Chris Bunge (#5) and Middletown South get started on Saturday, while Toms River North heads to the turf at Middletown South to play Middletown North on Friday night as the 2008 season kicks off.
E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com
*Upcoming content note - features on Southern and Asbury Park will run early next week following our coverage of this weekend's action.*Good luck to all the Shore teams as we kick off the 2008 season.
More than 2,000 years ago, Alexander the Great, the architect of one of the most breathtaking empires the world has ever known, sailed on a long journey with his Greek army to the shores of Persia in anticipation of a bloody and fierce battle.
Facing a Persian people with a much bigger army that badly outnumbered his own, Alexander waited until all the boats were ashore and the men had stepped on solid ground. After surveying his warriors, he gave the order to his generals. The generals then relayed the order to their men, an order Alexander believed would inspire courage against the seemingly impossible task ahead.
With that, the soldiers approached each boat and lit it on fire. A great conflagration grew on the shore as the soldiers watched the flames lick the sky and the realization of the enormity of what was ahead hit them.
There is no turning back. There is no going home. Conquer or be conquered.
While the stakes obviously aren't quite that high, that is the point that this year's Shore Conference football teams have reached today. Except for a handful of teams with first-week byes, there is no more preseason. The boats have been burned and there is no turning back, no more time to fine-tune that last offensive set, no time to remind the defense of what call to make when the offense lines up in a certain formation.
It's conquer or be conquered. It's one of the best days of the year.
The sights are ones that tend to set up shop in the memory banks, and every Shore Conference football fan, parent, coach and player knows them well.
It's the wide-eyed younger players realizing that the speed and ferocity of the game are much more intense when they on the sidelines than when they were watching it with their freshman buddies in the stands last year.
It's the seniors listening to the national anthem and knowing that the hour glass has been tipped over and the trickle of sand from their final year has begun.
It's digging around for that old blanket, that lucky T-shirt or that bottle of body paint before heading to the game.
It's the returning stars from last year wondering, "Can I do it again?" before making that first hit, that first block, that first catch, that first pass or that first touchdown run and then thinking, "I'm going to do it again.''
It's players like injured Holmdel senior standout Kenny Laplante, still walking out arm and arm with his friends as a captain before the game, refusing to abandon his team despite his situation.
It's taking forever to find a parking space if you don't get there early.
It's
Freehold quarterback Nick Tyson thinking, "Thank you for one more year.''
It's the highly-recruited players like Southern linebacker Glenn Carson, where all the hype and the talk isn't about which college he will attend or where he is ranked on some list any more. No more phones ringing with coaches and reporters tonight. It's about his team against yours, and you better buckle that chin strap because he is coming full speed. Then it's off to Notre Dame Stadium at the crack of dawn on Saturday on a recruiting visit to South Bend as the Fighting Irish take on Michigan.
It's that first hint of a cool wind on a Friday night.
It's Asbury Park thinking, "You don't believe a small school could be as good as the big boys? We'll show you.''
It's Shore Regional thinking, "Don't crown Asbury Park just yet.''
It's the bazillion thoughts colliding in the minds of those new sophomores and juniors on varsity before game time. "Pleasedon'tletmescrewupwhatisthatplaythatIhavetorunagain?ohmygodtherearesomanypeoplehere."
It's thinking, "Man, I can't wait to see that highlight on DigitalSports.''
It's the coaches slowly pulling on the headsets, glancing at each other and smiling, all the while thinking, "I live for this.''
It's the seniors in the cheerleading corps and the band knowing that this is it, this is the last time with their good friends doing what they love and what they have put so much time and effort into.
It's the players leaving the cocoon of the raging heavy metal music or rap blasting into their earphones from their iPod in the locker room before the game and having nothing but screaming voices as a soundtrack for over two hours. Hatebreed and Young Jeezy can't shield them any more. There is nowhere to hide from the crowd.
It's everyone thinking before the game that they are going 12-0 this season. It's Toms River North trying to do it again.
It's the officials seeing their old friends again and vowing to do a good enough job that no one will notice they were there.
It's the lights coming on Red Bank for the first night game in the storied history of its program, as the Bucs take on St. John Vianney.
It's that crazy assistant who always wears shorts when it's 10 degrees out and greets any player with a big-time hit on the kickoff with a well-timed scream.
It's the parents and the families in the stands who know how much work they and their sons have put into this thinking, "Please no one get hurt,'' right before thinking, "C'mon kid, it's your time. Let's make a big play."
It's the fans from Long Branch knowing tonight at Wall is the end of the longest road trip in Shore Conference history.
It's that first crescendo of applause when a runner breaks into the clear with nothing but yards to eat up.
It's the public address announcer saying the three words everyone has been waiting nine months to hear.
"Now kicking off (off, off, off)....''