Jefferson Township had its back against the wall in the baker final of the Morris County Tournament on Friday in Rockaway.
The Falcons were staring at a 1-0 deficit to Chatham in the best-of-three baker final, and trailing by 11 pins through the first five frames of the second baker game.
Things were looking bleak for the Falcons, but they didn’t panic.
In a matter of minutes, Jefferson grabbed the lead over Chatham and soared to a 205-170 victory to force a winner-take-all game three.
That’s where Jefferson Township bowled its best.
With the pressure at its highest, the Falcons rose to the occasion with a 245-152 victory over Chatham to win the program’s second county championship.
“This is a great accomplishment for us,” Jefferson Township head coach Jeremy Thide said after winning the Morris County Tournament.
“Resiliency is what makes teams good. You might not be bowling your best on that day, but you need to find a way to score for your team. We battled through our mistakes. Everyone did their part to help us get going and take the title.”
Jefferson Township last won the MCT bowling crown in 2013, which is also the last time the school has won a Morris County title in any sport.
“It’s amazing to know that we’re going to have our names in the record books and have a banner in the rafters at the school,” Senior Josh Hale said. “It’s awesome.”
Hale was a part of Jefferson Township’s sectional championship team during the 2023-24 season.
The senior said winning the county tournament in the manner that they did this winter was just as impressive as winning the sectional title two years ago.
“It was a total team effort,” Hale said. “We didn’t just have one guy step up. We had five guys step up and do their job today to help us win.”
Any time that Jefferson Township had the odds stacked against them in the MCT, they found a way to overcome it.
Jefferson Township was on the outside looking in to qualify for the four-team baker playoff bracket through the first two traditional games of the qualifying round.
The Falcons tallied 994 total pins in the third traditional game to jump state-ranked Montville and grab the three-seed heading into the baker playoff bracket.
Sophomore anchor Connor Hale rolled a 223 during his third game to finish with a three-game series of 600 to push Jefferson Township into the playoff bracket.
“We do better when the pressure is at its highest,” Connor Hale said. “We did really well as a team and everyone contributed.”
Jefferson Township swept two-seed Roxbury in the semifinals to secure a spot in the baker final.
Chatham, which was the four-seed, rallied from a game down to defeat top-seed Kinnelon in the semifinals to meet Jefferson in the finals.
The first game of the baker final went back and forth, ending with Toby Monks recording a strike and a spare in his final rolls to give Chatham a 175-168 edge over Jefferson Township.
Chatham got off to a 87-76 lead in the second baker game until the Falcons regained their form on the lanes to tie up the baker final at one game apiece.
Jefferson Township carried its momentum into the third game, grabbing complete control heading into the sixth frame after four consecutive strikes.
Jake Shellhamer, Zach Geise, Connor and Josh Hale combined to roll nine strikes in the third game to help Jefferson Township stamp a thunderous ending to its first county championship.
“We have a team filled of true competitors,” Thide said. “We have guys that want to compete and do it to their best ability.”
During the qualifying round, Kinnelon junior John Sprague led all bowlers with a high game of 258 and a high series of 706.
Mount Olive senior Teagan Mendel recorded both top marks on the girls side with a high game of 183 and a high series of 468.
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