Delbarton 38 Seton Hall Prep 17
November 19, 2023
Delbarton jumped out to a 21-0 lead and while Seton Hall Prep rallied, it was not enough, as Delbarton won, 38-23, and advanced to the Non-Public A final next Tuesday against Bergen Catholic at Giants Stadium.
First Quarter: Seton Hall Prep lined up to punt and it was blocked by Kyle Checchio with Delbarton recovering on the 39 yard line of SHP. Five plays later, Ryan Trafford scored a 2-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead. Seton Hall appeared to be answering back until Dallas Hurley intercepted on the 24 and returned it 19 yards. After one pass to open the drive, the Green Wave kept to the ground the rest of the drive and Trafford ran 7 yards for his second touchdown two minutes into the second quarter and it was 14-0.
Second Quarter: Delbarton started their next drive at their 48 and ripped off some nice runs of 14, 8, 8, 10, and an 11-yard touchdown, the last by Trafford with 6:33 left in the half. SHP came back and scored on a 6-yard run by Liam Londergan. With five minutes left. The extra point failed on a bad snap to make it 21-6. The score was set up by two passes from Londergan to Julius Vicari of 43 and 14 yards. Delbarton moved the ball to the SHP 45 and Christian Zebrowski found Philip Folmar over the middle and past the Pirate defenders for a 45-yard score and a 28-6 lead with 52 seconds left. Seton Hall Prep quickly drove down the field and Jack Catchpole kicked a 30-yard field goal as time expired, making it 28-9.
Third Quarter: Delbarton came out with the ball and punted, which set SHP up. Londergan ran for 9 yards and Michael Dunmore for 14, before scoring on a 24-yard pass to Vicari, a screen which Vicari ran left and through the defenders for a 28-15 score. Delbarton marched down the field, consuming eight minutes and Will Kramer booted a 23-yard field goal with 30 seconds left for a 31-15 score.
Fourth Quarter: Delbarton stayed on the ground on the following drive and scored on six plays when Trafford scored on a 9-yard run past the right pylon. It was 38-15 with just under eight minutes to go. SHP moved the ball, but a fumble was recovered on their 7. A bad shotgun snap on second down gave the Pirates a safety and it was 38-17 with just under six minutes left. That resulted in a touchdown drive with a 3-yard run by Dunmore with four minutes left and narrowing their deficit to 38-23.
Comments:. Delbarton played a very good game and their ground game was outstanding, rushing for 296 yards. Trafford was the workhorse, rushing for 216 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries. The Green Wave had 22 runs of more than five yards and six runs that tallied five. The line of Jake Macce, Frank Fehrenbach, Alex Estey, Andrew Covello, and Ryan Cregan were instrumental in paving the way. Zebrowski was 6-of-8 passing for 78 yards and a touchdown and they did not attempt a pass in four of their five second half drives.
Seton Hall Prep would not go away, but their season came to an end. The player who had an outstanding game was Vicari, who had 11 receptions for 249 yards, a 22.64 average. Londergan also had a good game at quarterback, going 17-33-314-1-1.