By Bob Nuse, The Packet Group
If last Friday’s season-opening 49-42 win over Bridgewater-Raritan High is any indication, the Hillsborough High football team should be fun to watch this year.
The Raiders continued the momentum they were building when they finished last season by winning five of their last six games, opening this year with an impressive offensive showing against the Panthers.
”We were able to do some of the things we wanted to do on offense,” said first-year head coach Kevin Carty, whose team will host Franklin this Friday at 7 p.m. “Hopefully we’ll give up a few less points. They were able to score, but fortunately we were able to score back like we did.”
The Raiders passed for 390 yards and ran for another 133 in putting together a very impressive offensive showing. Last year Hillsborough scored at least 40 points in four of its final five games, so the weapons were in place for another big offensive year.
”We threw the ball more than we ran, but we still ran for 133 yards which is a good day,” Carty said. “John Banaciski had a good game running the ball for 132 and he also had 136 yards receiving. I think they had fun. I didn’t know what to expect coming in. I thought we had a pretty good team that could play well but you never know until you get out there and play. My expectations were wide open.”
As wide open as a Hillsborough offense that saw senior quarterback John Vonnessen complete 20 of 34 passes for 390 yards. Seven of those receptions were by Chris Girardi, while Banaciski caught five passes and Tyler Roller caught four. Girardi and Banaciski each caught a pair of touchdown passes.
”Not being in the league before this year, I had not seen Bridgewater until the warmups,” Carty said. “So I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I thought we came out and executed well. A big part of it was the play of the line, those guys did an awesome job. We threw 34 passes and didn’t have sack and we ran the ball for eight yards a carry. You aren’t going to have a game like that unless your line plays well. They did an unbelievable job, especially since Bridgewater blitzed on nearly every pass.”
And despite giving up 42 points, Carty was not unhappy with his defense.
”We had a two touchdown lead most of the game,” Carty said. “I thought Greg Zotian had a nice game. He had a big sack. Dominic Picarillo has been a defensive leader. Tyshon Murdock did a nice job on defense. I thought all the guys did a nice job.”
Next up the Raiders face a Franklin team that is coming off a 39-28 loss to Elizabeth in its opener. Last year the Warriors were 6-4 and handed Hillsborough a 20-point defeat.
”They are a good team and another challenge for us,” Carty said. “They have kids that like to play the game.”
