdou and Braithwaite, are the lone seniors in the starting offensive and defensive units, with the rest coming from the junior and sophomore classes.
TO
F ILL :
Not a lot of them played big roles as sophomores, so it’s going to be a test of the program and whether or not we can get these guys ready to compete every week and win games like we have been doing the last few years.”
X-F ACTOR :
