Rumson, NJ — While snow, wind and rain pounded Northern New Jersey, it was a brisk fall day further down the parkway accompanied by a steady, fine mist in the air.

Perfect football weather.

As if this matchup needed it. After dominant runs through the Central and South brackets of the Group II Sectional tournament, the Rumson-Fair Haven Bulldogs and Point Pleasant Boro Panthers were eager for a rematch after a meeting in early September with the Bulldogs coming out on top 41-28.

Early on in the contest, it was a nail-biter. Despite an early interception out of the hands of Panthers’ quarterback Jake Clayton, his team’s staunch rushing attack engineered by head coach Brain Staub’s flexbone offense kept the clock moving and forced Rumson-Fair Haven into drives put together at breakneck speed.

Just after the half, the score sat at 13-10 in favor of the purple and black, a far cry from the 28-7 affair two months earlier…and then things took a turn.

Following Hudson Blasi’s 51-yard touchdown from Clayton, RFH marched right down the field thanks to near-flawless quarterbacking by senior, and third-year starter Owen O’Toole. This culminated in a two-yard score from superstar running back Kellen Murray – the storm surge that ultimately broke the levee.

This was the start of 31 unanswered points from the Bulldogs, including another Murray rush, an O’Toole scamper into the endzone, a Carson Memmott pick-six, and a 29-yard field goal from Memmott.

It was a gaudy offensive performance, even by RFH’s standards. O’Toole finished 29/39, with 325 passing yards, setting career-highs in all three marks, while rushing for a pair of scores. 11 of those passes were completed to Nick Thomas who was a YAC machine, gaining 128 yards. He too, set career-highs in multiple statistical categories.

With the victory, the Bulldogs move to 12-0 for the first time in program history, and have a chance to bring home a state title after falling short in back-to-back seasons, as well as finish their season undefeated for the first time since a 7-0-2 campaign in 1959.

They’ll take on a red-hot Shabazz team for an all-bulldog state final.