HHS has shot at .500 season
by John E. Powers, Sports Writer
The end result of Hillsborough’s Central Jersey Group 4 consolation game with Trenton Saturday afternoon was an impressive 21-0 win, the Raiders’ second straight and fourth of the season.
What can’t be forgotten, however, is what happened moments after HHS running back Shane Adams scored with just over eight minutes left in regulation.
A fight involving players from both teams broke out, eventually leaving officials no choice but to stop the game with eight minutes remaining.
”One of their kids came up from behind and jumped one of our kids,” Hillsborough coach Vinnie Coviello said. “After that, the entire Trenton bench cleared. Our kids stayed on the sideline. But it was like 40 Trenton kids against our 11 on the field. I’ve been coaching for quite awhile, and you know, have seen some little things, but nothing like this because of the sheer number of kids. Their whole team was on the field.
”I turned around and yelled to our sideline, ‘don’t move,”’ Coviello added. “The fight did take some luster from the final result, but we’ll regroup and refocus.”
The Raiders’ win gave them a 4-5 record and put them in a position to reach .500 for the season if they can beat Montgomery Thanksgiving Day morning. The Cougars, 8-1, will play at Howell in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals Friday night.
Hillsborough would like to return to the sectional playoffs in the near future. The Raiders’ performances in recent weeks reflect a team heading in the right direction. Trenton fell to 4-6.
”Nobody was hurt and that’s the most important thing,” Coviello said. “I addressed the team and we got everybody off the field. I thought the Trenton (security) staff was terrific, helping kids on to the bus. We were very impressed with that. I can’t say the same for their players and (coaching) staff.”
The Raiders were the ones who did the impressing on the field.
Sophomore Mike Banaciski scored on two short runs in the first period and Adams finished it off with another one in the fourth.
”We had a lot of opportunities in-between as well,” Coviello said.
Coviello was pleased with the guys up front, including Tyler Metauro, Kyle DePaul, Jake Latocha, Brian Fousty, Chris Rossi and tight end Frankie Jawidzik.
”We really had the size advantage on them and used it,” Coviello said. “We were running four, five yards and a cloud of mud. It was more like a pile of mud. We really controlled the ball on both sides of the line of scrimmage. We established the run early. We wanted to run it.”
Anthony D’Ovidio had an interception and the Raiders recovered two fumbles.
Next up is Montgomery. The game, which will be played at Montgomery’s Cougar Field on Turkey Day morning, will be the last time the two teams play on the holiday. Next year, the teams will play on the last weekend of the regular season.
”We’re going to keep on going, keep our routine,” said Coviello, when asked if the Raiders would get any days off from practice.