Hoboken prevails, 39-9

The Game At A Glance: Hoboken used its speed to provide big plays, including four long touchdowns to beat Roselle Park, 39-9, and win the North Jersey Section 2 Group 1 championship.

First Half Highlights: After forcing Hoboken to punt, Roselle Park had a nice drive going. Starting from their 18 and picking up three first downs, they had a first down on the 16, but were forced to turn it over on downs when Brian Matthews was held to no gain on the seven yard line on fourth and one. Their drive consumed six minutes on eleven plays. Hoboken took over and featured Donte Carter running the ball and then changed things when Dante Bass found Kain Dunham downfield for a 43 yard gain to the 36. Bass then found Rahmein Herron for 18 yards to the five and on the following play, he found an open Terrance Perry for a score and it was 7-0, Hoboken on the first play of the second quarter.

Roselle Park answered right back, when Rich Johns broke through the middle for 19 yards to the Hoboken 45 and then Jordan Andre later connected with Brandon Pugliese for 21 yards to the 5. Johns broke through the middle for the touchdown and a 7-7 tie. After trading punts, Hoboken was backed deep in its own territory. They changed the game on third and seven, when Bass found Herron on a screen in the left flat, who raced down the field past defenders for a 93 yard touchdown and a 13-7 Red Wing lead with four minutes left in the half. Hoboken had another chance when Herron intercepted and returned it 36 yards to the 31. They had a first down on the 16, but Herron fumbled with Roselle Park recovering on the two.

Second Half Highlights: Hoboken was backed into a corner when Bass was sacked by Juan Carmona on the one yard line. On the ensuing punt, the snap was high, going out of the end zone, making it 13-9. After holding Roselle Park on the following possession, Hoboken opened up breathing room when Carter returned the punt and went 80 yards for a touchdown. The Red Wings followed things up on a twelve play, 80 yard drive that consumed almost seven minutes. Nine of those plays featured Carter, who scored from one yard out, making it 27-9, with seven minutes left.

The Red Wings needed one play on its next possession when Herron went 59 yards down the left sideline for a score to make it 33-9. Roselle Park was driving when Nate Mack intercepted on the three yard line and Carter went 93 yards to score on the following play to close out the scoring.

Play Of The Game: The 93 yard screen pass to Herron put Hoboken in front for good.

Game Balls: Carter rushed for 192 yards and two scores on 15 carries and returned a punt 80 yards for another score. Herron ran for 72 yards and one touchdown on 6 carries, two receptions for 111 yards and another touchdown, and one interception.

Audibles:

Hoboken head coach Lou Taglieri - "This never gets old and each one gets better than the last one. We had some ups and downs, we lost twice, but the kids stuck to it. We can run away from people with speed. You either have it or you're chasing it. We wore them down as the game went on. Now we can bring the title back to Hoboken."

Hoboken running back Donte Carter - "This feels awesome. Everybody wanted to win this and did what we had to do. Everybody blocked for me and everybody just fought. They fought us hard in the beginning, but everybody just buckled down after half time. The journey was hard and we lost to Union City, but we came here and we won."

Hoboken running back Rahmein Herron - "It feels great right now. I saw the screen pass and I just went with it. I didn't think I would score, but I thought I could get yardage. My other touchdown was just getting to the sideline and outrunning everyone. My brother was on the team that won the last state championship in 2005 and now I have one."