Brick Memorial Falls to Howell

Brick Memorial opened its meeting with Howell with a nice drive to the end zone, capped by Anthony Miller's 15-yard scoring run.

That was all the Mustangs (4-5) could muster, however, as the Rebels (4-4) scored 23 unanswered points for a 23-7 victory on Friday night in Brick. It was Howell's second straight victory over Brick Memorial.

Brick Memorial quarterback Cody Pinho was impressive on the ground in the first half, but Howell made adjustments to his quick feet and were able to stop him for losses six times in the second half.

Howell's passing attack picked the Mustangs apart, as quarterback Ryan Davies completed 23 of 34 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns to wideout Brandon Yaegel, who caught 10 passes for 100 yards.

The victory was a small solace for Howell, which missed the NJSIAA playoffs for the first time since 2008.

The loss does not affect Brick Memorial, which had already completed its eight games for the Central Jersey Group IV playoff picture. The Mustangs were sitting in the sixth spot before Friday night, 21 points ahead of Colts Neck, which is in the ninth spot and plays Saturday. Middletown North, which was 10th, lost to Southern. Even if Colts Neck beats Neptune, Brick Memorial holds a nine-point margin over Hillsborough, which also has played all eight of its regular-season games and can only pick up a handful of residual points this weekend.

The Mustangs will be on the road for the playoffs.