No playoffs, just pride for Vikes

By: Ken Weingartner
   The players on the South Brunswick High football team hoped to be playing for a spot in the state sectional semifinals this weekend. Instead, the Vikings are playing for pride.
   South Brunswick failed to qualify for the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV playoffs after losing the eighth and final spot to Hillsborough on a tiebreaker.
   The Vikings (5-3) and Hillsborough (5-3) both had 53 power points and remained deadlocked after the first tiebreaker criteria — schedule strength — was used. The Raiders were awarded the playoff spot because it had won against Sayreville and Hunterdon Central, two teams that beat South Brunswick.
   "We knew with the tiebreakers — they beat Hunterdon Central and Sayreville and we didn’t — they deserve to be in," South Brunswick coach Mark Prelewicz said. "The guys are disappointed, but I think they understood. It took us to the third tiebreaker to decide it. You can’t come closer than that."
   So instead of facing undefeated No. 1 seed Jackson, which is ranked fifth in the state, the Vikings will host Trenton (4-5) in a consolation game Friday night. South Brunswick is coming off a 36-13 dismantling of playoff-bound Old Bridge (6-2), its second straight lopsided win after losses to Piscataway and Sayreville.
   "I’d been telling our guys we haven’t seen us play a whole four-quarter game yet, but I think we showed it against Old Bridge," Prelewicz said. "Too bad we’re not going to be able to show it against Jackson. I definitely wouldn’t want to play us in the first round."
   Vince Davidson became South Brunswick’s rushing and touchdown leader with 262 yards and five scores on 32 carries against Old Bridge. Davidson now has 3,260 yards and 38 TDs in his career, breaking the marks of 3,043 and 36 held by 1996 graduate Kenny Rogers.
   According to the MaxPreps scholastic sports Web site, Davidson’s 1,594 rushing yards this season rank second in New Jersey behind only Jeremy Tucker’s 2,155. Tucker plays for Pope John.
   Davidson converted three first-quarter Old Bridge turnovers into touchdowns as South Brunswick built a 27-7 halftime lead. The Vikings outscored their last two opponents – the Knights and East Brunswick – by 54-7 in the first halves of their games.
   In addition to Davidson’s 262 yards against Old Bridge, fullback Joe Clancy rushed for 102 yards on nine carries.
   Tommy Hill had his eighth interception of the season for South Brunswick while Dave Amrhein recovered two fumbles. Brent Griffin also had a fumble recovery for the Vikings.
   "The last two weeks we’ve faced option teams and our defense has been awesome in those last two games," Prelewicz said. "We’ve pretty much shut people down. We knew against Old Bridge that we wanted to take away their fullback and quarterback. We knew they weren’t good pitching the ball and that was our focus all week; if they were going to beat us, it was going to be on the pitch because we didn’t think they could do it very well."
   Friday night, the Vikings will face a Trenton squad whose five losses are against Colonial Valley Conference teams with a combined 35-7 record. Among the setbacks were 7-6 defeats to playoff-bound Notre Dame and West Windsor-Plainsboro South, the No. 1 team in CJ Group III.
   "The last two years, we’ve been going into this game on a four-game losing streak," said Prelewicz, whose team was 2-8 each of the past two seasons. "Our goal now is to finish with a four-game win streak and finish 7-3, which is pretty good. We’re fighting for 7-3 and to show that our conference is one of the toughest ones around. I’ll put our division (Greater Middlesex Conference Red) against anybody week in and week out."