By Scott Stump - Senior Editor

     Time to conclude the 2007 football season with a quick and final top 10. My biggest problems were, of course, Rumson-Fair Haven, and the battle for No. 3. I leaned toward leaving Long Branch at No. 3 for a while, but I have to give it to Asbury Park. The Blue Bishops only loss was the season opener against a team that reached a state sectional final in Rumson. I'm not holding the Moorestown game against the Green Wave at all, but Long Branch's one loss to a Shore Conference team was to a .500 Wall squad, so the Bishops are No. 3.
     Finally, I'm leaving Rumson in the top 10 because it has more quality wins than RBC. I'm counting the loss to Red Bank Catholic as a legitimate loss by the Bulldogs. However, Rumson handed two teams ranked in the top 10 their only loss of the season, while the only top 10 team Red Bank Catholic defeated was Rumson. Therefore, Rumson stays, but goes below Holmdel and Point Boro for losing to RBC. Here are the final rankings for overall and small schools, followed by what the fans thought in our final voting.

     Overall Top 10
     1. Toms River North (12-0). No-brainer.
     2. Howell (11-1). The Central Jersey Group IV champs are ready to play the Mariners for No. 1 right now if it has to take place in a parking lot.
     3. Asbury Park (11-1). From unranked in the preseason to Central Jersey Group I champs for the first time since 1984.
     4. Long Branch (10-2). The Road Warriors won a division title and reached the Central Jersey Group III final.
     5. Lacey (9-3). The Lions' three losses were to No. 2 Howell, No. 4 Long Branch and Shawnee in the South Jersey Group III final.
     6. Keansburg (10-2). Asbury Park was all that stood between the 'Burg and an undefeated season.
     7. Holmdel (10-1). Only slip-up was a 14-7 playoff loss to Rumson.
     8. Southern (8-3). Two losses to No. 1 Toms River North and a slip-up against a .500 Brick team were the only blemishes on a school-record eight wins.
     9. Point Boro (10-2). Only losses were to Holmdel and to West Deptford in the South Jersey Group II final, with their best win being Bridgeton in the SJ II semis.
   10. Rumson (9-3). The Bulldogs handed No. 7 Holmdel and No. 3 Asbury Park their only losses while reaching the Central Jersey Group II final.

     Small-school final rankings
     1. Asbury Park (11-1). It was the Blue Bishops' year, no doubt.
     2. Keansburg (10-2). It would've been Keansburg's year if it wasn't for the Bishops.
     3. Holmdel (10-1). The best season in Hornets history if measure by wins.
     4. Point Boro (10-2). Three state final appearances in four years for the Panthers.
     5. Rumson (9-3). Beat No. 1 and No. 3, but lost 61-0 to No. 6.
     6. Red Bank Catholic (7-3). Liberty Division tri-champs also had a win over No. 5 RFH that you might have heard about.
     7. Manasquan (6-4). Finished the season by knocking off Wall on Thanksgiving in a transitional season after the loss of a legend.
     8. Barnegat (5-5). Had a one-game improvement over their inaugural varsity season and lost two overtime games to No. 3 Holmdel and No. 7 Manasquan.
     9. Matawan (4-6). Finished up by knocking off St. John Vianney, 28-20, on Thanksgiving.
   10. Monsignor Donovan (4-6). Great turnaround by the Griffins on the heels of an 0-10 season.

     Fans' Top 10
     Composite average of fan votes in parentheses

     1. Toms River North (2.28)
     2. Howell (3.01)
     3. Asbury Park (3.96)
     4. Long Branch (4.71)
     5. Lacey (5.97)
     6. Point Boro (8.26)
     7. Keansburg (8.62)
     8. Southern (8.70)
     9. Rumson-FH (8.84)
   10. Toms River East (9.07)

The next five: 11. Red Bank Catholic (9.53); 12.  Holmdel (9.73); 13. Middletown South (9.97); 14. Colts Neck (10.61);  15. Freehold (10.74).

Final comments from voters
From Anonymous: By far, Coach LaBarca and his staff did a fantastic job with the Toms River North football team. It is LaBarca's second year at TRN and they were 12 and 0. If that doesn't place them as the number 1 team, I don't know what should.

Jamie from Ocean Grove: The three champs get my top three slots for obvious reasons. Asbury may be deserving of the two slot but I'm going to give the edge to Howell because they destroyed their opponent in the state final. Keansburg gets the number 5 slot, tops among the state final losers, for two reasons - 1) I'm a Titan alum; 2) the final against Asbury Park was anybody's game up until late in the 4th quarter. Rumson ranks 8 because of the Turkey Day debacle, the loss in the final, and the regular season loss to K'burg.

