Sayreville scores a big win over South Brunswick
Raiders keep rolling along with win over
New Brunswick
JERRY WOLKOWITZ South Brunswick quarterback Brad Casalvieri can’t escape the grasps of Sayreville’s Bobby Berardi during their game in South Brunswick.
With Piscataway dropping its first game of the year to Edison’s J.P. Stevens on Friday, the race for division supremacy in the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Red Division became interesting once again, with the Sayreville Bombers returning to the picture with a convincing win over an improved South Brunswick squad.
The Bombers, who were counting on a Piscataway loss to give them life in the division race, left little doubt as to who the favorite should be the rest of the way, dominating the Vikings en route to a 38-14 win.
With running back Junior Jabbie on the sidelines, the Bombers turned to Kenny Smith to carry the workload, and Smith responded with a career game, rushing for 239 yards and five touchdowns on only 16 carries to lead the Bombers to their fifth victory of the year.
As for the Vikings, they dropped their second straight game after starting the year 4-0, and appear to be reeling a little bit, losing in ugly fashion to Old Bridge two weekends ago and to Sayreville on Friday.
JERRY WOLKOWITZ South Brunswick running back Evan Mahoney tries to get around the Sayreville defensive line during their game in South Brunswick.
Sayreville got on the board first, with Smith dashing 79 yards for a TD early in the first quarter. The PAT attempt failed.
But South Brunswick responded with an impressive drive, with QB Steve Ferrara getting the Vikings on the board with a one-yard TD plunge. With the PAT, South Brunswick had itself a 7-6 lead.
But it took Sayreville just four plays to regain the lead, with Mike Phelan running for 60 yards, setting up Smith’s second TD, a 3-yard scoring plunge.
From there, Smith found the end zone twice more within the next eight minutes (from 16 and 35 yards out), and Sayreville was well on its way to re-establishing itself as one of the Red Division’s top two teams.
The Bombers had a comfortable 26-7 lead at the half, but ended any thoughts of a comeback early in the second quarter when Dejon Spruill raced 49 yards for a TD on just the second play of the second half.
At that point, Sayreville was in control and was already looking forward to this week’s showdown with Bishop Ahr of Edison.
The Trojans, who were struggling at 1-3, used a 42-yard "Hail Mary" TD to knock off Colonia 21-15 on Friday, and will look to surprise the Bombers this week in what has become a very important game for Sayreville. Game time is 7 p.m. tomorrow night in Sayreville.
The Bombers will be rooting for South Brunswick to bounce back from their two straight defeats when they travel to Piscataway on Friday.
The Vikings need a win desperately to stay in the division race, as well as to help secure a playoff spot.
Entering last week, the Vikings were in fifth place in power points in Central Jersey Group IV, but took a hit with the blowout loss to the Bombers.
A win over Piscataway would go a long way toward cementing the Vikings a playoff berth. Game time is 7 p.m.
As for the North Brunswick Raiders, they keep rolling along, fresh off an impressive 42-32 win over New Brunswick.
The Raiders upped their mark to 5-1, thanks in large part to tailback Chris Arnold, who was playing completely healthy for the first time since spraining his ankle six weeks ago. Arnold was unstoppable on Friday, rushing for 188 yards and four TDs on 29 carries to lead the Raiders to the important win.
The game was tied at 6-6 after the first quarter, with Arnold accounting for the N.B. score with a 21-yard scoring run.
But in the second, North Brunswick dominated. After the teams traded scores to start the second (North Brunswick’s coming on a 25-yard scoring run from sophomore Aaron Hicks), the Raiders scored three straight times, capitalizing on four turnovers along the way.
Two of the scores came before the half — a five-yard run from Arnold and a 12-yard TD pass QB Krimzon Marrero to Rashone Myers, to give North Brunswick a 29-12 lead at the intermission.
In the third, the Raiders added a six-yard TD run from Arnold, before the Zebras responded with a pair of touchdowns of their own.
At this point the Raiders called on Arnold again, and the 270-pound senior didn’t disappoint, carrying a slew of Zebra defenders on his back en route to a 39-yard run which put the Raiders in scoring position.
Five plays later, Arnold found the end zone for the fourth time, this time from one-yard out, to give the Raiders the 42-24 lead.
New Brunswick responded with yet another TD, but when Marrero picked off New Brunswick QB James Smith with 1:55 left in the game, North Brunswick had wrapped up its fifth win of the year.
The Raiders will look to make it six in a row tomorrow when they travel to Carteret to play the undefeated Ramblers. Game time is 7 p.m.