By Ed Birch, Special Writer
It was one big high note, as South Brunswick High School opened its 2014 home football season on the newly designed FieldTurf field with a massive 34-14 win over Old Bridge High School.
The Vikings were powered by a two touchdown, 168-yard rushing yard performance by Syracuse-bound Dontae Strickland along with two rushing touchdowns by quarterback Amir Johnson.
With just barely three minutes gone from the opening coin toss, Strickland broke for a 55-yard touchdown run along with a successful point after touchdown by Matt Golden to put the Vikings up 7-0 through the first quarter.
A six-yard run by Old Bridge’s quarterback Michael Gargano along with a point after kick by Edward Mish knotted the score at 7.
With just 42 seconds remaining in the half, Strickland broke for a 54-yard touchdown run and a successful kick by Matt Golden allowed the Vikings to go into the locker room with a 14-7 halftime lead.
Cincinnati Bengals star Mohamed Sanu attended the game and attempted to talk to his former team at half time.
Sanu said he was prepared to tell the team to "work hard and finish (the game) and you will be successful in today’s game."
Sanu’s nephew, Mohamed Jabbi is a starter on this year’s squad.
Sanu had bypassed the Rutgers-Tulane contest to witness the debut of the new turf field and to see his nephew star for the Vikings.
The second half started off with Vikings Johnson running in a touchdown from the 11-yard line followed by Old Bridge’s Gargano running in a touchdown from the one-yard line with a successful kick by Mish to put the Vikings up 21-14.
The third quarter saw Johnson run a keeper in from the half -yard line which left the score at 28-14 at the end of the third quarter.
The game was delayed for almost 20 minutes due to a major leg injury suffered by Old Bridge’s star receiver senior Myles Williams. Williams was removed by the Monmouth Junction First Aid squad to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital.
A 20-yard run by Matt Golden closed out the scoring at 34-14.
"The Old Bridge football team was a good football squad. We put 34 points on the board in a great effort" said Head Coach Joe Goerge after the contest "Our defense got us some big turnovers on some big plays."
"I felt like I was able to score at will. This tuft field felt really good. It was really great to finally play on our home field," said Strickland after the game.
"Our team did our job and executed well. We had a really big game. We did our job" said quarterback Amir Johnson.
