September
24, 2006
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| Justin Trattou finished with six tackles and 1 1/2 sacks as Bosco's defense was in a stingy mood in Saturday's 45-6 win over VFMA. | |
RAMSEY -- At the outset of the season, people looking at the first three games on the Don Bosco football schedule felt that the Ironmen may have bitten off more than they could chew. Two brutal games followed by a third right after a long road trip against three out of state powers.
To some, the third of those games, against Valley Forge Military Academy of Pennsylvania, was considered to be the toughest with the fear being the Ironmen might be worn out from the first two and have to face a squad that would definitely be in condition.
When Chris Simms was sacked on the first Bosco offensive play, some of those fears welled up again. On the next play, Valley Forge sent an all-out blitz after Simms.
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| Guy Germinario set up Bosco's first score and finished with 96 total yards and two TDs. |
This time, he calmly tossed a screen in the face of the blitz, which Guy Germinario took 48 yards to the VFMA 6. Suddenly, there was a collective sigh of relief on the Don Bosco sideline. Things were back to normal.
So much so it could have been an NNJIL encounter with Belleville or Barringer. The Dons went up 24-0 at the half and 45-0 after three quarters when the starters got a well-deserved rest and the reserves finished up a 45-6 win.
Don Bosco’s season can be broken down into thirds, with the national schedule taking up the first third, the public school opponents filling the middle third and their NNJIL Parochial rivals making up the final three regular season games.
The national portion was a major success, and it was another strong defensive effort that allowed a somewhat spotty offense to work through its inconsistency. With seven sacks and two touchdowns, the defense earned the spotlight for a second straight week.
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| Alex DeSanso's punt punt return set up Bosco's final score of the second half. |
“The difference in the game was our defense, no question,” DB head coach Greg Toal remarked. “We played smart and it was an outstanding effort all day. You can build a team around defense, and we’re much better since our first game.”
The Ironmen had cashed in their first series on a Matt Simms 1-yard quarterback sneak, but the offense had stalled after that. Brian Hanly had a 45-yard field goal try blocked (his first miss after making 10 straight over two seasons) and nailed a 32-yarder in the second quarter for a 10-0 lead.
The Valley Forge defense was keeping them in the game and their offense appeared to be coming to life when quarterback Pat Gregory completed passes of 11 yards to Thayer Nelson and 32 yards on a go pattern to Jordan Brought on consecutive plays, moving to the Bosco 24.
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| Bosco's Nick Mistretta returned a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown. |
From that point, the Ironmen defense made six consecutive big plays to turn the game completely in Bosco’s favor. First, Germinario and William Payne stopped a run for a two-yard loss, then Logan Siska and Germinario sacked Gregory for a 6-yard loss. On third down, Gregory rolled right and was sandwiched by Siska and Justin Trattou.
The ball popped loose and bounced behind the play. Nick Mistretta grabbed it on the run, broke a tackle just over midfield and legged out a 55-yard touchdown return.
“They made a great hit on the quarterback, and I saw the ball there,” Mistretta recalled. “I just picked it up and took it to the house.”
On the next VFMA series, Ike Garrow sandwiched a pair of sacks around an incomplete screen pass where Bosco was a step from another sack. A short punt and an 11-yard return by Alex DeSanso left the Ironmen with a short field, and Germinario was in the end zone on a 1-yard run five plays later with 14.2 seconds to go in the first half.
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| VFMA quarterback Pat Gregory threw a TD pass with 2.5 seconds left in the game to avoid the shutout. |
“We knew defensively we had to come out tough, and we prepared all week for it,” Siska commented. “We knew they weren’t going to give in, so we had to keep coming after them the entire game.”
“Defensively, we just didn’t want to give them any air and we knew eventually we’d break them,” Trattou said. “We knew they would be strong, but they couldn’t handle our pace. Our linemen and linebackers were getting off the ball real well and when that happens, you’re not going to be able to stop us.”
“He’s stepped up and played great the last two weeks,” Toal said of Mistretta, an inside linebacker, “and he’s still learning the position. He’s just coming into his own. We’re tickled the way he and Ike (Garrow) have played inside.”
Don Bosco took the second half kickoff and scored with a 30-yard Simms to Orry Michael completion getting them in position for a 7-yard Germinario TD run. Dillon Romaine had a 2-yard touchdown run on the next possession and Steve Proscia took an interception back 15 yards with a minute to go in the third quarter, effectively ending the first team’s day.
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| Bosco QB Matt Simms finished 11 of 20 passing for 134 yards. |
Gregory (15 of 27 passing, 191 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) found Dan McClellan with a 12-yard touchdown pass with 2.5 seconds left in the game to avoid the shutout.
Simms finished 11 of 20 passing for 134 yards, with Michael grabbing three for 49 yards and Germinario catching two balls for 59 yards while rushing for 37 yards on 9 carries. Valley Forge had just 12 yards rushing against the Ironmen, who were led on defense by Mistretta and Trattou with six tackles each. Siska and Trattou each had 1.5 sacks.
With the bye week, Bosco can take a couple of days to enjoy their 3-0 start, but it must also be careful not to overlook or let down against the next three public school opponents as they return to playing New Jersey teams.
Toal is already working on his team’s approach.
“We’re playing three of the best public schools around (Montclair, Hackensack and Ridgewood),” he assessed. “It’s not like a Barringer or a Belleville, these are good public school teams, and if you don’t come ready they’ll whip you. We have to be ready to play.”
“We got an opportunity to rest up our bodies, then we have to come out and focus on the second third of the season,” Mistretta said. “We have to treat each team as if they can beat us on any day.”
“We have to stay focused,” Siska added. “We still have the St. Peter’s game (last year’s championship game loss) in the back of our minds, and we have to come every week and get better and better.”
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