NJ Shore Flag Football: Watch: Camila Chamorro of Barnegat throw TD pass
Barnegat sophomore quarterback Camila Chamorro threw 4 TD passes and ran for a score in the Bengals’ 39-12 SCT championship game win over Middletown South
- Barnegat High School’s athletic department has grown from a new program into a successful one since its opening in 2004.
- The school’s recent success includes championships in flag football and softball, along with deep postseason runs in other sports.
For decades, Barnegat Township students left town to attend high school elsewhere, traveling to Southern Regional before Barnegat High School opened its doors in 2004.
During its early settlement and due to its proximity to Barnegat Bay, the area was one of the leading sea ports in the region. A population growth was driven by significant residential development west of the Garden State Parkway.
Today, just over two decades later, the Barnegat Bengals’ teams have transformed one of the Shore Conference’s newest athletic programs into one of its most successful.
It didn’t happen overnight – when Barnegat High opened, facilities were still being developed while traditions had yet to be established. Building a competitive athletic department required patience.
No one has witnessed that evolution more closely than Athletic Director John Germano, who has been with the school since it opened.
“When I first started, we were still establishing fields, just trying to find places to practice,” Germano said. “Now we’ve got real facilities and stands, we were building everything brand new.”
More than 20 years later, the results are visible across nearly every season. The current school year offered the clearest example yet of how far Barnegat athletics has come. In the spring alone, championships and deep postseason runs became commonplace.
- Flag football finished a perfect 12-0, capturing the inaugural Shore Conference Tournament championship with a 39-12 victory over Middletown South. Sophomore quarterback Camila Chamorro earned national attention when one of her highlight-reel touchdowns landed at No. 4 on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays.
- Softball followed with an historic 24-2 campaign, winning the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 championship and advancing to Friday’s Group 2 state final.
- Boys volleyball continued its rise as one of South Jersey’s premier programs, finishing 22-7 and reaching the South Jersey Group 2 championship match while securing a third consecutive 20-win season.
- Girls lacrosse went 17-5, finished undefeated in the Shore Conference Colonial Division and extending its streak of winning seasons to eight consecutive years.
For a school that once celebrated rare tournament appearances, championship expectations have now become the norm.
“We just keep working hard and trying to climb higher. We’re not loud about what we do, we just try to stay the course and get better. Barnegat used to strive just to get into the Shore Conference Tournament and the state tournament. Now winning is the expectation,” said Germano.
Building, Not Buying
For softball coach Michael Palmieri, Barnegat’s rise can be traced to a commitment to long-term growth rather than overnight success. His current senior class entered high school during a period when the Bengals were still trying to establish themselves among the Shore Conference’s top programs.
“In our program, it’s been a combination of things, but I would say the primary one is having the kids buy into the process, and then gradually build,” Palmieri said.
That buy-in produced measurable results. Each season brought another step forward, allowing the program to develop confidence and experience together. The progression culminated in a sectional title and a trip to the state final after a 4-2 win over Arthur L. Johnson.
“Our four starting seniors have started almost every game for four years, so it’s building to this,” said Palmieri. “It wasn’t just like a one-day thing, it took some time to build. Our coaches are good, but we can’t flip a light switch and be champions.”
The same pattern can be seen in girls lacrosse. While the Bengals fell one game short of a sectional final appearance, an undefeated Colonial Division season and an eighth consecutive winning campaign demonstrate the type of success Barnegat programs are now producing.
Starting young
Boys volleyball coach Derek Rizzo believes many of Barnegat’s recent accomplishments begin long before athletes arrive at the high school. Recognizing the need for a developmental pipeline, Rizzo and others pushed for the creation of a middle school volleyball program. Germano’s support helped make that vision a reality.
“It all starts at the top and bottom,” Rizzo said. “When we approached Mr. Germano about starting a middle school volleyball program, he was very supportive and was able to make it happen. This allowed us to recruit athletes and get them hooked at a younger age. Success creates interest.”
