Bergen Catholic 28 St. Joe’s (Montvale) 17
October 26, 2024
Bergen Catholic jumped out to a score, broke a 7-7 tie, and was in front the rest of the game for a 28-17 win.
First Quarter: Joe’s had the ball and punted after three plays. Bergen began on their 39 and picked up a first down on a 7-yard pass from Dominic Campanile to Dante Kain to the Joe’s 48. The Crusaders had fourth-and-6 and went for it, but it was a broken play and Campanile was tackled on the Joe’s 44, giving the ball to the Green Knights. A third-down pass by Mason Geis was tipped by CJ Edwards and forced another punt. BC took over on their 8, but they immediately had breathing room on a 31-yard pass to Quincy Porter to the 39. A shovel pass to Kain went 49 yards to the 22. The Crusader faced a third-and-12 on the 24 when Campanile found Porter again for 21 yards to 3. Two plays later, Campanile snuck it in for a 1-yard score and a 7-0 lead
Second Quarter: After an exchange of punts, Joe’s had the ball on their 19. Mason Geis immediately connected with Mekhi Rossignol for 15 yards and a 17-yard completion to Nate Bailey picked up 17 yards to the BC 34. Geis found tight end Brady Shust for 16 yards to the 1 and Bailey scored on the following play out of the wildcat to even the score at 7-7 with 7:28 left in the half. Bergen had the ball on the 17 after the ensuing kickoff. Campanile immediately found Porter for 23 yards to the 40. After picking up a first down, a shovel pass to Austin Busso went 25 yards to the 25. Najee Calhoun then went 25 yards for the score and a 14-7 lead with 3:46 left. The teams exchanged punts again and Joe’s had the ball on Bergen’s 30. With 31 seconds left, the Green Knights closed the gap on a 47-yard field goal by Sal Salafia Jr. to make it 14-10 to close out the half.
Third Quarter: Bergen started the half on their 42 and Campanile found Porter for 25 yards. With a third-and-12, Jahmir Joseph intercepted in the end zone to end Bergen’s threat. After Joe’s punted, Bergen was in good shape at the St. Joe’s 34. Campanile found Busso for 13 yards to the 20, but Joseph intercepted three plays later in the end zone again. The Green Knights picked up a couple of first downs but had to punt.
Fourth Quarter: With under eight minutes left, Bergen had the ball on their 20 and Kain picked up 15 yards. At the end of the drive, Calhoun took over with runs of 23, 7, 15, and a 1-yard touchdown to make it 21-10 with 3:20 left. Joe’s picked up a first down on their 42, but Xavier Jackson intercepted off a deflection and ran 55 yards for a touchdown and a 28-10 BC lead with 2:24 remaining. Joe’s closed out the scoring on a 55-yard pass from Geis to Rossignol.
Comments: The Crusaders picked up their seventh straight win since an opening-night loss. Porter had his usual good day with 4 receptions for 100 yards. A sophomore who made his name known today is wide receiver Austin Busso with 5 receptions for 67 yards. But Calhoun made his mark with 111 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, 67 of those yards were in the fourth quarter.
Joe’s was playing without quarterback Lamar Best. Mason Geis replaced him well by completing 18 of 29 passes for 2011 yards. But Bergen had a little bit more overall and the late interception killed them. They have a tough opponent next week in DePaul.