New Jersey found out two things it may not have known about Toms River North on Sunday night at SHI Stadium in Piscataway.
One, Toms River North can throw. Junior quarterback Micah Ford went six-for-six in the first half, with three of those completions going for touchdowns.
Two, Toms River North can play defense when necessary. The Mariners came up with a key stop at their seven yard line with 4:21 left.
Toms River North completed a perfect season, becoming the first New Jersey team to go 14-0, with a 28-7 win over Passaic Tech in the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics Group 5 final. The victory gave the Mariners the first Group 5 championship in state playoff history.
Toms River North and Caldwell, which won 18-14 in the Group 2 final Sunday, were the only two undefeated public schools in New Jersey. Caldwell finished 13-0.
“It’s amazing, undescribable,” said Toms River North’s senior edge player, Ty Kazanowsky. “This is all we’ve wanted since the start of the season. It feels good to get it done.”
One of the few seniors on the Toms River North roster, Kazanowsky went out on a high note. He had six tackles, two deflected passes and a TD reception.
“I don’t get many of those,” said Kazanowsky, who caught only his fourth pass of the season to score his second TD of the fall.
Toms River North, which finished with 389 totals yards, scored fewer than 40 points for the first time in 12 games. The North offense sputtered in the second half, with all-world quarterback Micah Ford leaving the field six different times with severe cramping.
“Everything was cramping in both legs,” Ford said. “And I drank like a gallon of water at halftime.”
“I felt bad for the kid (Ford),” Kazanowsky said. “At one point I told him, we got you. Our defense is going to get a stop and we’re going to win this game.”
“We worry about Micah cramping in the heat, but not on a night like this,” said Toms River North head coach Dave Oizerowitz. “But when he starts cramping it doesn’t stop.”
Nevertheless, Ford still had a solid game. He ran for 109 yards and passed for 117. Ford finished the season with 3,563 combined yards — 2,360 rushing and 1,203 rushing. Ford, who finished No. 2 in New Jersey in rushing, figured in 51 of North’s 81 TDs during 2022.
If you didn’t know, North set a New Jersey record for points in a season with 660 points — an average of 47 per game.
With Ford spending more time on the sideline than the field, the Toms River North offense was held scoreless for 22:35 of the second half.
Meanwhile, Passaic Tech wiggled its way back into the game. It closed to within 21-7 on a 47-yard run by Trashon Dye, who finished with 117 yards.
Then after an 8-yard Toms River North punt, Passaic Tech — helped by a pass interference call against the Mariners, worked itself into a first and goal at the Toms River North seven.
“Things got a little hairy,” Oizerowitz said. “It was my fault, but we were playing a loose box when they scored the first touchdown. They caught is in a three-man front and we couldn’t get him (Dye) to the ground. When we were in a four-man front, they really didn’t do much on the ground.”
The North defense hadn’t been challenged since the opening game of the season. With the Mariners winning by an average margin of 41 points, adversity didn’t show itself very often.
Passaic Tech was within a whisker of making it a one-score game.
“Obviously, we were scared, you could see it on our faces,” said Toms River North running back Josh Moore, who had 127 yards and a score and went over 1,000 for the season.
North yielded three yards to Dye on first down. It tipped a pass on second. Then it rose up and tightened up on third and fourth downs.
“You never know when you’ll be in a situation like that, but we practiced for it,” Kazanowsky said. “We all (the defense) knew if we got a stop, we’d win. We were ready to go.”
Toms River North took over on downs. On first down, Ford dragged Passaic Tech defenders for a 13-yard game before leaving the game for the final time. After a 10-yard run by Moore and two penalties, Moore sealed the deal with a back-breaking 80-yard run.
“I saw beautiful lead blocks,” Moore said. “They had been tackling outside the box, so I knew if I could get to the second level, I could cut it back.”
In the first half, Toms River North bolted to a 21-0 lead. It was more points than Passaic Tech had allowed in a game all season.
North unshackled its passing game in the first half. North had attempted only 13 passes in its last three playoff games.
However, on North’s first possession, Ford capped a nine-play, 70-yard march with a perfectly thrown pass to the pylon to sophomore Camryn Thomas. Ford rolled left and applied perfect touch with an arching throw to Thomas.
Toms River North also scored on its second possession. The drive ended on the fifth play of the second quarter when Ford dropped a pass into the hands of Kazanowsky on a perfectly executed middle screen for a 10-yard score.
“Nobody knows but us and maybe the teams in our division that we can throw the ball,” Oizerowitz said.
The North defense forced a three-and-out with 1:39 left in the second quarter and set up the offense for its third TD.
Ford scrambled left away from the pressure coming from his right. As he neared the line of scrimmage, the Passaic Tech corner hesitated allowed North sophomore Nasir Jackson to break free. Ford’s throw on the move was on the money and Jackson made the catch and completed the 48-yard scoring play.
“I kind of felt like a quarterback,” Ford said. “It showed what I can do as a quarterback.”
The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now and be among the first to get all the boys and girls sports you care about, straight to your inbox each weekday. To add your name, click here.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.
Ryan Patti covers the Super Football Conference and NJIC. He can be reached at rpatti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwpatti. Luis Torres covers the Super Football Conference and NJIC. He can be reached at ltorres@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByLuisTorres. Joe Zedalis covers the Shore Conference. He can be reached at jzedalis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Josephzedalis.
Ad Choices