Jackson opens Shore football season answering some unknowns: 'Week 0 is scary'

OCEAN – Week 0 of the scholastic football season is walking into the land of the unknown for many teams.

"Week 0 is scary, and I think everyone will tell you that,'' Jackson Township head coach Vinnie Mistretta said Thursday night after Jackson scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to record a 21-0 season-opening nondivisional win over Ocean at Carrelli Field. "August 10th is the first day of practice for everybody and you're not hitting until the 15th or 16th. You have 10 days of real football practice to get ready for this.''

The first half was sloppy by both teams, and Jackson Township had to overcome some injuries, including one to starting senior quarterback Dom Bylecki.

Howver, sophomore quarterback Ryan Yurgel came in and played mistake-free football in the second half and scored the game's first touchdown on a 1-yard sneak on the first play of the fourth quarterback.

Sophomore defensive back Sha'Zir Taylor returned an interception 40 yards for a TD and senior running back Blake Farrin capped a 23-carry, 113-yard night with a 7-yard TD run to cap a 10-play, 60-yard drive. Sophomore Brayden Ramos had a 30-yard run to set up Farrin's TD.

"Our whole message all offseason, 'was whoever does the job is going to do it great','' Mistretta said. "We have a lot of unnamed guys. At media day (Shore Conference Media Day on August 11), I sad, 'Let them make a name for themselves. I'm not going to tell you who the guys are' I'm really proud of these guys.

Yurgel playing much of the game was also not in the original thoughts of Mistretta and his coaching staff. when it came to taking snaps.

"You know what's funny: "Yurgel ended up starting our game scrimmage (against Raritan) because we had a little in-house stuff with Bylecki and Yurgel played a quarter,'' Mistretta said. "We got lucky that he (Yurgel) got a little bit of game time then. He is another kid who's ready to go. He's got a ways to go physically, but mentally, he's all there. The more he gets time, the more he'll just start being able to do all the things we want him to do.''

The Jaguars also have guys playing different positions than they did last year, like Farrin, who was a wide receiver in 2025.

"He was the fourth best guy on offense last year. Now, he's the bell cap,'' Mistretta said. "He's the leader on defense. He's the leader on offense. He does all the right things.''

Jackson's defense had a big night.

Ocean had its chances in the first half to seize control of the game with two fumble recoveries. However, the Jaguars forced a turnover on downs at their own 8 by stopping a fourth-and-3 and then came up with another turnover on downs when they stopped a fourth-and-2 at their own 16.

In addition to Taylor's TD, senior Gavin Dill set up the first TD with a fumble recovery at the Ocean 25 and senior Adrian Portorreal set up the final score with a fumble recovery at the Jackson 40.

Jackson also held Ocean sophomore running back Brayln Thompson to 44 yards on 12 carries.

Taylor read it right on his INT.

With Ocean facing a third-and-17 from its 25 in the possession after Yurgel's TD, Taylor jumped in front of a receiver and raced untouched into the end zone to make it 14-0 with 10:41 remaining.

"I watched the QB and he opened up,'' Taylor said. "I was watching his eyes and his hips and I immediately went for the slant. All I was thinking after that was getting that Pick 6 and helping the team.''

Mistretta said the coverage Taylor was placed in was put in by the coaching staff this past week.

"On the sideline, we said, 'You're going to play the middle of the field (at safety), watch the deep post and just play wide receiver' '' Mistretta said. "He read that beautifully, took it and then he scored which is the hardest part.''

All becoming one unit

In the second season for the Jackson Township program after the merger of what was the traditionally solid Jackson Memorial program and the Jackson Liberty program, things appear to going smoother.

"Everybody is becoming a family more and more every year,'' Taylor said. "We all knew each other from AYF and everything so it wasn't really that difficult.''

Mistretta most of the talk now about the 2025 merger comes from the outside.

"These guys don't even know anything about a merger anymore,'' Mistretta said. "Last year, it was all everybody talked about. These guys have not heard the word merger, and that's a really cool thing.''

Jackson Township 21, Ocean 0

Jackson Township 0 0 0 21 – 21

Ocean 0 0 0 0 – 0

Fourth Quarter

Ryan Yurgel 1 run (Anthony Delpome kick).

Sha'zir Taylor 40 interception return (Delpome kick).

Blake Farrin 7 run (Delpome kick).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: JT: Blake Farrin 23-113, Brayden Ramos 6-40, Richard Finer 1-7, Dom Bylecki 3-2, Ashton Martinez 1-2. Rojas Cruz 1-(-4), Ryan Yurgel 4-(-9), Matthew Kellet 1-(-9), O: Braylin Thompson 12-44, Jake Volek 1-4, Ryan Travis 1-(-7), Dominic Volek 1-(-5), Jake Garrett 7-(-33).

Passing: JT: Byleck 1-2-0-1, Yurgel 2-2-1. O: Garrett 7-13-1-69. Travis 2-2-0-9.

Receiving: JT: Jordan Jones 2-(-2), Martinez 1-4. O: Justin Farina 3-25, J. Volek 2-36, Aamir Byrd 2-4, Marcus Canavan 1-8, Joey Molinelli 1-5.

Interceptions: JT: Sha'Zir Taylor 1.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jackson opens Shore football season answering some unknowns: 'Week 0 is scary'