Murdock gets Raiders on track for big finish
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Tyshon Murdock won’t need any extra motivation the rest of the year.
The Hillsborough High School linebacker/tight end is determined to keep his senior season on track, and with it, the state playoff hopes of the Raiders. He was a leader on both sides of the ball as the Raiders picked up their second win of the year, 17-7, over Montgomery last Friday.
”We came to that game knowing this was a do or die game,” Murdock said. “We have a lot of young players, but we seniors tried to excite the whole team. Our record might not have been so hot, but we said, we can still come through.”
Hillsborough had started the season 1-1 before a four-game losing streak could have put the Raiders down for the count.
”It was hard,” Murdock said. “It was really hard. We know we’re a good team and know we can beat these teams. It’s hard to go through a hard week of practice and come up short of your goal of beating a team Friday.”
Hillsborough made sure that didn’t happen against Montgomery. The Raiders scored on a 44-yard run by John Banaciski in the first quarter, and Brian Nagy’s extra point gave them a 7-0 lead early. Banaciski was just getting warmed up. He went on to rush for 215 yards, and in the process, he broke Shawn Mayer’s program record for career rushing yards while the game was still in the second quarter.
”After he broke the record, that excited us to want to win the game,” Murdock said. “They stopped the game and told us he broke the record. It was a long process, but I’m glad he finally got it.”
Rob Forti’s fumble recovery with Montgomery driving inside Hillsborough’s red zone changed the momentum. Banaciski moved the ball out of the shadow of their goal line, and Andrew Zitel hit Cedre Small for a 51-yard completion that put the Raiders in position for Nagy’s 32-yard field goal. Banaciski added a fourth-quarter touchdown for insurance, more than enough with the way the defense was playing.
”I think there were a lot of keys,” Murdock said. “We’ve been giving up quite a few points. Our coach said our defense would work well against them. We have some young linebackers who knew what they were doing and came in and made plays, and our defensive backs stayed with their guys. Our coach motivated us throughout the whole week.
”It took a lot of hard work and time in practice and just keep believing that we could do it and listening to Coach.”
Motivation is coming easier for Murdock and the seniors, who are winding down their time with the Raiders.
”I’m realizing this could be the last time I play football and the last time I play Hillsborough Raider football,” said Murdock, who does have college interest. “If we can pull it together now, we still have a chance to do things we wanted to do at the beginning of the season.”
The Raiders coaching staff didn’t want to see a promising group give up on the season after a rough stretch, and they were encouraged by the reaction the team had during its losing streak.
”Some of our guys, some of the character they showed, they were still fighting in those games,” said HHS head coach Kevin Carty Jr. “The middle two of our stretch, we got beaten pretty soundly, and they were still playing. For us to come back and fight, it shows they’re not concerned what the score is. Those were some good teams we lost to.”
Topping Montgomery keeps the Raiders in position to earn a Central Jersey Group V state tournament berth this season. Murdock is hoping Hillsborough can keep the momentum going as it hosts North Hunterdon 7 p.m. Friday.
”After that win, this week we’re definitely a little more excited,” Murdock said. “Now that we know we beat a Montgomery team that was 4-2 and was having high hopes, and beating them how we beat them — shutting them down defensively — definitely lifted us.
”We’re watching film this week saying, we can do this. We know we can trust our coach and trust our players. We know we have good players. We’re going to go out there and give it our all.”
Montgomery beat North Hunterdon earlier this year, so Hillsborough has confidence in knowing its next opponent already lost to a team it just handled. The Raiders need to keep their momentum going.
”Our coach has been saying, you can still make the playoffs, and can still do what you want to do,” Murdock said. “You have to put the time and effort and work into it. We went out to practice and pushed each other. The seniors decided we’d take this team to another level.”
Those steps actually started during the losing streak. Hillsborough wasn’t just resigned to keep playing the way they had.
”After our loss to Hunterdon Central, we decided we should come together and go to people’s houses and watch film together,” Murdock said. “Then we went to Union and almost beat them. After that, we kept it going. We beat Montgomery and hopefully we’ll keep it going.
”Our coach posts stuff over the weekend to watch, and we normally watch it on our own. I thought it was a lot of help (to get together). We would watch by ourselves and say, I don’t know what I did wrong. We had other teammates watching and saying, you missed a block here or you need to hold your block there. It helped to have another perspective from another teammate.”
It also helped the Raiders in holding each other accountable — for the way they were playing and for being even better prepared for opponents. Injuries had forced the Raiders to play some of their younger, less experienced players, and even they have started stepping up their play. It came together for a good all-around effort in the win over Montgomery.
”We were pretty physical,” Carty Jr. said. “John Banaciski had an awesome game. John and our defense had an awesome game. And our receivers played well and loosened them up. We have been losing to good teams. It was nice to get a win.
”We’re starting to see some improvement. Hopefully it’s right in time and we can get a run going at the end.”
To do so, the Raiders have to follow the lead of their veterans like Murdock. He’s been starting at tight end since he was a sophomore, and this year, he’s moved from his usual defensive end spot to an outside linebacker for the defense that is relying on its speed.
”He’s been a leader for us,” Carty Jr. said. “He’s been playing well.”
And once again, there’s no shortage of motivation for Murdock and the Raiders. They want to see their team continue to improve against North Hunterdon for the chance to show just how good they really are come state playoff time.
”Just the fact that it’s Homecoming and it’s a football game should be enough,” Carty Jr. said of Friday’s matchup. “Then there are playoff hopes. Hoping we can peak at this point and maybe do something.
”I think our guys are getting better. We have a couple more shots at some good teams and hopefully we’ve improved enough that we can get one.”