The results have been dramatic. After winning just nine matches in 2023, Barnegat reached the South Jersey Group 2 final this spring and has now won at least 20 matches in three consecutive seasons.
Rizzo believes Barnegat’s identity as a small town has also contributed to its success.
“For a small town like Barnegat, sports are an outlet,” Rizzo pointed out.
“We are often in the shadow of the success the larger schools around us have achieved. That put a little chip on the Barnegat athletes’ shoulders.”
A culture of improvement
Perhaps no team embodied Barnegat’s rise more this spring than flag football. The sport was new to the Shore Conference, yet the Bengals finished undefeated, captured the inaugural conference championship, and earned national recognition.
For coach Andrew Petruzzi, however, the success had little to do with wins and losses.
After taking over the program, he worked to mirror the culture already established within Barnegat football.
“I got 21 girls who are all willing to put the work in to be better every day,” Petruzzi said. Many players entered the program with little or no football experience. Their willingness to learn accelerated the team’s growth.
“I made it fun for them,” Petruzzi added. “And now I got girls who want to come and play because they know it’s fun, they’re going to win, and they like the culture. I got class presidents, vice presidents, secretaries on my team, so they’re not just athletes. They really resemble what entails what a student-athlete should be.”
Leadership at the top
Whether it involves creating middle school programs or maintaining standards, Germano’s influence has touched nearly every corner of the athletic department.
“I think it starts from the head, from our athletic director,” Petruzzi said. “He demands from his coaching staff to put a good product on the field. He wants us to be known as an athletic school, but also a school of good sportsmanship too.”
Germano views the mission in simple terms.
“We’ve always been all about the kids, and we don’t worry about what’s going on outside of us with other schools,” he adds. “It’s a simple approach: what do we need to be successful, and what sacrifices do we have to make to get there? I like to think that we’ve built our programs on showing up, working hard and being great students, not just great athletes.”
A community investment
Athletic success does not happen in isolation. Throughout Barnegat’s rise, community support has remained one of the program’s greatest strengths. Packed football stands and sold-out gyms have become common sights.
“The community loves sports here in Barnegat,” Petruzzi said. “When the teams are good, the community feeds off that and the teams feed off that.”
Rizzo has seen the same dynamic. “The school and the community have always been committed to the youths’ success,” he said. “When the athletes see how proud the community and school are of their success, it makes them want it a little more.”
That sense of family is felt by parents as well. “It’s a close-knit community, and we’re a family,” said Erin Callahan, whose daughter Gianna Gomez helped lead the softball team to a state final appearance.
“The entire school is a family. They would do anything for you, and they do everything for the kids. Barnegat has made a name for itself, and they shouldn’t count us out. We’re the underdog and the long shot, and here we are.”
A legacy of talent
Long before the recent championship runs, Bengals athletes were proving they could compete on some of the biggest stages in sports.
One of the most recognizable names to come through the school is Jay Groome; a member of the Class of 2016, Groome emerged as one of the nation’s top pitching prospects while starring for Barnegat baseball, earning a selection as the 12th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox.
Football also helped establish Barnegat’s reputation during the mid-2010s, led by standout linebacker Manny Bowen, who gained statewide attention as a program capable of producing Division I talent, playing at Penn State before finishing his collegiate career at Utah.
The next level
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Barnegat’s rise is that many of its most successful programs are still positioned for future success.
“We’ve got real leaders this year, and the bulk of our big players are coming back,” Germano said.
The focus has shifted from building programs to elevating them.
“We’re not saying we have to rebuild. We’re at the point now where we’re trying to get to that next level.”
The evidence is impossible to ignore: an undefeated flag football team that landed on SportsCenter, a softball program that climbed to a state final, a volleyball program with three consecutive 20-win seasons, and a lacrosse team with eight straight winning campaigns.
Together, they tell the story of a school that has evolved from searching for practice fields into one of the Shore Conference’s most respected athletic departments.
Today, Barnegat is no longer trying to prove it belongs.
The Bengals have established themselves as a championship standard.
As Germano put it: “Once a Bengal, always a Bengal.”
