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The Asbury Park Soccer team was not on anyone’s radar heading into the season.

“I read an article this summer that predicted we would come in last,” mid right fielder Widmaiere ‘Belo’ Beaubrun said. “That’s when I came up with ‘No Mercy.”

Beaubrun said he rallied the team the team to take on the edict. By September everyone began to take note and school spirit around the team spread like wildfire. Games that once drew an audience five began to pack the stadium seats.

The Blue Bishops captured the Shore Conference B Central Division Championship this month for the first time since 1981 and won their Central Jersey Group 1 title, finishing with an 18-4-1 record.

“Last year we were building up to this,” said the 16-year-old junior and lifelong soccer player.

This week Beaubrun, teammate Joe Johnson Jr and coach Jean Dortissant [shown below] took time to express gratitude for the support they received along the way. They listed everyone from members of the administration and BOE to the teachers, principals, secretaries, and fans.

“We are so grateful for the things they did for us to make sure we had everything we needed,” Dortissant said. “To have the football guys come and shake my hands and say – hey coach I hope you get; I’d never had that before. To see the football team come on the field and embrace us after we won that first Shore Conference game – that support was great.”

Another marked moment of gratitude came during a state sectionals bout that drew record numbers on a particularly cold day. That game against Donovan Catholic went into double overtime, with the Bishops coming out the victors.

“To see the number of people that showed up was very touching,” said Dortissant, who has coached the team since 2007.

The team’s season began on June 21, with players participating in Brick’s summer league and preseason scrimmages. But it wasn’t until their 5-1 win over top 10 seated St. Rose that Dortissant realized they had a winning combination.

“That was our third game and when I started to say – wow, I guess I do have a good team,” he said. “I knew we had a good team but I didn’t know we were going to go this far.”

And while there were many victories and personal bests throughout the season, it was the bittersweet division win that exposed team’s character.

Beaubrun [shown left in photo at right below], a Haitian native who came to the U.S. in 2007, made the split second decision to replace his injured teammate Joey Johnson Jr, 17, as goal keeper. A collision with two other players just two minutes into the game left Johnson [shown right in photo at right] with a fractured jaw.

“The guy from the other team kicked me in jaw and then I bit one of our own players when I ran into him,” Johnson said. “Yeah, crazy things happened.”

The other injured player was defender Schown Narcisse, a 16-year-old junior.

“It was heartbreaking,” Johnson said. “I really wanted to stay on the field and play with the guys.”

Finding himself without his top defender and goalie, Dortissant said credit has to be given to Beaubrun.

“When the collision happened I was trying to decide what I was going to do” he said “We have to give ‘Belo’ a lot of credit for making the decision to play keeper. Most players would have said I want to be on the field but he used his mind and he played well.”

Beaubrun said he felt no pressure to step into the star athlete’s post but instead was focused on doing the best for his two injured teammates.

“I decided I was just going to push through because we were down two players,” he said. “I was going to get it done for them, and make sure they got to have the trophy.”

But Dortissant said his mindset was quite different.

“He wasn’t feeling the pressure but I was feeling the pressure,” he said. “But I guess he [Beaubrun] knew what he was doing and he had more faith in himself than any of us knew. It was very hard to see one of my best players [Johnson] with tears coming out of his eyes. It was hard to coach and watch the game and watch him and my defender waiting to go to the hospital. Even though we won, it was just hard to see that.”

Johnson, a senior who plans to study business administration in college, said he will focus on soccer when he gets to college next year with the hope of playing the game professional one day.

“I played basketball too but I fell in love with soccer my first year when I saw what happens on the field and what you can do with it,” said Johnson, who took up the sport just three years.

He ended his high school career and senior season with 163 saves and 9 clean sheets [shut outs].

As for Beaubrun, he will return next year to the sport he loves but it is still undecided whether he’ll step into the goal keeper post or remain a midfielder.

“When I play soccer, all my problems go away,” he said.

He ended the season with 47 saves,  three goals and two assists.

In the end the two players gave their thanks to the two men who led them to victory.

“Coach did a very good job of keeping our mind on the game,” Johnson said. “The day before the championship game we did yoga in the gym and he made us baked ziti for lunch the day of the game. He kept us on the right track and that’s what got us game ready. Because of his actions the team came up with a big win.”

Constantly motivated by his teammates, Beaubrun said assistant coach Dave Johnson’s speeches were paramount to his perseverance.

“His speeches throughout the season really touched me,” he said “They wake me up and make me want to do better.”

The duo also discussed the opportunities to give back the coaches made possible. They include doing arts and crafts with sub acute senior patients at Meridian in Wall, participating in March of Dimes events and volunteering at Recreation program. The team also met regularly on off days to participate in a group study hall.

“They motivate me to do the best I can to provide them with everything they need knowing the obstacles they face outside these four walls for them to be all around students athletes,” Dortissant said. “For them to go out there and compete  and come up with excuses, it’s really my privilege to be around these guys. Not once did I have to discipline anyone on the team. I set the expectations and they exceed them and as a coach that’s really what I had envisioned.”

Now their focus shifts to supporting that other Blue Bishop team, set to play their annual non-conference Thanksgiving Day football game at rival school Neptune.

The Asbury Park Bishops football team scored 22-14 in Friday’s NJSIAA Central Group 1 game against Shore Regional.

[Field photos courtesy of Asbury Park School District spokeswoman Chanta Jackson]

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