By Warren Rappleyea
Sayreville War Memorial High School’s football team played well at South Brunswick High School Oct. 21, but the Bombers nonetheless came out on the short end of a 26-20 score.
In a tightly fought game, the Vikings used a trick play late in the fourth quarter to pull ahead. With less than four minutes remaining, quarterback Josh Liao took the snap and flipped the ball to wide receiver Jaylan Lawson, who turned and heaved it downfield to a streaking Justin Shorter for a 56-yard touchdown pass.
The lead appeared short-lived when Jacari Carter returned the ensuing kickoff for an apparent touchdown. However, the play was nullified by a blocking in the back penalty. Sayreville came up just short of a first down, and South Brunswick was able to run out the clock.
“That was disappointing, but you have to take positives from a loss,” Bombers coach Chris Beagan said. “We haven’t seen anything that changed our minds about where we can end up when the season is over.”
Sayreville struck first after taking the opening kickoff. The Blue and Gray marched down the field, and Michael Liberti capped the drive with an 8-yard scoring run. South Brunswick got a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 13-7 lead into the break.
The teams swapped touchdowns in the third quarter, with Jayson DeMild getting into the end zone for the Bombers on a short quarterback keeper. Liberti’s 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter knotted the game at 20-20. DeMild kept the drive alive by converting a third-and-16 when he hooked up with Connor Holmes for 47 yards.
Liberti ended the night with 105 yards on 23 carries. His 12 touchdowns second on the team to DeMild’s 13. DeMild finished 9-of-22 for 180 yards and also ran for 58 yards.
Despite the final score, Sayreville’s defense harassed Liao for most of the evening and sacked the Vikings’ quarterback four times. Linebacker Mike Germann led the Bombers with 13 tackles, while Liberti had six tackles.
“The effort was there in both of our losses this season,” Beagan said. “We have coaches on our staff that have been part of teams that have won state titles with three or four losses. You have to learn from losses and get better.”
With 77.5 power points, Sayreville is comfortably in fourth place in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section II, Group IV playoff standings. The top eight teams in the section will qualify. Power points are determined by the best seven of a team’s first eight games.
Next up for Sayreville (5-2) is a visit from Neptune High School (2-4) in a Shore Conference-Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) crossover game Oct. 28. In their last outing, the Scarlett Fliers fell to Manalapan, 55-21.
In other GMC action, Old Bridge High School (4-1-1) solidified its hold on first place in the Red Division with a 41-14 victory at New Brunswick High School. The Knights defense stifled the speedy Zebras and by halftime, Old Bridge was up, 34-0.
Quarterback Artur Sitkowski scored twice himself and threw for two more touchdowns. The 6-foot-5 senior completed six of nine passes for 100 yards and ran for another 70 yards.
Running back Nick Sodano, the hero of Old Bridge’s upset win over Piscataway Township High School Oct. 14, ran for 152 yards, including a 30-yard scoring run. Anthony Imbimbo scored twice — the first on a 45 yard interception return. Imbimbo’s second touchdown came on a 7-yard pass from Sitkowski.
The Knights defense held the Zebras to just 45 yards on the ground. As a result, quarterback Jeffrey Seawright was forced to throw 27 times into a defense that was prepared.
Old Bridge is fifth in power points in the race for the Central Jersey, Group V playoffs with 88 points. Coach Anthony Lanzafama’s team could move all the way up to second. It has a game in hand on two of the three teams immediately ahead of it.
The Knights are scheduled to travel to Jackson Memorial High School (3-4) Oct. 28. The Jaguars ended a two-game losing streak with a 41-7 victory over Toms River High School East Oct. 21.