No. 2 St. Peter’s Prep ready to lock horns with No. 1 Don Bosco
They’ve put up some ungodly offensive statistics this year, downright stampeding some of the most prestigious high school football programs in New Jersey in the process. They display a spread formation attack, with a quarterback who throws the ball precisely and with timing all over the field and a burly running back who can plow through a concrete edifice.
It’s no fluke that Don Bosco Prep is ranked among the best teams in the nation and is currently the No. 1 football team in all of New Jersey. The Ironmen have earned that distinction.
But don’t think for a minute that St. Peter’s Prep, which faces Don Bosco in the NJSIAA Parochial Group 4 semifinals this weekend, is running scared from the fearsome Ironmen. Far from it.
"We don’t fear anyone," St. Peter’s head coach Rich Hansen said. "We will go up there, respecting them and what they’ve accomplished. But we’re not going up there to be anyone’s whipping boy. We’re not going up there to keep it close. We’re going there to win the game."
Incredibly, because Don Bosco’s natural surface in Ramsey is in such poor condition, the game is actually being moved to Bergen Catholic’s artificial surface in Oradell. Can you imagine one arch rival granting permission to use the other’s home field for a playoff game, especially when the two could possibly meet in the state championship game a week later?
Hansen has a right to speak in such lofty terms. After all, there isn’t a gaping difference between the Ironmen and the Marauders. Both teams are undefeated. Both teams feature balanced offensive attacks. Both teams have stingy defenses. It’s just that one team is No. 1 in the state and the other is No. 2.
So, naturally, the No. 2 team is the underdog.
But Hansen believes that his team is just as strong as Don Bosco, if not stronger.
"We’re 10-0," Hansen said. "We have to be the most underrated 10-0 team in the state. We’ve done everything that we’ve supposed to do. I think being No. 2 playing No. 1 is a big part of the excitement surrounding this game. We want to win a state championship and in order to do that, we have to win the game. The No. 1 vs. No. 2 thing just is an added bonus. We can’t hide from it. It’s there. But it’s extra motivation to want to win the game."
Both teams were downright awesome last week in the sectional quarterfinals, playing to almost mirror image results.
Don Bosco devastated Seton Hall Prep, 49-14, with QB Mike Teel completing all 11 of his pass attempts for 313 yards and six touchdowns – all in the first half. It was a jaw-dropping performance that made everyone in attendance wonder whether the Ironmen could be beaten this season.
Two days later, in a pouring rain at Cochrane Stadium in Jersey City, the Marauders were a few points better in the first round, demoralizing Paramus Catholic, 50-13, with Joe Dailey connecting with Adam San Miguel for three touchdowns and Dailey running for another score.
"That’s just the way the game played out," Hansen said. "We played pretty well."
Hansen knows that the showdown between the state’s two premier teams this weekend will be the ultimate challenge.
"I’ve watched them about nine times," Hansen said. "They make you defend the entire field. They make you fear getting beat deep with their spread stuff and their speed (like receivers Marquise Liverpool, John Lopez and Michael Ray Garvin). But they have the running back (Brian Toal) who puts them in another stratosphere. They run the ball as efficiently as they pass it, so that’s why they make you defend the entire field. No question: it’s a challenge and tackling is priority one."
So that means that the Marauders’ defense has to be on alert from every angle, on every down. Linebackers Pat O’Keefe and Richie Hansen (the coach’s son), as well as the Becton brothers, Jerome and Jeff, will have to play the games of their lives.
The two teams certainly know each other. They have scrimmaged with each other in the preseason in each of the last three seasons and faced each other in a passing competition at Rutgers last summer.
"It breeds familiarity and adds to the whole big picture of the game," Hansen said. "The preseason scrimmage has no significant meaning for this game. We’re both schematically different and psychologically different since we faced each other. You can throw that scrimmage away."
Hansen gets a little miffed when people ask him if he thinks his team has to control the ball to win the game.
"Is anyone asking them if they have to keep the ball away from us?" Hansen said. "We scored 355 points this year. We can put some points on the board. I think we have to be efficient offensively and play solid defense and we can be right there. I feel good about our chances. I respect that no one has taken them out of their rhythm all year. They’ve been so good that they’ve been on cruise control for quite some time and they’ve deserved that."
Added Hansen, "But we feel we have a good team as well. Adam and Joe have to be Adam and Joe and do what they do best. They’ve been playing catch together for four years and playing varsity together for three. They’re our lightning rods. They have to get us going. But we also have [running backs] Mike Brown and Rashawn Jackson in the mix and they make life easier. We’re going to be in a dogfight."
Hansen’s teams have a history of being an underdog to Bergen County powerhouses. In 1989, no one thought the Marauders had a shot of beating a powerful St. Joseph of Montvale team, but the Marauders won, 22-21, in an epic showdown, especially after trailing, 21-0, at halftime.
In 1994, Bergen Catholic was the No. 1 team in the nation and the Marauders went to Giants Stadium as a heavy underdog. In the tunnel, before pre-game introductions, some Bergen Catholic players told the Marauders that it was nice of them to show up for their victory party. The Marauders won, 26-24, in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
So here’s another big game, eight years after the last one. Can history repeat itself? Not many people believe the Marauders can win, including yours truly. I believe Don Bosco is the best team in the state and have said so here and on News 12 New Jersey. Will it come back to bite me, like many other times the so-called Great Hagueini has been wrong over the years? Let’s see what happens.
In the meantime, the Marauders are ready, more than ready. It’s evident by the attitude of the head coach.