Before his team faced Don Bosco Prep in the NJSIAA Non-Public Group 4 state title game last Saturday at Giants Stadium, St. Peter’s Prep head coach Rich Hansen knew that his team had to pretty much play flawless football.
After all, you don’t upset the No. 1 team in the state and No. 2 team in the entire country if you make mistakes. You don’t get a chance to slay the dragon, a beast that hadn’t lost a single game inside the confines of the Garden State in four years, if you don’t play at your absolute maximum best.
“We don’t feel like we’re going to be cannon fodder for them,” Hansen said in the days prior to the showdown with the dreaded rival, a team that had already soundly defeated the Marauders, 42-9, just a month earlier. “We can hang with them. The longer we do, the better chance we have. We have to get them to do things that are uncharacteristic.”
But all of that went right out of the window in the first few seconds of the game. On the opening kickoff, junior linebacker James Lancellotti was knocked out cold, lying on the Giants Stadium turf for almost 15 minutes before Lancellotti was taken off the field on a cart.
And on the first snap from center, quarterback Raphael Ortiz rolled out and threw an interception to DBP’s Ryan Cobb, giving the mighty Ironmen possession at the Prep 16-yard line with just 15 seconds ticked off the clock.
What the Marauders didn’t need to have happen sure enough took place in the first 15 seconds of the game.
Less than two minutes later, Tony Jones went in from the 1-yard line, the first of his five touchdowns on the day. The Marauders were in a 7-0 hole that they could never really climb out of, on a day that served as yet another coronation for Don Bosco as the state’s premier squad and another bitter defeat for the Marauders.
It got worse before it got better in the Marauders’ 35-15 loss.
After the Marauders went three-and-out on two non-descript runs and an incomplete pass, the Ironmen went right at it again, marching 73 yards on six plays in just three minutes, pushing the lead to 14-0. Jones, who ended the day with 215 yards rushing, showed he could also catch passes by going 30 yards with a screen pass, then going the final yard for his second of five scores.
It was 13-0 Don Bosco before the Marauders even had their bearings.
However, the Marauders showed everyone that they had some fight in them. Ortiz hooked up with Brendan Dolaghan for a brilliant 51-yard bomb. Two plays later, Ortiz found Sheldon Royster in the right corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown. There was life. The lead was sliced to 13-7.
But that was as close as the Marauders would get. The Ironmen added a field goal in the second quarter, then put the game away with a drive right before halftime, featuring more and more of Jones. The Marauders just didn’t have an answer for the New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year, who scored his third touchdown of the game with just 19 seconds before halftime, pushing the lead to 23-7.
At that point, the rain had turned to heavy snow and the Marauders were a beaten team. They did manage to score a touchdown on an Ortiz scramble early in the fourth quarter and added the two-point PAT pass to Dolaghan that cut the score to 29-15, but Jones capped his day with a 40-yard touchdown in the final minutes.
The Marauders were not flawless. They did never get a chance to establish a running game. Savon Huggins, an All-State running back in his own right, never got a chance to go toe-to-toe with Jones. What Prep couldn’t have happen did – and the result was what it was.
“They’re a great football team,” Hansen said reluctantly. “Everyone believed that this was going to be a blowout. They obviously provided a great challenge.”
And will continue to do so. The Marauders have been on the short end of the stick against Bosco for five straight times now, four playoff games and one regular season contest, ever since winning the 2005 state title over the Ironmen.
Unfortunately, that seems like such a long time ago now. Bosco definitely has the upper hand and it’s up to Hansen, his staff and his players to try to reverse that curse in the coming year.
As for the Hagueini’s selections, there were unfortunately two correct predictions made – with the Secaucus-Cedar Grove game almost to the point – ending his playoff record at 8-1 this season.
Now, it’s on to the basketball season, where there is always bound to be exciting times.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.