Ken C. from Howell: Howell peaked during the playoffs - their offense was running on all cylinders. No doubt they could beat anyone in the Shore.

Jonathan in Toms River: TR NORTH RULED THE SHORE CONFERENCE. North was the only team in the Shore Conference to go undefeated, and had the most talent out of any team in the Shore. The Mariners seniors are hard to match. They were hard-working all throughout the season and their past off season. The Mariners' four captains - Jon Power, Austin Kugler, Jim Cavanaugh, and Zach"Hurrikane" Kane did an outstanding job leading their team to a state title, the first time in 10 years. The Mariners are also the only team out of the three Toms River schools to ever go 12-0. The '07 Mariners will go down in Toms River history!

Matt Brown in Sacramento, Ca.: LB played away for 4 years. That's no homefield advantage for 4 years! Keansburg is tough! They have a great cast! Middletown South can still beat anyone on a given day. And North is North. Love the website! Keep up the good work.

DB in Howell: The "what if" of the year is what if Howell didn't lose that game to Jackson. Can't say they took them lightly - Jackson is the team from the town next door and a top team year after year. Would have loved to see a Howell -RN game though.

Bill in New Egypt: It was a great season! The top three teams without a doubt should be the three championship clubs from the conference. How much would you pay to see Howell vs. TRN, and Asbury vs. LB?

From Anonymous: I hope that now everyone at the Shore will give Asbury Park the respect they deserve. The Blue Bishops are FOR REAL! They proved that on a BIG stage at Rutgers. These guys are flat out the most talented team on the Shore. I would love to see a tournament-style playoff between group winners, or even a Shore Conference tournament. I would confidently put this year's AP team up against anyone! I just want to thank the boys in blue for an exciting football season. They deserve all the well wishes coming to them, they worked hard for it!

Sarah in Point Pleasant: Congrats to TRN. Sounds like the championship game was ugly but you can't argue with perfection. It reminds me of Lacey last year. They had so many ugly wins but at the end of the year they were 12-0. It is too bad that TR North doesn't play Howell this year. I'd love to watch this game. Howell put up 46 in the championship game and TR North has the Shore's best defense. This would've been a GREAT matchup. It is tough to rank the teams after the top three. I still think that Long Branch and Lacey are an easy 4-5 but 6-10 is really tough. Southern has 3 losses but two of them were to the #1 team in the Shore. I voted Mid South out of the top 10. I am sure that will not happen again next year. I also voted Manasquan out of the top 15. I do want to say that this was the first year I really rooted for Manasquan. They did not have the kind of success they are used to there but those kids should be commended for playing hard while going through what must've been an extremely difficult season. They'll be back. To the kids in my hometown (Pt. Boro) keep your heads up. Every year you bring this town together. We are proud of you. Calvin, work on your punt team so it is ready to go next time.

From Phyllis in Holmdel (As I nod thank-you to Phyllis before I collapse on the keyboard for my one-hour nap before starting work on basketball previews): A wonderful year for shore football...thanks to all of you at Digital Sports for the great coverage!

And finally, of course, "Coach'' in Toms River.

#1 Toms River North - Congrats to the Mariners, Coach LaBarca and his great staff. They are the American Division champs and SJ4. They did an outstanding job. Zach Kane, take away his ejection, is one heck of a good player, and the rest of the defense showed why they are so good when he wasn't with the unit. Anthony Penna did a great job running that offense, and they dominated the line of scrimmage all season, so well done Toms River North. With a SJ4 title, and a bunch of quality wins, they are a no brainer for #1 and Top 5 in the state of New Jersey.

#2 Howell - CJ 4 State Champs, Constitution Division Champs. Tim Lamirande is an amazing player. He has some great targets including Chance Carrick. We all said if they could stop people in the playoffs, they would score enough to win, and that is exactly what happened. They got stops when they needed them, and that offense is unreal. I am so happy for Coach Cory Davies, who really deserves all the good things that happen to him as he is a great coach and a great guy, and I wish him continued success.

