BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer
The unbeaten Brick Dragons are creeping closer to a Hudson County Youth Football League championship in what was considered an impossible dream before the season started.
After suffering through winless seasons during the previous two seasons, the Dragons rallied behind the offensive and defensive heroics of Anthony Piezzo for a key victory at Jersey City, 24-13, on the artificial surface of Cochrane Stadium on Sunday.
“As good as we played against North Bergen [a 19-0 victory in the previous game], we played even better today,” said coach Steve Nash.
The Dragons improved to 6-0 with two games left against weak opponents, including at East Orange on Saturday night and Bayonne the following weekend.
The Dragons used a power running game behind the blocking of Andrew Leustek and Rodrick Tillery to control the ball against speedy Jersey City, while its defense excelled all game behind the efforts of end Lee Wilson and back J.J. McGuire. In fact, the defense helped the Dragons get on the board after a scoreless standoff in the first quarter.
It happened when Dave Kiley’s 62-yard punt was downed at the one-yard line by Piezzo, and Da’Jon Reed eventually tackled Jersey City’s ball carrier in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead.
Reed had played with the Dragons of the Jersey Shore Pop Warner Junior League, but rejoined some of his teammates on the Hudson County League team that had played for the Pop Warner Dragons Junior Midgets last year. Nash said Reed was able to play for his Dragons team because he had signed up for that team before the season began.
The rest of the second quarter had some wild swings of momentum. Kiley carried the ball 25 yards to the five-yard line, and quarterback Steve Zrowka ran it over from a yard out behind Bill Nash’s block. Zrowka connected with Piezzo on the conversion pass for a 9-0 lead.
Jersey City bounced right back with an 88-yard pass play. Moments later, Kiley, off a faked punt, completed a screen pass to Zrowka that spotted the ball at the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Piezzo caught a pass and found daylight down the left side, and Kiley kicked the conversion for a 17-7 lead.
“The key was special teams. We worked on that in practice last week more than usual,” said Nash, whose team also recovered two onside kicks. “With Kiley and Piezzo, we also have some speed like they do, while we dealt with their speed with tough, hard-nosed football.”
In the final quarter, the Dragons made it 24-7 when Piezzo ran 39 yards down the left sideline with a pass from Zrowka, and J.T. Nash caught the conversion pass.
In the middleweight division, Jersey City beat Brick, 24-0, although Nick D’Angelo ran well and made some nice pass receptions, while Sean Haffery, Frank Marinello and Josh Simanowitz blocked well. The lightweights lost, 21-0.
Lucas Jackson ran well and Ryan Owen played steadily at running back while Sonny Nash made a touchdown-saving tackle after a long Jersey City run to the one-yard line that helped keep Brick in range.