Post 815 – Day Two at Giants Stadium

Day Two at Giants Stadium

The games at Giants Stadium are finished and all that is left are the seven games at Rutgers. Each game was won by a 21-point margin with both winning teams finishing undefeated. 

Caldwell 42 Jefferson 21   

Caldwell scored on their first drive when Luke Kurzum found Harry Boland for a 17-yard score. Peter Murray returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown and the Chiefs followed up two minutes later with a 31-yard touchdown run by Pat Capozzoli, giving Caldwell a 20-0 lead three minutes into the second quarter. Jefferson was on the board when Eric Garv connected with Travis Osterhout for a 12-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left in the half. The play was set up by a fake punt pass from the same duo. Jefferson’s Josh Danyus returned an interception to the 18 with 12 seconds left, but the Falcons ran out of time, as their two plays could not get them in the end zone. 

The early third quarter began with the teams trading interceptions, followed by a Caldwell fumble that was recovered by Jefferson. The following play was a 41-yard touchdown pass to Theo Fisher right down the middle between two defenders, making it a 20-14 game. Boland went 43 yards up the middle for a touchdown, the two-point try succeeded and it was 28-14. Jefferson was right back with a 1-yard touchdown by Jason Eisele that was set up by a 33-yard pass to Osterhout. Touchdowns by Boland and Capozzoli rounded out the scoring. 

Caldwell capped off a perfect season with a balanced offense and an opportunistic defense. Boland was their star with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Capozzoli also had a good game running the ball. After seeing them twice this year, they have several who can hurt a team on offense. One who I noticed today on defense was sophomore linebacker Julian Casale, including one massive hit on a Jefferson player. 

Jefferson deserves all the credit for not quitting. The Falcons made it an entertaining game and two who stood out were Osterhout and Fisher. They played without quarterback Peter Delaportas, who was injured and Garv did a good job filling in – he was last year’s starting quarterback who moved to wide receiver when Delaportas transferred from Pope John. 

Bergen Catholic 28 Don Bosco 7

Bergen Catholic survived an initial scare from Don Bosco and settled down to win 28-7. 

After Bergen turned it over on downs, Bosco came out strong with a 48-yard pass from Nick Minicucci to Ethan Acevedo to the 20-yard line. Minicucci took off on the next play with a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Two Bosco sacks forced Bergen to punt and Kyle Bohm blocked it, giving the Ironmen the ball on the 15. A 27-yard field goal attempt was wide right and BC could breathe. 

From this point on, it was all Bergen. 

With a mixture of runs by Ryan Butler and Saeed St. Fleur, the Crusaders scored on a Steve Angeli-to-Jayden Bellamy pass of 13 yards. Angeli scored in the second quarter on a drive using the same formula. The second half was more of the same with two touchdowns. The first was a 6-yard run by DJ Samuels, normally a defensive end inserted as a running back in the third quarter. The second was a 45-yard run by Butler with one minute left in the game.  

Bergen Catholic capped off an undefeated season with a very difficult schedule. The offense did its usual pounding away with the running of Butler and St. Fleur. Bosco’s offensive line was receiving attention in recent weeks. But Bergen’s line of left tackle Dylan Garrity, left guard Quentin Lane, center Joe Matone, right guard PJ Bonistalli, right tackle Dominick Brogna, and tight ends Larue Linder and Jack Comeau were very good with their usual job of wearing an opponent down. Their wide receivers have also done a good job blocking, sacrificing individual glory for the team’s benefit. 

The defensive front did a very good job limiting Bosco’s line. Samuels, Brogna, Sydir Mitchell, Christian Ross, Elijah Kinsler and others were up to the task. Linebacker Malachai Mercer had a very good game and the rest of the defense did their usual good job. 

Bosco threw a scare in the early portion of the game. Once Bergen got moving, Bosco continued to play hard, but Bergen had too much. There are many who return next year and I expect them to be very tough in 2022. 

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