The North Brunswick Township High School football team is excited after capturing its fifth victory in a row.
The Raiders scored a 33-22 victory over Perth Amboy High School on Oct. 27 in Perth Amboy.
Junior quarterback Christian Petrillo scored all five touchdowns for North Brunswick. Petrillo threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to junior Kwenah Dolo in the second quarter, and Petrillo also had a touchdown run in both the first and third quarters, as well as two in the fourth.
Raiders coach Michael Cipot is proud of the way his players have competed this year. In Cipot’s first year at the helm of North Brunswick’s football team, he has discussed bringing a winning culture to the program after the team has struggled over the last few seasons, including a 1-9 record in 2016. Following the victory against Perth Amboy, the Raiders are 5-2 this season.
“Our goals are set,” Cipot said. “The state playoffs was one of the goals. We had an opportunity right in front of us. It’s a credit to our coaching staff. It’s a credit to how hard our kids have been working. It’s a credit to how focused they’ve been all year [with] no outside distractions. They’ve been very business-like. We had the game against Perth Amboy, and that’s all they’ve been talking about. I’ll have time to reflect at the end of the season. But right now, we still have a job to do.”
Cipot hopes his team continues to stress the fundamentals.
“We do circuits on all fundamentals,” he said. “Whether it’s blocking, tackling, takeaways or special teams, we go over every situation that we can. Defensively, we go through every look that we might see and that we will get. We prepare the kids for every situation so when it comes in a game, we’re ready.
“But going forward, we as a coaching staff need to make sure we don’t let the little things go. Make sure they’re tackling the right way — all that stuff. At this point of the year, it’s the little things that make the difference.”
Cipot also knows that the possibility of making the state playoffs is big for the football program and the town.
“It would be a tremendous feat,” he said. “From where we were last year to now, if we can make it to the playoffs and go far, it would be special. Again, all the credit goes to the staff and the kids. We set the goal in August. They knew they goal, and they’ve worked their tails off to get here. It’s exciting for the town; it’s exciting for the school. We hear the buzz, and it’s great to be a part of.”
Senior wide receiver and cornerback Amir Alderman, Petrillo and sophomore running back and free safety Myles Bailey all know how big the moment is for the program. Most of them have been on the losing teams from previous years.
“We’ve been losing a lot,” Alderman said. “So getting into the playoffs will be huge for us, especially the seniors. We haven’t had anything like this. We don’t know what winning or the playoffs feel like. So it should be a very happy bus ride when we find out that we’re playoff-bound.”
“Coming from 1-9 last year to 5-2 is a huge step up,” Petrillo said prior to the game against Perth Amboy. “The coaching staff has been working just as hard as the players have, and it’s a huge feeling.”
“For me, I’m a sophomore, so this is great,” Bailey said. “I hope that we can continue this winning tradition for years to come.”
The players know that there’s still work to do in order to accomplish their goals.
“[We need to] stay with our consistency,” Alderman said. “We have a lot of good things going right now. We’ve been winning. We have to be consistent and keep winning. I don’t want to get to the playoffs and lose early. We have to keep it up.”
“We need to improve everything,” Petrillo said. “You have to continue to work hard no matter what your record is — always work your hardest.”
The players have the same goal to close out the year — keep winning.
“Win states and stay focused,” Bailey said.
The Raiders will host Woodbridge High School on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.