November
5, 2006
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| Alex DeSanso hauling in a third quarter pass for Don Bosco Prep, which was locked in a close game before breaking it open late in a 34-13 win over Bergen Catholic in front of 3,000 fans. | |
ORADELL -- For Don Bosco, it was a moment of truth. The Ironmen had dodged a big fourth quarter bullet in their first real test since the season’s opening game, but they still weren’t out of the woods.
For Steve Proscia, there was a similar crossroads in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game with Bergen Catholic. The junior had been taken out of the game a series earlier after a couple of rough plays.
They both redeemed themselves, as Proscia stepped in and intercepted a pass, returning it 74 yards for the clinching touchdown in a more difficult than expected 34-10 win over the Crusaders.
The victory puts the Ironmen (8-0) in to the top seed in the Non-Public Group 4 playoffs, where they will face Camden Catholic (4-4) in a first round game at home, most likely on Friday night.
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| BC's Dave Kuncio tied a Bergen County and state record with this field goal, the fourth in his career from 50 yards or longer. |
Bergen will also play in the same bracket, but their task is daunting. They will head to Caven Point to face the undefeated second seed and defending champion St. Peter’s Prep (8-0), possibly on Saturday night.
The final score is very deceiving, as it was a 13-10 game entering the fourth quarter and the Ironmen had escaped a potential go-ahead Crusader score as well as a tying field goal attempt a few minutes earlier.
Proscia had been beaten on the long pass play on which the receiver dropped a pass he had both hands on. The DB coaching staff pulled him out for a few plays.
“We wanted him to regain his composure and relax, this is what they’re doing and make sure he’s on top of it,” Toal said of pulling him out of the game. “He’s a great competitor and he came up and made a big play.”
“The coach was telling me, watch the out and up, don’t get beat deep,” Proscia recalled, “and they had run a lot of outs, so I jumped in (on the out) and they went upfield and had me beat deep. After I went out, I had to get my head on straight, and I knew I had to make a big play.”
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| Bosco freshman Tony Jones scored on an amazing reverse-the-field TD run to cap the scoring with 2:02 to play. |
With Bosco up 20-10, he made that play.
“I saw him come out of his break,” Proscia recounted, “and I just planted and broke on it as hard as I could. I saw the ball in the air, picked it, went up the sideline and got a block that sprung me for the touchdown.”
The TD, with 4:51 left in the game, thwarted the last gasp for Bergen, which had been a gallant opponent right up to that point.
“I not as concerned about losing this game as I am about the fact that we proved we can compete at a higher level,” BC head coach Fred Stengel said. “We’re going to have to be able to do that next weekend against St. Peter’s.”
“You don’t want to go through your schedule never being challenged,” DB head coach Greg Toal related. “You get into that dogfight and guys aren’t used to being there, and Bergen Catholic gave us that, playing four quarters, dealing with adversity and having to make plays.”
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| BC's Dean Scaduto carried 14 times for 64 yards and also added 11 tackles on defense. |
The adversity came in the form of a Crusader defense that held Don Bosco to a season-low 178 total yards and shut off the Ironmen passing game. In fact, take away the 43 yards that Tony Jones covered on an amazing reverse-the-field touchdown run with 2:02 to play, and BC’s defensive effort looks even stronger.
“I was thrilled the way we played defense,” Stengel commented. “We did a great job, and that last play, that’s just God-given talent, there’s nothing you can draw up to stop that.”
That defensive pressure was evident early, when Dean Scaduto had a solo sack and shared another with Dan Mulroy on the opening series, but it was Bosco that drew first blood from its special teams.
Dale Fava broke through and blocked a Bergen punt, which bounced into the end zone and back out. Nick Mistretta picked it up at the 2-yard line and gained the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 6:29 left in the first quarter.
Fava made another big play, intercepting a Rob Eckrote pass and returning it 13 yards to the BC 27 three plays later. A roughing the passer penalty wiped out a third and 20 and kept the short drive alive before QB Matt Simms snuck it in from the two.
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| Justin Trattou and the Bosco defense held Bergen Catholic to 185 total yards. |
Jehovan Livingston blocked the extra point try, and he would do the same on a Brian Hanly 44-yard field goal try later in the second quarter. After the latter block, Bergen got on the board with Kuncio hitting a 50-yard field goal, his Bergen County and state record fourth career FG of 50 or more yards.
The 13-3 score would hold until the half, one in which penalty flags were flying all over the place. BC was penalized 11 times for 85 yards and DB was hit six times for 60 yards.
“We were so hyped up,” Stengel said of the early mistakes of aggression. “We came out and hit them with everything we had. I’m so proud of the way the kids played, the effort they put out.”
The Crusaders came out in the third quarter and went 80 yards to score, getting a pass interference call as well as a fake punt completion from Kyle Kahler to Dean Scaduto for 11 yards to keep the march going.
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| BC'S Jevohan Livingston blocking a Bosco field goal attempt. |
On a third and six from the Bosco 32, Bergen went for the end zone. Eckrote found Billy Schautz behind the secondary and the former BC quarterback scored the first TD against the Bosco first team defense since the opening week. Scaduto laid a superb block for Eckrote to give him the time to make the throw that got his team within 13-10.
As the third quarter was closing, the Ironmen were faced with a third and nine and the BC 27. Simms (6 of 16 passing, 79 yards) found Alex DeSanzo on a crossing pattern for an 11-yard gain.
“It was a momentum changer,” Toal said of the reception. “We went on there and moved the ball down the field and were able to gain control of the game.”
Guy Germinario scored from a yard out two plays into the fourth quarter to make it 20-10.
“We made plays at key times, and that’s what good teams do,” Toal said. “My hats off to BC, it was a hard-fought game, and we kind of broke them at the end.”
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| Bosco's Guy Germinario getting a sack on BC quarterback Rob Eckrote. |
The Crusaders had 185 yards of total offense, with Scaduto running 14 times for 64 yards. Eckrote was 8 of 20 passing for 94 yards with two interceptions and the one TD pass. Scaduto also had 11 tackles and Mulroy had seven stops.
Jones had 67 yards on five runs and Dillon Romaine had 43 yards on 10 carries for Bosco. Ike Garrow had seven tackles.
“The season is down to four games, and hopefully we run the table,” Toal remarked. “That’s always our goal from August 1.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
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