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Big chance pays off for Timbers
Published in the Asbury Park Press 11/11/00
By MIKE KERWICK
STAFF WRITER
MIDDLETOWN -- Scott Larkin can already see it happening. His
team will gather in the same room as always and review the film of the
weekend's game.
About four minutes in, he'll see The Play, bite his tongue, and choose his
words very carefully.
How can you tell your most exciting player he did the wrong thing when
his decision made all the difference in Ocean's 13-0 win over Middletown
South? How do you punish a guy who watched a punt bounce on the 4-yard
line, heard his coaches screaming "Let it go! Let it go!" and
then decided to pick up the football and return it 97 yards for a
touchdown?
What do you tell Charles Timbers, who made The Play for Ocean on a
night when big plays were hard to come by?
"I'll still yell at him," Larkin joked after the game, after
his team avenged the only loss on its 2000 schedule. "I trust his
judgment. If he saw something, good for him."
Maybe Timbers saw the Ocean offense that went three-and-out on the
first series from scrimmage. Maybe he heard Middletown South's band
playing the "Imperial Death March" from "Star Wars"
after Ocean ran into the pile twice to start the game.
Maybe he saw a team that needed a break, and didn't want to let the
other team control his destiny.
"I could see it happening," said South coach Steve
Antonucci.
"We didn't contain it well. He's a gutsy kid."
Ocean running backs coach John Key had been teasing Timbers about
returning punts this past week at practice. They Spartans hadn't run one
all the way back all season, and Key told Timbers he wanted to see him
break one.
That was enough for Timbers, who had been waiting for this moment since
a Sept. 28 home loss to South, 19-13 in overtime. Timbers was just a touch
excited when he found out Ocean would meet South again in the NJSIAA
playoffs.
"My best friend David Morson called me," Timbers said.
"He said, 'How do you feel about playing Middletown South?' He
knew."
It wasn't easy for anybody to put up with that last loss. Michael
Setrin was one of the many guys who had to walk through the hallways the
next morning, the humiliation fresh in everybody's mind.
"It was all we thought about," Setrin said.
Before the third quarter began, Setrin was marching up and down the
Ocean sideline, making sure nobody forgot about what happened on Sept. 28.
"Fellas," screamed Setrin, his jersey covered with mud.
"Fellas, this is the most important quarter of our season!"
Setrin and the defense helped stamp out South's offense, but it was his
block to set up Timbers' return that made the biggest difference.
"It was 'See you later, Charles,' " Setrin said. "You're
not going to catch him. He's fast."
He'll have to be quick on his feet when the team hits the film room.
Larkin's gonna want to know exactly what Timbers was thinking.
Mike Kerwick is an Asbury Park Press Staff Writer.
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