When Manasquan cut Matawan’s 17-point lead to only three with four minutes left in the game in Saturday’s Central Jersey Group II semifinal to get the home crowd roaring, it looked like another magical victory at Vic Kubu Warrior Field was on the way.

Unfortunately for the home team, Matawan senior running back Larry Alston III had other ideas. He carried the ball seven straight times on a 12-play, 64-yard drive to drain the clock and end Manasquan’s playoff hopes with an 11-yard touchdown run with 26.6 seconds remaining. The score punctuated a 24-14 win that put the sixth-seeded Huskies (8-2) into their third straight CJ II championship game and ended a 23-game home winning streak for the second-seeded Warriors (9-1).

"(Alston) is a tremendous power runner,'' Manasquan head coach Jay Price said. "You put bodies in his way, and he's leaving them behind.''

Alston finished with a career-high 247 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns on a day in which Matawan, which has beaten Manasquan three straight times in the playoffs, put up 426 yards of total offense and 324 yards on the ground. Matawan will now face top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven, the defending CJ II champion, which beat the Huskies 13-7 in last year’s CJ II championship game. Alston, who was not even on the team last year because he lived in Georgia with his mother before moving back late in the fall, is a huge reason Matawan is moving on.

"I wanted the ball so bad,'' Alston said. "I didn't want it in anybody else's hands because I knew my line was going to block, so I knew I was going to make it. I'm glad (Matawan head coach Joe Martucci) called what he called.''

"All the teams have a big target on (Alston), and they know we're going to give him the ball, but he knows how to overcome that,'' said senior two-way lineman Matt Morenz.

Manasquan had come roaring back from a 17-0, fourth-quarter deficit to slice the lead to 17-14 with 4:50 left in the game thanks to a pair of touchdown passes by senior quarterback Tyler Saito, who finished with 245 yards passing.

"That's one thing you're never going to see out of these kids,'' Price said. "They'll never quit, ever, and that's what you saw.''

Matawan nearly fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but senior Solomon Simpkins was able to recover it to hold back the roars from the Manasquan home crowd eager for another one of the Warriors' patented late-game comebacks.

On third-and-6 from its own 40-yard line, Matawan then avoided another potentially catastrophic turnover. Sophomore quarterback Kashaun Barnes rolled out and threw a pass that was nearly intercepted by a Manasquan defender before the deflection landed in the arms of Matawan junior wide receiver Shawn Johnson. However, Johnson fumbled when he was hit an instant after making the catch, yet somehow recovered the ball despite being surrounded by three Manasquan defenders.

"We've seen a share of those bounce into our kids' hands, and there were two kids right there,'' Price said. "Today a couple bounces went their way.''

With time ticking away for the home team, Matawan then handed the ball to Alston seven straight times, culminating in an 11-yard score in which he bulled his way through seven Manasquan defenders to find the end zone and punctuate Matawan's third win over Manasquan in the state playoffs in the last three years, including the 2009 championship game.

Matawan had dominated the first half to take a 10-0 lead into the locker room after holding Manasquan to 57 total yards and stopping the Warriors on fourth-and-2 from Matawan's 5-yard line late in the second quarter. Matawan's defense also came up with three of its four turnovers in the first half, including interceptions by Alston and senior defensive back Juwaan Bellamy.

The Huskies, who lost two fumbles of their own in the first half, took a 3-0 lead when sophomore kicker Mike Creamer booted a 32-yard field goal with 10:13 left in the second quarter to complete a drive that was set up by Alston's interception at Manasquan's 39-yard line. Matawan then made it 10-0 when Barnes tossed a 22-yard jump ball to a leaping Alston to complete a 5-play, 40-yard drive with 6:15 left in the half.

"We told them at halftime, 'We're down 10 with 24 minutes left - you have them right where you want them,'' Price joked about Manasquan's penchant for second-half comebacks.

Manasquan came flying out of the gate to start the third quarter, driving down to Matawan's 7-yard line in four plays. However, Lorenz sacked Saito for a 10-yard loss to force fourth-and-13, and Saito was tackled after only a 7-yard gain to end the threat.

