Vikings, Raiders pick up victories on the gridiron

VARSITY REPORT

By WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Correspondent

 South Brunswick High School teammates watch the floor exercise routine during the Greater Middlesex Conference Gymnastics Championships Oct. 24 in the South Brunswick High School gym.  SCOTT FRIEDMAN South Brunswick High School teammates watch the floor exercise routine during the Greater Middlesex Conference Gymnastics Championships Oct. 24 in the South Brunswick High School gym. SCOTT FRIEDMAN The South Brunswick High School and North Brunswick Township High School football teams chalked up victories Oct. 23.

For South Brunswick, it was a sixth straight win following its opening-day loss to Middletown High School South. The Vikings went right to work against Edison High School (2-4), as Mo Jabbie returned the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown. Coach Joe Goerge’s team built a 28- 0 lead before the first quarter was over en route to a 43-14 win.

Phil Campbell scored three touchdowns and ran for 110 yards. He also scored three two-point conversions. Wendell Allen returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown, and Jaier Garrett hauled in a 46-yard pass from Josh Liao for another score. Clearly, the Vikings were focused on the task at hand, and as a result sit alone atop the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Red Division. South Brunswick will host second-place Piscataway Township High School (5-1), which is coming off a 23-21 loss to Sayreville War Memorial High School Oct. 23.

South Brunswick has accumulated 113 power points, good for first in the race for the

NJSIAA Central Jersey Group V playoffs and seven points ahead of New Brunswick

High School. The top eight teams will qualify. The best seven of a team’s first eight games count in the standings.

In North Brunswick, the Raiders turned a 14-12 deficit into a 34-14 edge in less than three minutes to best winless J.P.

Stevens High School.

Zach Rowell, who ran for 187 yards, ignited the rally with an 81-yard run that led to a Tyler Bryant touchdown. After the kickoff, Rowell intercepted a Hawks pass and returned it to the 1-yard line, and Bryant scored again on the next play. An Elijah Hicks interception set up a 5-yard scoring run by Quamere Nance, who rushed for 71 yards on the night.

With the win, the Raiders improved to 2-5, and first-year coach Don Zsak said the sudden turnaround was a result of his team’s hard work.

“Our players never quit, things didn’t seem to be going our way, but they showed a lot of character,” he said. “They kept battling and then they came up with the big plays we needed. I’m proud of them.”

Next up for Zsak’s improving team is a trip to Middletown High School North (4-2) Oct. 30. The Eagles last played Oct. 16, downing Howell High School, 21-7.

Girls tennis

South Brunswick won the GMC team title in girls tennis. Prathyusha Pandu and Swathi Chandrika won at first doubles and Sneha Rampali and Ashi Yadav took second doubles in a grueling three-set match to pace the Lady Vikings. In first singles, Rashmi Venkatarama finished second to East Brunswick High School’s Jennifer Chen, who won for the third straight year. In third singles Neeharika Kishore took second place for South Brunswick.

Boys soccer

The top-seeded South Brunswick’s boys soccer team downed 16th-seeded J.P. Stevens in the opening round of the GMC Tournament Oct. 24. Patrick Grudnick and Keiler Knapp scored two goals apiece and Jermaine Small and Christos Lolas also scored in the win.

Earlier on the week the Vikings fell, 2-1, to New Brunswick, the second seed in the GMC Tournament, in a regular-season match. The two teams could see each other again in the tournament. Kyle DeGroff scored the lone goal in the loss.

“That was one tough match; New Brunswick is a very good team,” said Vikings coach Chris Hayston, whose team is 14-3. “We expected them to be good, but I was very impressed.”

The Raiders boys won their preliminary match, 3-0, against Perth Amboy High School. Jordan Luthers scored twice and Chris Shamy once as Pawel Dzielski stopped 13 shots. New Brunswick eliminated North Brunswick, 3-0, Oct. 30, despite a strong showing by Dzielski in goal.

Girls soccer

In girls soccer, fourth-seeded South Brunswick (8-7) downed Edison, 1-0, in the first round of the GMC Tournament. The Lady Vikings had a 13-4 edge in shots. Moriya Frankel scored the only goal her team would need on a pass from Brielle Eder. Sydney Schneider stopped all four shots she faced.

North Brunswick, meanwhile, won its preliminary-round match against J.P. Stevens, 3-2. Delaney Timm scored the game-winner in double overtime. Tatum Altman and Ashley Gorda also scored for the Raiders, who were then eliminated Oct. 23 by Bishop George Ahr High School, 5-0.