The holiday celebration was complete when the South Brunswick High School football team defeated its rival, North Brunswick Township High School, on the eve of Thanksgiving on Nov. 22.
Now the task for South Brunswick turns to a competing for a state sectional playoff championship.
South Brunswick seeks the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 5 title on Dec. 2 when the Vikings tackle undefeated Manalapan High School in the playoff final at High Point Solutions Stadium on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway. The game starts at 1 p.m.
South Brunswick geared for the championship matchup and improved to 10-1 on the season by defeating North Brunswick, 42-20, in South Brunswick.
North Brunswick attempted to ruin South Brunswick’s holiday when it struck first with a 14-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Christian Petrillo in the opening quarter.
The Vikings answered by marching down the field and tying the game at 7-7 when sophomore quarterback Gage Katzenell-Hall ran the ball 6 yards into the end zone.
In the second quarter, South Brunswick began to pull away. Penn State University-bound wide receiver Justin Shorter took the ball into the end zone from a yard out. Then on the Raiders’ next series, senior safety Jaylan Lawson picked off a pass and returned the interception 53 yards for a touchdown.
The Vikings went into halftime with a 21-7 lead.
South Brunswick increased the lead to 28-7 in the third period when Lawson ripped off a 55-yard touchdown sprint. The Raiders sliced their deficit to two touchdowns when sophomore running back Myles Bailey scored on a 32-yard pass play from Petrillo.
The Vikings stymied North Brunswick’s comeback bid when they scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Katzenell-Hall to Hussain Abidi in the third quarter and a touchdown run from 5 yards out by junior running back Katibu Martin in the fourth quarter.
Bailey tacked on a 30-yard touchdown run for the Raiders to end the scoring.
Katzenell-Hall finished with 62 passing yards and a touchdown, while he ran the ball for 56 yards and a score. Lawson led South Brunswick with 102 yards rushing and one touchdown.
The Vikings did not have to lean too heavily on Shorter. He caught only one pass for 22 yards and ran the ball just three times for nine yards and a touchdown.
For North Brunswick, Petrillo finished with 132 passing yards and a touchdown through the air. He also kept the ball for 55 yards on the ground with another touchdown. Bailey rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown while recording 73 receiving yards and a touchdown.
South Brunswick coach Joseph Goerge was thrilled with the play of Katzenell-Hall, who had to take over at quarterback after senior Felix Quinones was injured in the team’s victory in the semifinals of the state playoffs against Old Bridge High School on Nov. 17.
South Brunswick hopes Quinones will be back for the championship game.
“I think he played great,” Goerge said about Katzenell-Hall. “[On] Friday, he didn’t know what to expect. He plays tonight, and he showed a lot of composure. We didn’t have to throw the ball much. He ran it a couple of times himself and controlled the ball well. He did what he had to do and controlled the offense nicely.
“When you’re missing your quarterback who’s been there all year, it’s big that your 10th grader comes in and steps up.”
“I told him that football is always football,” Lawson said. “The speed might change, but you’ll adapt. He did a great job.”
Now it is on to the game at Rutgers and Manalapan, which is 11-0 on the season.
“We’re going to work on them right now,” Goerge said about the Braves. “They’re a great team. They do a great job. Undeniably, they’re probably the best public school in the state right now. It’s going to take a monumental effort on our part, no question.”
“We got a long week ahead of us in practice,” Lawson said. “We have to come in and have our minds focused on Manalapan and Manalapan only.”
For the Raiders, the holiday game put an end to a successful first season under head coach Michael Cipot. He took over a 1-9 team and transformed the Raiders into a 6-4 squad that qualified for the Central Jersey, Group 5 playoffs.
North Brunswick lost in a thrilling game, 17-13, against Freehold Township High School in the playoff opener on Nov. 10 in Freehold Township.
“We got a lot of these guys coming back,” Cipot said. “That’s the most positive thing for us. We’re playing at a speed of a possible state championship team, and these guys played their you-know-whats off, so I’m proud of all of them. When you play a team like this, you can’t make little errors. They capitalized on our errors, and that’s what it came down to.”
“The team played well,” Bailey said. “They played from the start to the finish. They had my back out there, and I had theirs. It resulted in a loss, but we’re going to come back next year even better, and we’re going to get this trophy.”
Cipot and Bailey are already excited for next season.
“The offseason is crucial,” Cipot said. “The offseason is crucial. They have to get in the weight room [and] work on their conditioning. We’re going to do our morning workouts. The good thing is that the culture has changed. These guys have been on the big stage, and they just competed against a state final team, so they know what it takes. They know what it takes in the weight room and in their conditioning. So we’ll be back. I’m excited.”
“We got to hit the weight room,” Bailey said. “We already have our chemistry. We’re all brothers. We need to work harder and give 100 percent effort, and we’ll be great next year.”