"That was big,'' Lorenz said. "We had to keep those goal line stops going. We just wanted to stop their run game and make them one-dimensional, and then get after the quarterback.''

The Huskies completely reversed the momentum after the fourth-down stop by driving 93 yards in only five plays for a 17-0 lead. Alston exploded up the middle and trucked a Manasquan defender on his way to an impressive 53-yard touchdown run with 7:29 left in the third quarter.

"I knew they were going to come out and play hard, so I knew we had to come out and play harder,'' Alston said. "This is their field. You saw all those blue shirts in the stands. We had to rally together, and we had to do what we do best - pound the ball.''

Matawan junior linebacker Dan Incle killed Manasquan's next drive with a fumble recovery, and then Manasquan drove inside Matawan's 20-yard line for the third time in the game only to once again be kept off the scoreboard. Junior linebacker Glenn Cross and sophomore defensive lineman Doug Weber combined for a tackle for a loss on third down, and then senior defensive lineman DeVon Rice sacked Saito for a 10-yard loss on fourth down to kill the threat with 2:03 left in the third quarter.

"They came up big in big spots,'' Price said. "You've got to give them credit.''

After a missed 35-yard field goal attempt by Creamer early in the fourth quarter, Manasquan finally got on the scoreboard when Saito unloaded a 40-yard bomb to senior wide receiver Bryan Abadrabo before the PAT was blocked to make it 17-6 with 8:12 left in the game. After the Warriors' defense forced a three-and-out, Saito found junior wideout Connor Grogan, who finished with five catches for 134 yards, for a 35-yard touchdown strike to cap a 6-play, 65-yard drive. After Matawan jumped offsides on the conversion attempt, Saito had the large home crowd roaring when he jumped into the end zone for a 2-point conversion that cut it to 17-14 with 4:50 remaining.

"We knew they were a comeback team, so we had to bring it together,'' Alston said. "That was nerve-racking right there when they scored.''

The Huskies were able to finish strong thanks to Alston, and now Manasquan turns its attention to its annual Thanksgiving Day showdown with rival Wall. For the second straight season, the winner of that game will claim the outright Class C Central title, which Manasquan is trying to defend after beating the Crimson Knights last season.

Both teams have had their dreams of a state title dashed, so they will be going all out in their pursuit of at least one championship this season.

“Coach Kubu would tell you if he was here, 'Go home and cry about it, and lose some sleep over it, but you can't let it beat you twice,’’’ Price said about the loss to Matawan. “These kids have a title to play for, and they'll be back up and ready to go. They always are.’’

Box score

Matawan 24, Manasquan 14

.                                   Man             Mat

First downs                    17                16

Rushes-yards             33-98           40-324

Passing                       12-24-2        9-19-0

Passing yards              245               102

Penalties                     3-25              8-74

Fumbles-lost             2-2                  5-2

Matawan (8-2)        0 10 7 7 - 24

Manasquan (9-1)    0 0 0 14 - 14

Scoring summary

Mat: Creamer 32-yard field goal.

Mat: Alston 22-yard pass from Barnes (Creamer kick).

Mat: Alston 53-yard run (Creamer kick).

Man: Abadrabo 40-yard pass from Saito (kick failed).

Man: Grogan 35-yard pass from Saito (Saito run).

Mat: Alston 11-yard run (Creamer kick).

Individual statistics

Rushing - Mat: Alston 28-247, Walton 3-13, Barnes 5-42, Simpkins 2-19, Quaglieri 2-3. Man: McNamara 10-87, Saito 14-(-3), Murphy 3-7, Fittin 2-0, Aromando 1-0, Grogan 2-5, Morgan 1-2.

Passing - Mat: Barnes 9-19-0 102. Man: Saito 12-24-2 245.

Receiving - Mat: Alston 2-26, Cross 1-4, Quaglieri 2-39, Bartlett 2-15, Simpkins 1-2, Johnson 1-16. Man: Shiavone 2-23, McNamara 1-(-3), Fittin 2-22, Grogan 5-134, Aromando 1-29, Abadrabo 1-40.

Interceptions - Mat: Alston 1-0, Bellamy 1-0.