Vikings slay Old Bridge Knights 14-7
By Ed Birch, Special Writer
The South Brunswick Vikings advanced to the NJSIAA Central Division, Group 5 finals, with a dramatic 14-7 victory over the Old Bridge Knights on Friday night in a game played under unusually cold conditions.
The Vikings will play the undefeated Manalapan High School Braves at High Point Solutions Field at Rutgers University in Piscataway at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
The site and time selection has made this contest the featured match-up, culminating two days of finals matches featuring 20 teams at four different New Jersey collegiate locations, according to NJSIAA officials.
The semifinal game was not an easy victory for the 8-2 Vikings, who fell short last year against Sayreville.
Both teams needed the first quarter to adjust to the weather conditions. South Brunswick had the ball for three possessions and failed to gain a critical first down inside the Knights’ red zone on its opening drive as running back Dion Hooper was stopped on the 18-yard line in an attempted fourth-down rush.
Quarterback T.J. Perkowski and running back Dahrae Ford fumbled in each of the subsequent possessions for the Vikings in the quarter.
The Knights had two possessions in the opening period that resulted in a punt and a 35-yard missed field goal attempt by place-kicker Ed Mish.
With 5:20 remaining in the first half, Rutgers-bound Perkowski connected with his favorite target, also Rutgers-bound T.J. Taylor, on a 43-yard pass deep into the wind.
The pass brought the Vikings down to the Knights six-yard line.
Quarterback Perkowski then handed the ball to rushing powerhouse Ford to drive in the end zone for the opening touchdown. The point after attempt by “Mr. Reliable” Dylan Olsson gave the hometown Vikings a 7-0 lead as both teams returned to their respective locker rooms at halftime.
Despite the cold conditions, the crowd came to life at halftime as the Vikings Marching Band played its award-winning 2012 show “ Velocity.” The high-energy musical performance got the crowd into the action as the second half began.
The Vikings defense seemed to be in control at the start of the second half with Rashaan Baker and Ken Drost stopping Old Bridge running back Chris Middleton in a third down and 10 situation for no gain, giving Old Bridge a fourth down at the 15-yard line.
An Old Bridge touchdown pass from quarterback Vincent Gargano to tight end Dwayne Trawick tied the game at 7-7.
With just 11 minutes remaining in the final quarter, the almost capacity crowd fastened their seat belts and started getting ready for an exciting finish.
It did not take long for the action to get heated.
After an Old Bridge kickoff put the ball on the Vikings 34-yard line, running plays by Perkowski and Ford got the Vikings two more first downs and started setting the stage for a scoring attempt.
Ford’s 51-yard run brought the ball down to the Knights four-yard line.
After an Old Bridge timeout — which proved to be very key at the end of the game when Old Bridge was out of ways to stop the clock — Hooper scored ran the score in right in front of the screaming Vikings fans, giving the Vikings a 14-7 lead.
The Vikings defense again took control and held Old Bridge to four plays gaining only five yards to show in the drive, The defensive performance forced Old Bridge to punt on fourth down and give the ball back to the Vikings.
The next Vikings possession lasted 13 plays and ran out the clock after the Braves depleted all of their timeouts.
Two “victory formation” knees by Perkowski allowed the crowd to count down the final seconds as the players and cheerleaders started the final victory dance with players and fans taking the field to celebrate the historic win, sending the team to the championship game for the first time in the school’s history.
Within minutes, a text message was received from the Rutgers Scout online reporting service that the next opponent would be Manalapan High School, which kept its undefeated string intact with a win over Hunterdon Central in that semifinal match-up.
Final statistics showed South Brunswick dominated the contest. The Vikings won the battle of first downs ,16-11. They also out rushed the Knights, 202-116 yards, out-gained them in passing 155-70 yards and took total offense with 357-186 yards.
Ford ended the game with 134 rushing yards, Perkowski passed for 155 yards, and defensive star Alex Berkuta was credited with 5.5 unassisted tackes; he assisted on one other tackle.
”Wow. I am so excited that we have made it all the way to the finals at Rutgers” said game hero Hooper. “We all worked very hard for this honor. This is a total team effort. Our defense really won the game for us tonight. We held Old Bridge to no big offense.”
Hooper is listening to offers from some area colleges, but has not been able to focus on any decision until the season ends, but said, “This season is certainly not over yet.”
”Our team has been through a lot” said star wide receiver Taylor. “We have been through three coaches in the four years that I have played for. Coach (Joseph) Goerge took over our program in June, and look where he has gotten us. He brought us one great staff to lead us to where we are today”
Head Coach Goerge was just as elated the players after the game, losing his voice during the victory celebration.
”We came back very strong after Old Bridge scored, and Dion Hooper was the man with the ball,” he said. “We gave Old Bridge some good opportunities, but our defense held us in the game. This is truly the way football should be played.”
According to scouting reports, the Manalapan team is a very big and strong team. It is undefeated this year and has won 18 of its last 19 games.
The only loss came at the hands of Sayreville in last year’s division final. The key players are senior quarterback Mike Isabella, and running back Saeed Blackmail.
The Braves defense, led by junior Chris Norsges with 99 tackles this season, has held opponents to under 12 points in six of eight of their games.

