September
10, 2006
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| Phillipsburg's Dennis Hardick kicking the overtime extra point that gave the Stateliners a 28-27 win over Bergen Catholic at the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium on Saturday afternoon. | |
EAST RUTHERFORD -- Whether North Jersey's parochial football powers were pushed out of a full schedule of NNJIL opponents or whether they jumped at the chance shake things up makes for interesting debate. But with the season now underway, the ramifications of the changed landscape have started to play out for real.
As an introduction, Don Bosco Prep opened its season in front of more than 6,000 fans against an out-of-state opponent on Friday night before flying out to Ohio for Week 2. On Saturday, Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph Regional took part in the inaugural Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium, a three-game showcase of top area teams. Where once the 'Big 3' were local football powers, they are now free to pursue regional and national exposure and they can do it guilt free.
From a public school point of view, the extra open dates on the parochial schedules provide added opportunities and a public school with a little chutzpah could make a name for itself by taking the challenge.
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| Dean Scaduto gave BC its last lead when he scored from 25 yards away on the first play of overtime. |
The first one to try and the first to be successful is Phillipsburg, the defending North 2, Group 4 state champion that made its 150 mile round trip to Giants more than worth the effort. The Stateliners showed they were there to win by scoring on their first two possessions, and then got it done in overtime, answering a Bergen Catholic touchdown with one of their own then kicking the extra point that made the difference in P-Burg’s 28-27 win.
“This is huge. I can’t explain it,” said Phillipsburg wide receiver Blaire Decker, who played a leading role in the ‘Liners fast start, catching 3 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone. “Nobody wanted to take the challenge [of playing Bergen Catholic] I heard, but we did.”
For all of the lead-in, the overtime session went quick. Bergen scored on its first play from scrimmage as Dean Scaduto went 25 yards around the left side to put BC up 26-20. But the Crusaders were flagged for having too many players in the huddle during a timeout before the crucial extra point attempt, which was moved back five yards. Whether the extra distance had anything to do with the outcome is irrelevant, but the kick went wide right.
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| Phillipsburg quarterback Justin Viscomi scrambling for the 25 yard score in overtime that set up the game-winning extra point. |
Phillipsburg also needed just one play to score its overtime touchdown as quarterback Justin Viscomi scrambled the 25 yards he needed to tie the score, slipping out of a least two tackles on his way to the end zone. Dennis Hardick made good on the point after and gave P-Burg the win.
“It was one of those things where on Opening Day anything can happen,” said BC head coach Fred Stengel. “With two busts on coverage at the beginning of the game, to my way of thinking, were what determined the game more than anything else because we virtually gave them two touchdowns uncontested.”
The first of those busted coverages came on the first official play from scrimmage. After a false start revealed a pitch to Art Wright going to the right, P-Burg ran the same formation and threw in some trickery. Wright took the pitch, but handed it back to Viscomi, who found Decker for a 58-yard hookup. Three plays later the same pair hooked up for the game’s first score just 1:58 in.
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| George Kocher scoring the touchdown that got BC even at 21 with 4:35 to go in regulation. |
The Stateliners missed the extra point and BC answered with a 13-play, 75-yard march that ended with JonPaul Sticco’s 3-yard score. David Kunsio added the extra point to give BC its first lead, but Viscomi and Decker hooked up again on the very next snap, a 75-yard catch and run right down the seam that set up another score. Viscomi bootlegged in from 11 yards away and hit Bryce Martin with a two-point pass that put Phillipsburg back on serve, ahead 14-7.
BC got even at the break when Sticco took a screen pass at his own 19-yard line and raced home from 89 yards way. Bergen Catholic (0-1) played well offensively in the first half, but almost played its way right out of the game in the third quarter.
The Crusaders’ first four possessions of the second half ended with a lost fumble, a three-and-out and two interceptions, the first of which was returned 31 yards by Corey Notoroberto for a touchdown and a 21-14 Phillipsburg lead.
The Crusaders recovered in time to force the extra session. George Kocher’s 5-yard touchdown catch with 4:35 to go in the fourth quarter got BC even at 21, and Bergen had the last chance to win it in regulation, but Kuncio’s 52-yard field goal with 9 seconds left, although on target, took its first bounce about midway through the endzone.
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| P-Burg's Blaire Decker hauling in a pass down the seam that went for 75 yards and set up the Liners' second TD. |
BC got the ball first in the OT, made quick work of the defense and might have thought it had dodged a season-opening bullet before the game unraveled on the next two plays, the missed extra point and Viscomi’s crafty scramble.
“Since it was the first play of the [overtime] and we punched it in, I had all the adrenalin and I thought our team was pumped to win. I thought we won, I thought that was it,” said Scaduto, speaking of his overtime touchdown that briefly gave BC the late advantage. “I figured our defense would come out pumped up then I don’t know what happened. It’s not like [Viscomi] went in untouched, three or four people had a chance, but we didn’t get it done.”
Scaduto took the blame for the two blown first half coverages, “those 14 points were my fault,” he said after the game, but he was also key piece to the Crusaders’ offense in the second half, especially after Sticco was slowed by cramps that kept him in and out of the lineup. Scaduto rushed 18 times for 133 yards and a touchdown with all but 25 of those yards coming after halftime.
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| BC quarterback William Schautz 5 of 7 passes for 144 yards in the first half, but had just one second half completion. |
BC quarterback William Shautz had a productive first half, completing 5 of 7 throws for 144 yards and a score, but he finished up 6 of 17 for 149 yards with two TD passes and three interceptions. Sticco ended up with 11 carries for 30 yards and a score and Jeremy Jovellanos rushed 8 times for 32 yards for the Crusaders, who will try again for win No. 1 next week in Maryland against Gilman, a Baltimore public school that also lost its season opener.
There were bright spots for BC, but the turnovers (4), big plays allowed and a lack of defensive pressure on the quarterback did in the Crusaders.
“We have to kick that extra point, we had to do a better job of defending their last series,” said Stengel. “And I don’t think we got to their quarterback once all day.”
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| P-Burg's Art Wright carried 10 times for 42 yards. |
Viscomi, a senior, was effective all game for Phillipsburg. He threw for over 160 yards in the first quarter alone, finished the first half 9 of 14 for 204 yards and, even though he completed just two passes after halftime, he rushed for 45 yards in the second half, including the final 25 yards on the winning overtime score.
Decker finished with 4 catches for 139 yards and a score and Wright finished with 42 yards on 10 carries for Phillipsburg.
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