The Game Plan

By defeating the Delran Bears by a single point last Saturday, the Manasquan Warriors football team has secured a trip to the CJ Group II State Finals to be held at Rutgers Stadium on December 6.

But don't pack your bags just yet - they've got one more challenge to face before they board those buses to New Brunswick.

The State Final, however important it may be, is not the next step in Coach Cahill's game plan. The Warriors must first face a disappointed Wall team on Thanksgiving Day, leaving Cahill with an age-old dilemma:

Should he play all of his starters, including Sr. QB Mike LaSala (pictured left) and Jr. RB and offensive workhorse Lorenzo Venable (pictured right) risking injuries, before the most important game of their high school careers just to win a rivalry game that has no bearing on the season?

Or, should he give next year's up-and-comers a shot at true game time experience?

There's no question in my mind as to what the starting players would want - to kick some Crimson Knight butt. Though I'm sure regardless of who takes the field for the Warriors, Wall's Coach Barnes may have something to say about that.

I guess we'll just have to wait until Thursday to see.

Squan starter, junior defensive end, Dan Sullivan (#44, left), is no doubt seeing Crimson this week. 

Sullivan and the Warriors' defense, which have been bringing mayhem to opposing offenses all season long, are no doubt looking forward to the Thanksgiving Day rivalry game against Wall High School. 

The Readers Have Spoken

The First Annual Star News Group Spooktacular Halloween Costume Photo Contest is  now over and our Grand Prize winners have been chosen. Hundreds of Star News Group readers voted and our winners are...

Best Costume, Kids, goes to Hanna Whitcomb, 7, for "Haunting Spring Lake" with 339 out of 636 votes (53%). Photo submitted by Kerry Whitcomb. Ms. Whitcomb has won a $50 gift certificate to Quinnderella's Toys in Manasquan.

Best Costume, Adults, goes to Dana and Mike Griggs of Wall for their entry, "Kiss Reunion," which  received 446 of 868 votes. They have won a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant of their choice from the starnewsgroup.com restaurant guide.

Best Costume, Pets, is awarded, by a whisker, to the 7-year old Boston Terrier from Spring Lake Heights, Weezer, as Superman. Weezer beat Shana the Skunk from Wall by 2 votes - 305 votes to 303 votes. Submitted by Elizabeth Hodson of Spring Lake Heights. Weezer can now enjoy a $25 gift certificate to B.C. Woof in Manasquan.

Congratulations to all of our winners and a BIG "Thank You" to everyone who participated.

And the nominees are...

Scroll down to view the finalists for the First Annual Star News Group Halloween Costume Contest.  To vote, just choose from the polls on the right. 

Check back throughout the week to see how your favorites are doing!

Best Costume, Kids:

Dean Martin Terry, 6, of Wall looks much older than he really is.

Hanna Whitcomb, 7, is haunting Spring Lake.

Joe Trainor, 1, of Wall is a true Halloween surprise. 

Best Costume, Adults:

The Deadliest Catch - Christine McArthur of Brielle is sporting a fishing vessel with working headlights and marker lights and a PVC mast.

From left to right, Brian and Lisa Williams of Aberdeen reunited with Dana and Mike Griggs of Wall to bring back classic rock.

Bob McArthur of Brielle is a Rusted Robot. This costume is made out of cardboard, duct tape, and Christmas lights. He carries two nine-volt batteries two storage boxes for carring extra goods and two drink cups for the long walks through the neighborhood.

Best Costume, Pets:

CASEY is a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier & he thinks he is the COOOOOLest POOCH in Town

Weezer, a 7-year old Boston Terrier from Spring Lake Heights, is able to leap tall dog houses in a single bound.

Shana may be Wall's only indoor Skunk.

Is America Growing Up?

On July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment gave blacks equal rights under the law and in 1870, they were given the right to vote.

Unfortunately, thanks to what is arguably the most shameful ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy vs. Ferguson, states circumvented the Bill of Rights by allowing Jim Crow laws providing "Separate but equal" facilities, housing, seating and even water fountains for non-whites, ushering in an era of racial segregation.

It wasn't until Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1957 that desegregation became a reality. It's amazing what can happen in 50, uh, 51 years.

Fifty years ago blacks were only beginning to mix freely with whites, despite extreme racial tensions. Today we have elected a black president. Look how far we've come.

America is a young country. I like to call our nation the "bratty teenager of the world." We are headstrong, determined and just arrogant enough to think that we know it all.

The truth is we don't know it all; we haven't got a clue. But, like all teenagers, we will have a coming of age - a dawn of realization - that will allow us to admit this and we will grow.

Look how far we've come.

Weekly Random Drawing Winners

Wall Township resident Jodi Maccioli has been randomly selected as the recipient of the last weekly giveaway as part of Star News Group’s Spooktacular Halloween Photo Contest.
Ms. Maccioli is the mother of Braden Maccioli [left], Wall’s newest baby skunk, aged 3 and one-half months. Ms. Maccioli won a four-pack of tickets to Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach by submitting her picture.

Doug and Paul Fenton, of Point Pleasant, also won a four-pack of tickets to Jenkinson's Aquarium for submitting a picture of their Akita [right] Pirate Kerry, and his trusty sidekick, Boo the Pomeranian. For more information on how to enter the contest, log on to starnewsgroup.com and click on “Blog & Contests.”