By Warren Rappleyea
Sayreville War Memorial High School’s football team will look to rebound from its first loss Oct. 14 when winless Monroe Township High School comes to visit.
The Bombers (4-1) showed plenty of resiliency in nearly coming back from a 20-point deficit in a 27-20 loss to undefeated Piscataway Township High School Oct. 7. Coach Chris Beagan’s team scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and then recovered an onside kick in a nail-biting finish that fell just short.
The Chiefs took a 14-0 lead in the first half thanks to a pair of touchdown runs of 1 and 14 yards by Elijah Barnwell. The elusive Barnwell was a thorn in Sayreville’s side all evening, finishing up with 218 yards on 29 attempts.
Early in the third quarter, Piscataway added another six points when reserve quarterback Joseph Hatcher found a wide-open Nazir James for a 61-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-7. Sayreville then marched deep into Chiefs territory before turning the ball over on downs. The Bombers defense held, forcing the home team to punt out of its end zone. Piscataway’s punter flubbed the kick and Colton Redding recovered to put the Blue and Gray on the board.
Unfortunately for the Bombers, Piscataway got the ball back and slowly marched down the field to take the momentum away from Sayreville. Michael Pettit’s 14-yard run increased the Chiefs’ lead to 27-20 late in the third quarter.
Quarterback Jayson DeMild showed both his leadership and talent throughout the game, particularly in the fourth quarter. Despite facing a defense that knew he would be throwing, DeMild managed to complete 22 of 41 pass attempts for nearly 300 yards. Sayreville’s receivers uncharacteristically dropped several passes.
DeMild found 6-foot-7 tight end Jahsim Floyd with 4-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. The duo hooked up again with just under six minutes remaining on a 25-yard pass to trim the Piscataway lead to seven points.
Sayreville recovered an onside kick and went all the way to the Chiefs’ 11-yard line. The Piscataway defense stiffened, however, and the Bombers turned the ball over on downs. Sayreville also held and got the ball back just inside Chiefs territory with 44 seconds remaining. A Piscataway interception ended the Bombers’ hopes, and the Chiefs were able to run out the clock.
“[Piscataway] have a very good team,” Beagan said. “We made some mistakes and that cost us. We had to play from behind, but our guys never quit and we were in it to the end.”
While disappointing, Beagan said his team needs to move on and prepare for Monroe. The Falcons came up short against Freehold High School Oct. 7, falling 52-14.
Knights return to field against Piscataway
Old Bridge High School will host Piscataway Oct. 14 at Lombardi field. The Knights return to action following a week off in the wake of a 42-42 tie in triple overtime against Edison High School Sept. 30. Coach Anthony Lanzafama welcomed the break, noting that it would give his players time to recover from a variety of bumps, bruises and other minor injuries.
Old Bridge (2-1-1) has shown that it can score plenty of points. Lanzafama’s team put up 31 points in its season-opening victory at South Brunswick High School. The Knights’ lone loss came at the hands of undefeated Manalapan High School, 41-0, Sept. 23.
“I liked the way our guys came back from the loss to Manalapan,” the coach said. “We did a lot of good things in the Edison game — our guys showed a lot of character — and we’ve been focusing on the positives.”