#3 Asbury Park -CJ1 Champs, Tri-Patriot Division Champs. Opening Day loss, they won out. I'm not so sure that if they met Rumson again, the score would be the same. I think they would beat them. Coach Solfikanich did an amazing job, and those kids of his deserve a lot of credit. They have rebuilt that program in 1 year, and got the community and school behind it. I congratulate them. Will Johnson is back next year, and so are a bunch of other weapons, so they have a great chance to repeat! Congrats Asbury.

#4 Long Branch - Federal Division Champs. The Road Warriors and Coach George did a wonderful job. This is where the poll gets interesting. The non championship team part. They have 2 losses, to Wall by 6 inches and in the finals, and Moorestown was an outstanding team. Playing on the road for four years and winning the majority of their games is reason enough, let alone quality wins over Lacey, RBC and in the playoffs. Travis Patterson is a heck of a great player. Gilliard and Hall aren't too bad themselves. What a magical year for them, I wish them the best of luck next year, and most importantly, they get a home game hopefully!

#5 Lacey - The Lions had a great year, although they did not win their division or a State Championship. Their 3 losses came to Long Branch, who is 10-2, Howell, who is state champs, and Shawnee. They have quality wins over Brick, Colts Neck, Winslow, Delsea. They finish up another great season, with eyes to a repeat in 2008. Lou Vircillo gets better as he gets older, and his system is still as good as it was when they were winning in the late 80s and early 90s. Rickmers is a stud, and so is Pandorf. They will be able to run the ball again next year.

#6 Rumson - Tri-Patriot Division Champs. It's tough, they lost their last two. Although they have great wins over Asbury Park Manasquan and Holmdel, two of their losses were goal line losses, coming in the final seconds or plays of the games. The fun thing with 6-10 on this list, any of these teams can beat any of the other teams. If they played Holmdel, Asbury or a healthy Manasquan it would be 50/50 every time, BUT they did win those games! They beat North Plainfield in the playoffs. They also lost to RBC with their JV's which is something I wont touch. Great job by Coach Fallon, who is a GREAT young coach, has motivated his kids well, has prepared them well, and got them to win divisions, playoff games, and now has them in a position to be a team that is gonna be in the CJ2 playoffs and compete every single year. They have the guys to repeat next year.

#7 Holmdel - National Division Champs. The Hornets broke records, and they finished 10-1. They had good wins over Squan, Barnegat, Pt. Boro, Governor Livingston. They had one loss, to Rumson, a team they are even with. They had a great QB Ryan Haslett, and one of the best defenses in the Shore Conference, and in my opinion #2 right behind Toms River North. This is a feel good story, and Coach Andy Carlstrom should be a nominee to be Coach of the Year. Holmdel graduates ALOT, but this season helps build their program, and a congrats is in order to the Hornets.

#8 Pt Boro - The Panthers finished 10-2. They had quality wins over Squan, Bridgeton and Buena. Their 2 losses came to West Deptford in the finals and to a tough Holmdel team, with seconds remaining on the clock. Could very easily be 12-0 if a couple plays go one way or the other. But every team could say that. Coach Thompson has done a great job rebuilding that program, with Shane O'Connor coming back, they should be right back in the hunt next year.

#9 Southern - They had a very solid season, they lost to Toms River North twice, no shame in that, as well as Brick, which as I have stated earlier is a tradition and program loss, one of those teams you gotta beat to get over the hump. Coach Donohue is a class act and a great guy, and a great coach. Glenn Carson and Todd Kaiser are great players. Carson will be the top player in the Shore on the defensive side of the ball next year.

#10 TIE Keansburg-Manasquan- I know everyone is gonna think I'm nuts. A healthy Manasquan is dangerous. They lost to Holmdel opening day, on an over emotional day. They played Pt Boro hobbled with Coursey and Venables hurt. They lost in the playoffs. BUT they did beat Wall, they beat Barnegat, and SJV. They are a good team, and could compete with anyone down the stretch due to how good their coaches are, and Coach Kubu left those coaches alot of valuable lessons, he deserves to have his team on this list for their dedication and determination this year. Keansburg had a great season. They beat Rumson, they won two huge playoff games, but lost to Asbury Park twice. Losing Laguna hurt, but they are an outstanding program, Coach Kmak did a great job with this group of seniors.

Now it's on to 2008...Who are the front runners?! American - Southern; Constitution- Lacey; Liberty- Wall; Federal - Middletown South; National- Point Boro; Patriot- Asbury. Thanks to the kids and coaches for a great 2007. Best of Luck to the Seniors going off to college, and for underclassmen, Hit the Weight Room, Season starts now! Good luck TRN NEXT SEASON!

E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com