PHOTOS BY JEFFGRANIT staff South River’s Zyhair Dotson celebrates a touchdown with a teammate during the Rams’ CJGroup Iplayoff win over Metuchen on Saturday in South River. An impressive 21-0 victory over Metuchen sent the South River High School football team to the second round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I playoffs.
And now, coach Rich Marchesi’s “one-game-at-a-time” strategy focuses on New Providence, which the top-seeded 8-2 Rams host this Saturday afternoon.
“They have a good football team,” he said. “They have 19 seniors, including most of their starters, who have been together for three years. New Providence runs a wing-T offense and they like to run the ball. And they’re big, so they definitely pose a challenge.”
The Rams turned it on late in the game to shut out Metuchen, after walking off the field at half-time with a slender 7-0 advantage, courtesy of quarterback J.J. Adelino’s 50-yard touchdown toss to tailback Eric McDaniel.
The key man in the second half was senior Zyhair Dotson, who put on a brilliant display of versatility. On special teams, he ran back a punt 70 yards early in the fourth quarter, setting the stage for Adelino’s quarterback sneak over the goal line. In his capacity as fullback, Dotson also ran for a 19-yard TD. And as if that weren’t enough, he also made four significant tackles behind the line of scrimmage from the defensive end slot.
Back from a foot injury, Adelino completed 6-of-13 passes for 81 yards, while 1,000-yard man McDaniel added 121 more to his season’s rushing totals.
“We moved the ball up and down the field, but we just had a little trouble getting into the end zone,” said Marchesi. “Our defense was fine, the special teams really came on, and finally, after a lot of injuries, we’re in good shape.”
— Richard Jerome