Old Bridge High School’s football team regained the momentum it needed in the second half and went on to defeat New Brunswick High School, 26-12, Nov. 20 to advance to the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group V final at High Point Solutions Stadium at Rutgers Dec. 5 against top-seeded South Brunswick High School.
After building a 13-0 lead in the second quarter, the third-seeded Knights contributed to a New Brunswick rally with two turnovers late in the half to make it 13-12 heading into the break. It was all Old Bridge after that.
Old Bridge (7-3) got on the board thanks to a short scoring run by Nick Sodano. Jake Esposito, who ran for 97 yards on 10 carries, caught a 29-yard pass from Artur Sikowski in the second quarter to increase the lead. The Zebras struck back on a broken play that resulted in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Maurice Ffrench to German Pimental.
The Knights fumbled on their next possession, and Ffrench turned it into points with a 50-yard scoring run — giving the home team 12 points in a 45-second span. After Old Bridge fumbled the kickoff, the momentum had clearly swung the Zebras’ way. But with time running down in the half, New Brunswick was unable to cash in again.
“We’ve been through momentum changes before,” said Old Bridge coach Anthony Lanzafama, whose team came from behind to down Edison High School in the quarterfinals and also came back against Sayreville War Memorial High School during the regular season. “Our guys didn’t panic at all.
The Knights defense bottled up secondseeded New Brunswick in the second half, while the Old Bridge offense ran the ball effectively, eating up large chunks of time. Esposito added to the lead with a 14-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Sodano, who led all rushers with 132 yards on 27 carries, added a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring.
“We got back to our game plan in the second half,” Lanzafama said. “Our goal was to limit their ability to make big plays by keeping the ball. Our defense did the rest.”
The victory means a rematch with South Brunswick (8-1), which is coming off a 27- 21 win in the semifinals over fourth-seeded Manalapan High School. The Vikings downed the Knights, 20-9, Sept. 25 thanks in large part to two big plays. The Vikings’ Mo Jabbie returned a punt for a touchdown and South Brunswick quarterback Josh Liao found Justin Shorter for a 46-yard touchdown pass. “The difference between playing South Brunswick twice and Edison twice is we beat Edison during the regular season and it’s hard to beat a team twice,” Lanzafama said. “Now we want to avenge a loss.”
Before the finals, Old Bridge plays East Brunswick (3-6) in the annual Thanksgiving Day game between the schools billed as “The Battle of Route 18.”
“They were in the same position we’re in now back in 2004 and 2009, and we beat them,” Lanzafama said. “They’re going to be up for the game, so we’ll need to be focused. It’s a great rivalry, and we’ll have a pep rally the day before the game. It’s always fun to play on Thanksgiving, but both teams want to win the game.”
South Brunswick also plays on Thanksgiving. The Vikings line up against neighboring North Brunswick Township High School (2-7).