Great second half leads NBC football to emotional win

Team defeats Burlington City

By:Sean Moylan
   Waving an American flag, an exuberant Andrew Lozaga led his Northern Burlington County Regional High School varsity football teammates onto the field Saturday night to take on Burlington City. Thus, a game, that would have been special and memorable merely because it was the first one NBC had ever played under the lights, took on added significance due to the horrific events that unfolded during the past week.
   For Northern Burlington, a school that plays its games just beyond the long shadows of McGuire Air Force base, it was a long and difficult week – just as it had been for all of us.
   Consequently, the Greyhounds came out a little flat in the first half. However, they came back to thrill their fans with a 35-point second half and a 42-7 victory over the Blue Devils.
   "It was a great night. The place was packed," said NBC head coach Charlie Pirrello, who admitted his team was a little tight coming out.
   Still, Spencer Parks (27 carries for 177 yards) followed up a crucial 42-yard pass from Anthony Cali to Sam Peskin (2 catches, 59 yards) with a 26-yard touchdown run on a basic isolation play.
   Unfortunately, Burlington City answered with 7 points of its own and NBC went into the half with the game deadlocked at 7-7.
   Coach Pirrello and his staff saw something in City’s defensive alignment, however, and at the half they decided to go with a 4-receiver setup. Of course, the whole plan relied heavily on the offensive line (Matt Van Sciver, Mike Mckeen, Stanley Bane, Lloyd Williams, Chris Garofalo, Greg Dyson and Greg Mestho) giving Cali extra time to make decisions. The line responded by delivering punishing blocks that allowed for Spencer Parks (who was used as a receiver and runner) to roam free and Cali (8-for-20 146 yards, 1 touchdown) to connect with his four wideouts (Peskin, Lozaga, Parks and Danny Pigott).
   NBC, consequently, scored on its first three possessions of the second half. First, freshman fullback Anthony Barksdale muscled his way into the end zone from 30-yards out after City removed its middle linebacker from its defensive set.
   Then, Danny Pigott (a 9-yard catch) and Spencer Parks (2 catches for 18 yards) caught passes that foreshadowed subsequent Parks’ 1-yard touchdown run. A few moments later, Cali scored on a quarterback sneak to give NBC a 28-7 advantage.
   Later in the fourth quarter, Cali shook off three would-be tacklers and delivered a strike to Andrew Lozaga for a 35-yard touchdown reception.
   Northern’s final score came with its subs in the game when Scotty Parks (79 yards rushing) barreled into the end zone from 37 yards out.
   "He (Parks) just broke a bunch of tackles," added Coach Pirrello, who had his team in a power I formation.
   NBC had 460 yards of total offense, including an astounding 314 on the ground. However, it was Northern’s defense that kept the team going until the offense started clicking.
   In fact, with some great tackling by Greg Dyson, Chris Garofalo, Dave Schumann and Joe Walder, NBC held an extremely athletic City team to only 20 yards on the round and 137 yards overall.
   "Everything was positive," said Coach Pirrello, who felt the decision to play the game was he right one given the tremendous crowd support.
   The game was originally slated to have been played on Friday. However, it was moved to Saturday because Friday was designated a National Day of prayer.
   NBC (2-0) will host its first divisional foe this Friday night when it takes on Moorestown at Northern under the lights.