Sayreville scores a big win over South Brunswick
Swenson interception secures Monroe’s first
win of the season
JERRY WOLKOWITZ Sayreville’s Kenny Smith emerges from a pile of players en route to a huge gam e during the Bombers’ win in South Brunswick on Friday.
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.
Sayreville got on the board first, with Smith dashing 79 yards for a TD early in the first quarter. The PAT attempt failed.
JERRY WOLKOWITZ Sayreville running back Dejon Spruill leaves would-be South Brunswick tacklers in the dust during their game in South Brunswick on Friday.
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.
Another team which has officially bounced back from an earlier defeat is the Spotswood Chargers, who easily topped Cardinal McCarrick of South Amboy 28-7 on Saturday.
Senior Kyle Harkins, who is quietly having one of the best seasons of anyone in the GMC, was brilliant for the Chargers, rushing for 236 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries in leading his team to its fifth win of the year.
But Harkins didn’t just run well, he also threw a successful two-point conversion, recorded a sack, and made a fine defensive stop on a fourth-down play to help lead his team.
The Chargers got on the board first when sophomore QB Danny Osofsky hit Dustin Katcher with a 65-yard scoring strike in the first quarter. Osofsky then padded the lead when he ran 57 yards on an option in the second quarter for another TD.
Then, with 6:43 left in the half, it was Harkins running 85 yards for another score, and the rout was on. Spotswood added another TD in the third, when Harkins dashed 63 yards for a score, and the Chargers had all but sewn up their fifth win.
Spotswood hopes to capture win No. 6 on Saturday when they travel to Metuchen. Game time is 1 p.m.
The Monroe Falcons captured their first win of the year on Saturday, topping South Plainfield 27-2. Brian Swenson’s game-sealing interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter helped the Falcons get by the Tigers and register that elusive first win.
Monroe got two field goals from Szczepan Kowaleski (from 27 and 32 yards out) and one touchdown each from James Boyd (34 yard run), Eric Gaston (14-yard run) and Swenson to put away the Tigers. The Falcons had a 20-0 halftime lead, but saw the Tigers cut it to 20-7 in the third quarter.
But Swenson’s interception return put the game out of reach, and finally gave the Monroe fans something to cheer about in a year where they’ve seen their team play well, coming close to victory on a number of occasions, only to see them lose a couple of heart-breakers.
The Falcons will look to make it two in a row on Saturday when they face J.F. Kennedy, Woodbridge. Game time is 2 p.m.
The undefeated South River Rams were idle last weekend, but will be back in action tomorrow when they face Middlesex. Game time is 7 p.m.
The East Brunswick Bears were also idle but will look to notch their first win of the year when they travel to Edison tomorrow. Game time is 7 p.m.