Holmdel Hornets Football Celebrates Amazing 2018 Season

HOLMDEL, NJ — Way to go, Holmdel! The Holmdel Hornets just wrapped up their best season in more than a decade, finishing with an outstanding 8-2 record and became the first Holmdel High team to make back-to-back NJSIAA playoff appearances since the 1990 and 1991 teams.

The 2018 team was also quite a turnaround for the Holmdel program: Consider that when this group of young men began playing varsity football, the previous three-year record for Holmdel was 5-25. During their three years of varsity football, they won a total of 16 games, won a Division championship and made two trips to the playoffs, which included the third-ever playoff win for the program.

Yes, 2018 was a good year for Holmdel football: The regular season saw the Hornets dominate their Division opponents, going 6-0 in the division, earning them the 2018 National Division championship. That was the school's first Division title since 2007. The week 5 game against Donovan Catholic, in what was essentially the Championship game, saw the Hornets rack up 335 yards rushing and holding the high-powered Griffins to just one touchdown in an exciting 21-11 win.

“This team, and in particular this group of seniors, were successful because of their commitment to each other, their teammates and the process," said Coach Rainess. "I am so excited to see how the next chapters of their lives play out. They will all be successful if they continue to give the kind of effort they gave during their time here as part of the Holmdel Football program."

All three phases of the Holmdel attack had prolific seasons in 2018. The defense was ranked No. 1 in the Shore, letting up a remarkable 6.0 points per game, less than one touchdown per game! And statistically, the Hornet's 2018 defense was the best defensive unit in school history.

The offense came in as the No. 3 unit in the Shore, scoring just shy of 35 points per game. Special teams added a remarkable five touchdowns on the year, making the 2018 Hornets the highest scoring team in school history.

For their efforts, the Hornets headed into postseason as the No. 4-ranked team in the Central Jersey group III tournament. The community spirit was on full display as the Hornets got to host a home playoff game for only the third time in program history, a showdown with the No. 5-ranked Nottingham Northstars, a perennial powerhouse from Mercer County.

The Hornets started the showdown with Nottingham in great fashion, with Dean Gallo busting a 90-yard touchdown run on the first offensive play from scrimmage. This ignited the Hornets to play their most complete football game of the season, a resounding 42-0 home playoff victory. The offense rushed for nearly 500 yards, sparked by Gallo (201 yards and 3 touchdowns), Cameron Lamountain (140 yards) and Jeff Decicco (75 yards, 3 touchdowns). The defense held the high-powered Nottingham squad to under 100 yards of offense and pitched their fifth shutout of the season, sending Holmdel to the semi-finals the following weekend.

Despite playing well against the No. 5-ranked team in New Jersey (Somerville), and even leading at halftime, the Hornets' spectacular 2018 season would unfortunately come to an end, suffering a 31-20 loss. For their incredible effort this season, the team was recognized as a Shore Conference Top 10 team by both the Asbury Park Press and the Shore Sports Network, marking the first time Holmdel High School has had that recognition since 2007.

The team has 20 seniors who all started as sophomores under Coach Jeffrey Rainess. They are: (the first ten made the All-Division Team): Mack Byrne, Jeff Decicco, Nick Fanzini, Austin Fischer, Dean Gallo, Brandon Saghafi, Alex Starr, Jack Tedeschi, Dan Tempone, Alex Unanski, Ryan Day, John Eknoian, Aidan Flanagan, Michael Iulo, Dan Kipnis, Marvin Ling, Sean McCann, Christopher Muldoon, Mitch Rubinstein and Nick Spinelli. Although still a junior, Evan Jennings also made the All-Division Team.

Congratulations to all the outstanding young men.

Photo provided by Holmdel High School.