FARRAH MAFFAI South Brunswick quarterback Brad Casalvieri unleashes a short pass during the Vikings’ 39-32 win in East Brunswick Friday.
Don’t tell the South Brunswick Vikings that a game against the East Brunswick High School football team is an automatic "W."
The Vikings needed a dramatic come-from-behind effort Friday to get past the 0-3 Bears, and maintain their undefeated season with a 39-32 win.
Steve Ferrara was everywhere in East Brunswick Friday, leading his Viking teammates to an emotional win over the Bears in an offensive shootout.
Ferrara rushed 13 times for 92 yards, caught three passes for 90 yards, scored three touchdowns, recovered a fumble, kicked an extra point, and ran for a two-point conversion, while also being a terror from his linebacker position to lead the Vikings to the win.
FARRAH MAFFAI South Brunswick’s Steve Ferrara tries to get by East Brunswick’s Brian Robinson for a few yards Friday night in East Brunswick.
And the Vikes needed all his heroics to pull out the win, as the Bears played their best game of the young season in hopes of pulling off the upset.
Both teams displayed potent offensive attacks throughout the game, as it was apparent from the start that the contest would likely be decided in the fourth quarter.
South Brunswick got on the board first when quarterback Brad Casalvieri hit Chad Wood from 21 yards out for the game’s first touchdown.
But East Brunswick answered back with a score of their own when Bobby Manetta ran it in from 16 yards out to cut the lead to 7-6. The Bears’ PAT attempt failed.
Ferrara then got his first TD of the game on a 21-yard run to build the Viking lead to 13-6 after the first quarter.
But the second quarter belonged to the upstart Bears, starting with a touchdown run by Dimitry Tsvaygort.
From there, the Bears’ Mark Miriski ran in from 14 yards out, giving the Bears three scores on their first three possessions.
The Vikings tried to respond, but East Brunswick’s Manetta intercepted a ball with 32 seconds left and ran it back 50 yards for another TD, in what appeared to be a 26-13 halftime lead.
But coach John Coppola’s Vikings would regroup before halftime, and orchestrate an impressive two-play scoring sequence before the seconds ticked off.
It started with a 26-yard completion from Casalvieri to Wood, followed by a 42-yard TD strike to Ferrara, who was interfered with on the play, but still managed to score.
The change of momentum carried over to the second half, when the Vikes scored again on a 43-yard screen play to Ferrara in the third, cutting the Bears’ lead to just one.
The Vikings took the lead on their next possession on a Woods’ 21-yard TD reception to make the score 33-26.
The Bears rallied back to get within one on a Maniski one-yard TD plunge, but then missed their third PAT of the game.
That was as close as the Bears would get, as the Vikings padded their lead when Evan Mahoney rumbled 49 yards for the game’s final score.
It was an up-and-down game for both sides, with the Vikings escaping with a win.
They’ll look to make it 4-0 tomorrow when they host Perth Amboy. Game time is 7 p.m.
While the Vikings and Bears were trading points in East Brunswick, there was a true defensive struggle going on in Edison where the North Brunswick Raiders managed to get their second win of the year, 13-7, over Bishop Ahr.
The Raider offense did just enough to win, while the defense was excellent for a second game in a row, allowing coach Sal Mistretta’s team to resume its winning ways of last year.
The Raiders got on the board first when Leon Molina (15 carries, 125 yards) ran into the end zone from 59 yards out on the Raiders first offensive series.
But from there, neither team had much success getting anything going offensively, as the defenses dominated.
Bishop Ahr got its only score after a punt return gave them the ball at the Raider 35.
Three plays later, Mark Lewandowski found the end zone to make it 7-7.
The score remained deadlocked until the 11:46 mark of the fourth quarter, when North Brunswick quarterback Krimzon Marrero hit Jason Schoonover for a 16-yard TD and the 13-7 lead.
From there, the North Brunswick defense took over, literally shutting down the Trojan attack.
In total, Bishop Ahr ran 10 plays in the fourth for 22 yards, and only had two first downs in the entire second half.
It was an impressive defensive showing from a North Brunswick team that knows it has to play well on both sides of the ball to have a chance to win each week.
The Raiders will look to get to 3-1 Friday when they host an 0-3 South Plainfield team that desperately needs a win.
If the Raiders hope to return to the state playoffs this year, they realize this is one of those games they have to win. Game time is 7 p.m.