By Warren Rappleyea
South Brunswick High School’s football team has shown plenty of resilience this fall, and the Vikings did it again Nov. 11 to best fourth-seeded Freehold Township High School in a first-round encounter in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group V playoffs.
The victory puts coach Joe Goerge’s team into the semifinals, where South Brunswick has the daunting task of squaring off against top-seeded and undefeated Manalapan High School. The Braves dominated eighth-seeded New Brunswick High School to take a 49-0 win in the opening round Nov. 11.
With the game tied 21-21 in the fourth quarter, the South Brunswick defense, which had a stellar evening, came up with the big play it needed. With less than seven minutes remaining in regulation time, Freehold Township had the ball deep inside its own territory.
Patriots quarterback Charles Sabbagh tried a play-fake and attempted to elude the South Brunswick defenders. However, the Vikings did not bite. Darius Tisdale and Andre Eldridge corralled the Freehold Township signal-caller in the end zone for a safety that proved to be the difference in the contest.
“Our defense did a great job throughout the game,” Goerge said. “They held a good team to 21 points, setup our offense — they were responsible for 16 of our 23 points — and they made the biggest play of the game.”
At Freehold Township, fifth-seeded South Brunswick quickly found itself down, 7-0, as the Patriots put together a 10-play scoring drive covering 70 yards on their first possession. The visitors responded in kind with an eight-play scoring drive of their own. Josh Liao capped the drive with a short quarterback keeper to level the score.
With Freehold Township again driving early in the second quarter, Vikings linebacker Marcus Cerminaro snared a deflected pass and returned it 71 yards to give his team the lead. Justin Shorter’s 75-yard interception return helped his team make it 21-7 in the second quarter. That setup South Brunswick at the Patriots’ 4-yard line. Two plays later, Liao scored his second touchdown — this time on a 3-yard keeper.
South Brunswick appeared to have the momentum at that point, but Freehold Township scored on a 28-yard passing play late in the quarter to make it 21-14 going into halftime. The Patriots tied the game up, as Sabbagh picked up his third touchdown pass of the game. That set the stage for Tisdale’s big play.
The Vikings had gone five games without a turnover, but lost the ball twice — on a fumble and an interception — in the playoff game.
Freehold Township limited Liao to just six completions out of 14 passes for 26 yards. Dylan Kriz led the Vikings’ ground game with 69 yards on 10 carries, while Liao ran for 66 yards in 23 tries. Tisdale made seven tackles on the evening. Anthony Blakey added six tackles for the winners.
After opening the season with two losses in its first three games, South Brunswick has won six consecutive games. The Vikings’ 26-20 victory over Sayreville War Memorial High School came as a result of an option play that saw Jaylan Lawson toss a pass to the streaking Shorter for the winning touchdown.
“Finding a way is a good way to put it,” Goerge said. “We overcame a couple of uncharacteristic turnovers. That’s finding a way. This is one hard-working group of guys, and they just want to win. I’m not sure what happened early in the season, but they have been tremendous during this streak.”
Goerge knows his team needs to be at its best in Manalapan Nov. 18. The Braves defeated a pair of Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) foes — Old Bridge School, 35-0, and Piscataway Township High School, 21-0 — during the regular season and have shut out five opponents. Old Bridge will visit Piscataway in the other Central Jersey, Group V semifinal game Nov. 18.
South Brunswick and Manalapan have met in the playoffs in three of the past four seasons. The Vikings, on their way to the 2015 title, downed the Braves in the semifinals a year ago. In 2014, Manalapan won in the sectional finals, while South Brunswick won the finals in 2012.
“We know each other very well,” Goerge said. “They have a lot of talented kids back, and they’ve had a great season. They’re every bit as good — if not better — than last year. We’re going have to play at our absolute best to beat them.”