Don Bosco dominated Bergen Catholic in every way possible, especially up front on both sides of the ball for a 31-7 win in Oradell.
First Quarter: Bosco opened the game with possession and drove down the field, scoring on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Nick Minicucci-to-Bobby Mays to make it 7-0. Bergen came right back and scored on their third play when Kaj Sanders went 69 yards on the jet sweep down the left sideline to tie the game. After that, the team exchanged punts.
Second Quarter: Bosco bridged the two quarters on a drive that started on Bergen’s 49. Minicucci found Mays for 14 yards to the 35, ran for another first down, and found Nolan James on a screen pass in the left flat that went for a 16-yard touchdown. It was one minute into the second quarter and Bosco regained a lead it would never surrender. Bergen looked like they had an answer on a 45-yard pass to tight end Jack Comeau, but the Crusaders turned the ball over on downs. Bosco got rolling on a 13-yard run by Logan Bush to the 42 and Minicucci later found Matthew Eitner for 14 yards and a first-and-goal on the 3-yard line. Bush then crashed in for a 3-yard touchdown to make it 21-7.
Third Quarter: Bergen came out with the ball and ended up punting, giving Bosco the ball on their own 40. The Ironmen picked up four first downs, two on BC penalties: a facemask and an offsides on fourth-and-one on the 8-yard line. Bergen’s defense held their ground and Jack Donnelly kicked a 26-yard field goal to make it 24-3 with three minutes left in the quarter. Bergen proceeded to fumble on the ensuing kickoff, giving Bosco the ball on the 13. The Ironmen extended their lead to 31-7 on a 6-yard run by James through the middle.
Fourth Quarter: I didn’t chart anything in the fourth quarter because it no longer mattered and there was no scoring.
Comments: After a bad loss last week to Iona Prep, Bosco brought their A-game today and demolished Bergen every way possible.
The offensive line of left tackle Chase Bisontis, left guard Chris Moreno, center Aidan Toomey, right guard Kevin Garcia, and right tackle Amori Francis made the Bergen defense look feeble. I repeat, the Bosco offensive line made them look feeble. They consistently imposed their will on BC’s defensive front and controlled the clock. Many on the Bergen sideline were saying their defense was on the field too long and Bosco’s line had a lot to do with that.
NJ.com’s players stats show that Bosco attempted 14 passes and Bergen 15. But Bosco had 49 rushing attempts to BC’s 12, a major advantage and an example of Bosco’s line dictating the action.
In addition, Bosco’s defense played much better than they have been. The front three of Jovan George, Jordan Thomas, and Aidan Hordnik were major factors in exposing BC’s offensive line. BC simply could not run the ball, with the exception of the jet sweep touchdown by Sanders. In fact, any time the Crusaders ran, a Bosco defender was there. They could not get a time-consuming drive going – another reason why Bergen’s defense was on the field a lot. The Crusader defense was better than Bosco’s coming into this game, but the Ironmen did a much better job of keeping their defense off the field than Bergen did.
It was a complete beat down. Bosco slapped Bergen around and spanked them extra hard.
This was the worst Bergen loss to Bosco since the 2002 regular season game when many Bergen players cramped up. Their 49-8 loss to Bosco the following year was worse on paper, but that 47-16 loss in 2002 was worse. And this is the worst loss to Bosco since then.
Over the years, a number of Bergen supporters yell at me to write something good about them since I am an alum. And I don’t write anything bad. However, good things need to be earned and I cannot say much good about the Crusaders today, if anything. As the Yardbirds once sang, Bosco beat them “over, under, sideways, down.”
I can only write good things about Bosco today.