Bergen Catholic defeats DePaul
The Game At A Glance: Bergen Catholic’s fast-paced attack eventually wore DePaul down for a 48-27 win, putting the game away early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Johnny Langan threw five touchdown passes and 277 yards and caught a touchdown pass himself.
First Half Highlights: Bergen Catholic appeared to score on their first play, a Johnny Langan-to-Michael Feaster pass of 52 yards, but a penalty brought it back to the 27. The Crusaders made the penalty irrelevant when the two of them hooked up again for a 22-yard score four plays later down the right sideline. De Paul drove right down the field and scored on eleven plays when Ta’Quan Roberson found Manny Oliver for 12 yards, going ahead 7-6 on the extra point. Bergen came right back and scored on the second quarter’s opening play, a Langan pass of 22 yards to Dylan Classi. The score was set up when the two connected for 32 yards on the drive’s first play.
DePaul drove for five minutes and tied the game when Roberson found tight end Liam Cabri for a 13-yard score. Later in the quarter, Bergen went in front when Langan found Isaiah Givens for 28 yards and a 19-13 lead at the half.
Second Half Highlights: BC came out with the ball and wasted little time, scoring on the third play when Langan found Classi over the right pylon for a 23-yard score, making it 27-13 when Langan ran for the two-point conversion. DePaul came right back on a Roberson to Teddy Harper pass that went 56 yards to the 8-yard line and Chase Hebron scored three plays later from 10 yards out. Langan found Classi again, this time for 22 yards to make it 34-20 midway through the quarter. DePaul went seventeen plays, scoring with 19 seconds left in the quarter when DePalma crashed in from a yard out.
Bergen scored in two plays when Rahmir Johnson went 43 yards for the score as the quarter ended. The next time they had the ball, it only took one play when Classi took the handoff and found Langan down the left sideline for a 55-yard score.
Play of the Game: The Glassi to Langan option pass was memorable and helped put DePaul away.
Game Balls: Langan was 15-of-23 for 277 yards and five touchdowns and caught one pass for a 55 yards and a score. Classi caught seven for 136 yards and three scores; he also threw a touchdown pass to Langan for 55 yards. Feaster caught four passes for 74 yards and a score.
Defensively, Jean-Baptiste made his presence known throughout the game.
Quotes:
Bergen Catholic quarterback Johnny Langan - “We knew we were going to score. I have confidence in our receivers and my play is much better than a year ago. They were in man-to-man and our best receiver was usually on the right most of the time, so we went there. Being from Wayne, there is always motivation when we play DePaul.”
Bergen Catholic linebacker Javontae Jean-Baptiste - “We just play hard and don’t let the rankings go to our head. When DePaul kept coming back, we had our backs to the wall, but we kept fighting. Playing defensive end is fun; Coach Nunz told me early in the summer I would be playing some end. I just keep playing hard.”
Bergen Catholic quarterback Dylan Classi - “On my touchdown pass, there was motion, we faked the jet sweep, and Langan handed off. I threw it and Langan did the rest when he caught it. We worked hard (as a team) all summer and it paid off; we could have played four more quarters.”
Bergen Catholic head coach Nunzio Campanile - “So far, so good. We work on improving every day. In the game, they gave us a lot of man-to-man and we went after them and our pass protection was very good. We go at a high pace and try to wear them out. We made plays today.”