WAYNE, NJ - Two schools that have a history, perhaps older than some of the parents at today's freshman football game met at DePaul Catholic HS on Saturday morning. In 1975, the two schools battled to a 7-7 tie in the state final. BC lost. 7-7. Yes, you read that right. At that time, ties were decided by rulers and yardsticks. Four plays - winner gains the most yards/yard.
That was then, this is now. The opening kickoff sailed into the sure hands of
Carter Sabathia. Carter accelerated up-field and reached midfield, setting up his teammates with terrific field position to start the game. From there, it was the
Cruz Araujo show. Araujo showed why he (and many of his teammates) are the best around. He ran hard around right end three times, picking up a first down before cracking a seam up the middle on a well-executed trap play for a 30+ yard touchdown run. The PAT was intercepted, but BC led 6-0.
The Crusader defense was swarming and
Carter Sabathia rushed off the edge, pressuring the Spartan passer. Linebacker
Nathan Wortley intercepted the pass, returning it to the 49 yard line and the Crusaders were back in business. After losing a yard on first down,
Austin Bryan picked up 5 yards setting up a third and seven. Quarterback
Jaxson Bishop tossed the ball to Araujo to the right, but this time Cruz pulled up and passed the ball deep down field to an open
Karter Baker. Baker sprinted to the goal, but was tackled at the one yard line. BC lost five yards on an illegal procedure penalty, backing the ball up to the six, and then proceeded to fumble, giving DePaul the ball deep in their own end.
There was some hype that DePaul had the top freshman class in the state and they showed some ability to move the ball. They completed a long pass up the seam, but
Santino Petrillo tackled the receiver, preventing a touchdown.
Nathan Wortley sacked the QB and forced a fumble, recovered by
Dylan Milano and BC was back in business midway through the second quarter.
Jaxson Bishop executed the tunnel screen perfectly, passing to
Austin Bryan who had a nice gain on the play. He followed that up with a touchdown pass to Nate Wortley on a thirty-seven yard wheel route. The PAT run came up short and BC had a 12-0 lead.
Wortley continued to dominate in many facets of play, blocking a pass.
Errol Natto made a sure tackle against a receiver running a hitch route and
Michael Tremarco sacked the Spartan QB to end the half.
It took only three plays for the home Spartans to close the game to within a score, running for a short gain and then throwing a pair of 20-yard plus passes for a score. The kick for point snuck over the crossbar and BC led 12-7.
Bishop hit Araujo for a halfback screen pass that picked up a first down. He followed it up with a bomb of his own to
Austin Bryan, whose double-move struck behind the Spartan secondary, translating into a 49-yard touchdown pass.
As the teams went to the fourth quarter, DePaul was not about to give up. The Spartans drove the field after the kickoff, moving the ball to the Crusader 1. BC put together an epic goal line stand as Mike Tremarco went into beat mode and the whole interior of the defensive line became stout. When push came to shove, Methias Deleon and
Lu'ay Gjokaj did the shoving with Araujo and Bishop contributing on the tackles.
Araujo took the ball at the one and quickly outside the 10 on first down. A penalty erased the gain, so he ran the ball out to the 18. Mike Morgan, Thomas Kearney, Eric Lane, Joe DeFranco, Billy Tierney, Jimmy Finn, Jon PIela, Greg Boyajian, Justin Dunleavy, Richard Scanlon, MIke Momo, Chris Andreano, Joey Sandberg, Wolver Jean-Pierre, Nick and MIke Gerst, Rahmir Johnson, Josh McKenzie, Ryan Butler... The list of great BC running backs goes on and on. There's no need to put your pencils away as long as Cruz is in town. He runs with the determination, power, vision and speed among some of the best.
With this group of freshmen, I think I will be remembering a lot of former Crusaders. To think of who they can all become... Themselves!
One closing note. I just found out the maker of the yardstick isn't making it any longer! Have a great day.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
FINAL |
| BERGEN CATHOLIC (1-0) |
6 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
18 |
| DEPAUL CATHOLIC (0-1) |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
