Don Bosco 31 Delbarton 10
After allowing a Delbarton touchdown on the game’s opening drive, Don Bosco took over the game on both sides of the ball and won, 31-10.
First Quarter: Delbarton opened the game with a seven-minute, 15-play drive and scored on a 10-yard pass from Rob Russo to Dylan Hakes. Bosco’s opening drive started with four straight runs by Ronnie Heath that amounted to 43 yards, reaching the Delbarton 37. But the drive stalled and Delbarton took over on downs at the 33 with 56 seconds left in the quarter.
Second Quarter: On second-and-nine, Russo found David Link for 36 yards to the 30. It was looking good for the Green Wave, but Tim Hinspeter sacked Russo on second down and Claudy Robinson tackled Russo for a two-yard loss on fourth down, Giving Bosco the ball on their 34. A 34-yard pass from Nick Minicucci to Ethan Acevedo went 34 yards to the 31 and a pass interference brought the ball to the 13. The Ironmen were on the board when Jack Donnelly kicked a 28-yard field goal. Delbarton went three-and-out and Minicucci hooked up with Nate Burleson for 21 yards and followed up with a pass to Omaree Walker for a 34-yard score in the end zone with 1:15 left for a 10-7 lead.
Third Quarter: Bosco came out with the ball and marched 88 yards with Minicucci finding Kyle Bohm for a 6-yard touchdown. The Ironmen took possession late in the quarter on their 18 and Minicucci found Acevedo for 10 yards, followed by three Heath runs, but turned the ball over on downs as time expired in the quarter.
Fourth Quarter: Delbarton picked up four first downs on four plays, advancing to the 11 and Jack Peros booted a 19-yard field goal to make it 17-10 with nine minutes left. Bosco came right back, consuming seven minutes on thirteen plays with Heath punching it in from a yard out. Matt Severin intercepted a Russo pass and Nolan James ran 29 yards for the score.
Summary: Bosco settled down after Delbarton marched down the field. Heath had blocking in front of him, rushing for 176 yards. Minicucci was 14-22-150 yards with two touchdowns and looked more comfortable than he was two weeks ago against Bergen. Acevedo caught seven for 94 yards. The line of left tackle Chase Bisontis, left guard Chris Moreno, center Aidan Toomey, right guard Kevin Garcia, and right tackle Amori Francis led the way.
The Ironmen defense improved each drive: they allowed 60 yards on the first drive, 69 on the next five (33, 10, 8, 5, and 13), and 54 on Delbarton’s drive when they kicked the field goal. Their last drive resulted in Severin’s interception.
The Delbarton offense couldn’t get much going after their initial drive, as shown in the previous paragraph. Their defense was beaten up front, especially with Heath running the ball. They’ve lost the last two and hope to get back on track when they host Seton Hall Prep next week.
Quotes:
Don Bosco head coach Dan Sabella: “We didn’t do much after the first drive as far as adjustments on defense go. We put ourselves in better positions on first and second down.”