By Warren Rappleyea
The Old Bridge High School and Sayreville War Memorial High School football teams are both off to a good start, as they look to once again qualify for the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group V playoffs and content for the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Red Division championship.
The Knights took an exciting 31-28 victory Sept. 9 over defending Red Division champion South Brunswick High School — the team that downed Old Bridge in the sectional finals a year ago. Sayreville, meanwhile, dominated East Brunswick High School, 46-18, in another Red Division contest Sept. 9.
After taking a 28-21 lead into the half, Old Bridge found itself knotted up with the Vikings midway through the fourth quarter. The Knights drove deep into South Brunswick territory, thanks in large part to a big fourth-and-1 conversion by running back Nick Sodano. Old Bridge stalled at the 15-yard line, but Jon Sammarco calmly trotted on the field and booted a 32-yard field goal that proved to be the difference.
South Brunswick got the ball back and made a first down, but the Old Bridge defense held and the Knights got the ball back, running out the clock.
“We only scored three points in the second half, and it was a big three points,” Knights coach Anthony Lanzafama said. “Our defense bent, but it didn’t break in the second half.”
The visiting Knights jumped out to a 7-0 lead, as junior quarterback Artur Sitkowski scored on a 4-yard run. The Vikings took the momentum right back as Anthony Blakey returned the kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to tie the game.
Taking advantage of two interceptions by Paul Farrali and Liam Knowles, the Knights took a 21-7 lead, as Sodano scored on runs of 4 and 19 yards. The home team bounced back with a pair of touchdowns of its own to again tie the score with under two minutes to play in the first half.
Old Bridge got the ball back with 1:40 on the clock and promptly started moving. Ultimately, Sitkowski found Anthony Imbimbo with a 36-yard scoring pass to get the lead back going into the break.
“That was a huge touchdown,” Lanzafama said. “We always want to have a score or a big stop before the half, and [South Brunswick] scored and got the crowd going. Our guys came right back and scored, plus we were getting the ball back after halftime.”
Sitkowski ended the evening with 12 completions on 19 attempts for 134 yards and two touchdowns, while Sodano ran for 105 yards on 20 tries and also scored a pair of touchdowns.
Next up for the Knights is a trip to Monroe Township High School Sept. 16 for another division game. Monroe fell to Edison High School, 40-14, in its season opener.
In Sayreville, the Bombers put on an impressive performance. Michael Liberti piled up 227 yards and scored twice on 16 carries to lead the ground game. Jayson Demild completed 11 of 22 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns. Andrew Wile pulled in four passes for 75 yards and a touchdown. Elijah Clark and Colton Redding also caught touchdown passes.
Sayreville turned in a solid defensive effort with Bryce Christian, Damon Gerges and Zuriel Wright all sacking the quarterback. Linebacker Mike Germann’s four tackles led the team.
Coach Chris Beagan’s team returns to action Sept. 16 at Edison, which returned more than 20 seniors from a team that qualified for the Central Jersey, Group V playoffs last year.