By Scott Stump - Senior Editor
E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com


     BRICK - If Southern ever needs a reminder of how it needs to play to ultimately reach its lofty goals this season and rewrite school history, all it has to do is follow the blueprint for success that it put forth in Friday night's impressive 28-7 win over Brick Memorial in an American Division game.
     "We just wanted to play great defense, cover kicks and jam it up the middle on offense,'' said senior linebacker/running back Glenn Carson.
     Hard-nosed defense, some great special teams play and a punishing running game led by Carson and senior Anthony Stroffolino that rolled up 17 first downs and 237 yards while swallowing the clock helped the Rams (2-0, 1-0), ranked No. 3 in the DigitalSports Top 10, erase some bad memories at DiFabio Field against the No. 9 Mustangs (1-1, 0-1). After being beaten by a combined 54-0 in its last two trips to Brick Memorial, the Rams left no doubt.
      "I kind of got jitters when I stepped on this field because the last time here they just pounded us,'' Carson said. "Now it's our turn. We've got a better team this year, and it was our turn to give it back to them.''
      Carson, who is 228 pounds, rumbled for 116 yards, and the 230-pound Stroffolino added 70 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams played basic football on offense and ran right up the middle into the teeth of the Mustangs' defense.
      "I just thought (Brick Memorial) had to play a lot of linemen both ways, so I just thought if we could pound them and keep the ball away from them, we would be in good shape,'' said Southern coach Chuck Donohue Sr.
      It actually was Brick Memorial that looked impressive running the ball at the outset, as the Mustangs drove 68 yards in 15 plays, converting a pair of fourth downs, to score on a two-yard run by senior quarterback Brian Staub on the opening possession of the game.
      However, that would be it for the night as Southern's rugged defense, led by the highly-recruited tandem of Carson and Stroffolino as well as senior linebacker Mike Bonsky, foiled the Mustangs' flexbone offense the rest of the way. Carson had nine solo tackles and an assist, Stroffolino had five solo tackles and a sack, and Bonsky had six tackles, one for a loss, and a sack, while the Rams' offense kept the ball out of Brick Memorial's hands for long stretches.
      "We made the corrections on defense,'' Stroffolino said. "We were a little rattled with the option offense, but the guys rallied up and we started playing physical. They were coming off the ball, and we weren't really coming off the ball hard. We had to get the momentum.''
      The Rams did just that as they answered Brick Memorial's touchdown with a 15-play, 80-yard drive that started with 4:16 left in the first quarter and ended with Stroffolino scoring from one yard out with 8:37 left in the second quarter. Carson accounted for 45 of the yards during the drive, which Stroffolino kept alive with a four-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the Mustangs' 26-yard line. Senior quarterback Brian Sullivan, who is also the holder on kicks, then made it 8-7 when he took the snap and darted around the right side on a designed play for the two-point conversion.
      "That made a big statement,'' Carson said. "That's a sign of a championship team. We held our ground and came right back and put points up. That's a sign that we're not only physically ready to be a good team, but mentally ready.''
      "We just wanted to play physical, and we had to be all about technique and running the ball because that's all we do,'' said senior center A.J. Romanoff, who is the lone returning starter on the line from last year. "We just control the clock and keep getting first downs.''
      It doesn't hurt to have the 1-2 punch of Carson and Stroffolino, who are all about yards after contact. Add that to a consistent surge by an offensive line with four new starters and it was smooth sailing for the Rams despite a pair of turnovers.
      "They're going to break through the arm tackles,'' Romanoff said about Carson and Stroffolino before smiling.
      "The O-line, coming into the season, they were inexperienced, but they really pulled it together and played great tonight,'' Stroffolino said.
      After Stroffolino's touchdown, the Rams were immediately back in business after recovering a fumble on Brick Memorial's first play from scrimmage at the Mustangs' 34-yard line. Six plays later, Stroffolino stretched over the goal line for a two-yard touchdown and an eventual 15-7 lead with 6:05 left in the half.
      "They just did a better job executing that inside running game,'' said Brick Memorial coach Walt Currie. "(Carson and Stroffolino) are just two big, physical kids who are hard to bring down. (Southern) just played well up front and were more physical than us.''
      With the offense and defense now gaining momentum, it was time for Southern's special teams to be heard from, and junior Brett Cox made arguably the biggest play of the game. After just missing a punt block on Brick Memorial's previous possession, Cox came sailing in and blocked a punt before crawling after it and falling on it in the end zone for a 21-7 lead with 2:27 left in the half.
      "We practiced all week to block (the punt) because we watched film a lot,'' Cox said. "When I went in, the guard blocked down, he went right for Glenn (Carson). Coach told me to get my arms up and my chest out and I blocked it. Fortunately, the ball rolled into the end zone, so I crawled into the end zone and recovered it.''
       That commanding lead meant that a few stops by Southern's defense to start the second half and Brick Memorial would be out of its comfort zone of running the ball and would have to go to the air. A holding penalty by the Mustangs at Southern's 25-yard line short-circuited a third-quarter drive, and then after the Rams stopped them again, Southern's offense polished off the win with one more road-grading, clock-eating march in the fourth quarter.
       Southern went 63 yards on 14 plays, with Carson accounting for 28 yards on the ground, before Sullivan executed a play-action fake and lobbed a pass to wideout Kyle Gross for an 11-yard touchdown with 4:26 left in the game that provided the final margin of victory.
       In search of its first division title since 1972 and its first state sectional title ever, Southern entered with its old mentality despite being the favorite for a change.
      "We treated it as if we were the underdogs,'' Stroffolino said. "Two years ago, they beat us pretty good, and we came in here wanting to get some revenge.''
      However, this team is not content with simply taking down one Top 10 opponent like maybe some Rams teams of the past would have been. That was evident in Carson's post-game speech in a jubilant huddle.
      "Enjoy the victory, do not be satisfied!'' Carson yelled. "We're even better, and we're going to get better every single day!''
      If they ever need a reminder of how good they can be, they can always pop in the tape of Friday night's resounding victory.
    
      
Box score
Southern 28, Brick Memorial 7

                                 S          B
First downs                17         8
Rushes-yards           46-237    37-128
Passing                    3-6-1      2-5-0
Passing yards              34         24
Penalties                  2-15       2-15
Fumbles-lost             2-1         2-1

Southern (2-0, 1-0)           0 21 0 7 - 28
Brick Mem. (1-1, 0-1)         7  0 0 0  - 7

Scoring summary:
B: Staub 2-yd run (Loidice kick).
S: Stroffolino 1-yd run (Sullivan run)
S: Stroffolino 3-yd run (Gross kick).
S: Cox recovered block punt in end zone (run failed).
S: Gross 11-yd pass from Sullivan (Gross kick).

Individual statistics
Rushing - S: Carson 22-116, Stroffolino 14-70, Sullivan 3-25, Shimko 3-12, Abbey 1-11, Balak 1-0, Cox 1-3. B: Staub 21-95, Sabba 11-28, McGinnis 3-3, Piezzo 1-0, LePore 1-2.
Passing - S: Sullivan 3-6-1 34. B: Staub 2-5-0 24.
Receiving - S: Stroffolino 1-13, Gross 1-11, Tampone 1-10. B: Piezzo 2-24.
Interceptions - B: Pittius 1-0.