Football prognosticators often like to forecast the outcome of a game by comparing teams’ margins of victory against common opponents.
It might be wise to throw that formula out the window when Metuchen High School (3-0 division, 6-1 overall) visits Spotswood High School (4-0 division, 6-2 overall) Nov. 7. This game is for all or nothing and will be decided like it should be — on the field.
The stakes can’t get any higher. The winner will come away with the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Blue Division championship and enough power points to secure a berth in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group II playoffs.
Metuchen has reeled off five consecutive wins by an average margin of 36 points. Spotswood’s 45-28 romp Oct. 31 over Middlesex High School was the Chargers’ fourth straight; however, one of those victories was by one point (Holmdel High School, 14-13) and another by a touchdown (Keyport High School, 28-21). Even so, to dismiss the Chargers as less explosive than Metuchen would be a mistake. Spotswood has improved each week, and the victory over a good Middlesex team (5-3) demonstrated the Chargers are now firing on all cylinders. It wasn’t that they beat the Blue Jays — it was how they did it.
Perhaps for the first time this fall, Spotswood fully unveiled its multi-pronged offense. The Chargers capitalized on nearly every opportunity when Middlesex overloaded its defense to prevent the run or pass. For example, realizing they couldn’t contain senior receiver Marlon Hart — who had two touchdown catches and a punt return for another — with man-to-man coverage, the Blue Jays resorted to smothering the fleet end with two, sometimes three, defenders.
That was not a problem for the Chargers. Quarterback Shawn O’Conner (7-for- 11, 218 yards) sought out another open receiver or handed off to workhorse running back Joe Hayford (26 carries, 116 yards and two touchdowns). “If opponents are not going to position players to stop our guys, we’re going to exploit that,” Spotswood coach Andy Cammarano said. “And if they adjust to stop Marlon, we go to Joe. My team is sort of like my [split] personality. We like to feature a run-pass balance and take advantage of what opponents give us.”
Because Metuchen enjoyed a bye week, its coaching staff was on hand to observe how efficiently Spotswood engineered its offense. The Bulldogs’ game plan will include a strategy to at least limit Hart, who, in his first year of high school football, has become one of the GMC’s top receivers.
Metuchen will also counter with a balanced attack featuring time-consuming drives that keep the Chargers’ offense off the field.
Cammarano knows Metuchen will give his team all it can handle and spent ample time after the Middlesex game imploring his players to not have a mindset they are defending Blue Division champions. The Chargers beat Metuchen for the title, 10-6, a year ago. “This year’s [team] isn’t defending anything,” he said. “It’s not as though we’re more special than the rest of our opponents just because we won [the title] last year. That’s ancient history.”
“I’m an English teacher, and I like to use metaphors. The championship is on the top of the mountain, and you have to climb that mount to claim it. That’s our focus now.”
Heading into the Metuchen game, Spotswood is ranked fifth in the Central Jersey Group, II bracket with 91 power points and has played all eight qualifying games. However, three teams below the Chargers, including Metuchen, have a reasonable chance of overtaking them if they can win their eighth contest. As a result, Spotswood may need a win to guarantee a playoff berth.
In the end, nothing matters more to Spotswood than beating Metuchen, which has turned out to be a special game in recent years. Only then can the Chargers say they have reached the mountaintop.