The Game At A Glance: Piscataway overcame a sluggish first half with penalties and turnovers to beat Sayreville, 12-6, on a late touchdown.
First Half Highlights: Piscataway opened the game with what looked like an excellent drive, consuming six minutes. With first-and-goal on the four, it looked like a formality until Sayreville’s Mike Germann broke through and forced Juwon Jackson to fumble and Colton Redding recovered on the nine to end the drive. Piscataway’s next possession had the same result when Jackson fumbled again and Connor Holmes recovered for Sayreville on the Piscataway 47-yard line.
Sayreville got on the board in the second quarter when Nick Milewski booted a 28-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead. Two key plays on the drive were a 21-yard pass from Mark Whitford to Jacari Carter to the 20, followed by 12-yard run by Holmes to give the Bombers a first-and-goal on the eight. Piscataway had an opportunity when a punt bounced off Carter and the Chiefs recovered on the 15. However, Carter turned the tables when he intercepted deep in the end zone, returning it to their own 20-yard line with 30 seconds left in the half.
Second Half Highlights: Sayreville came out with the ball and had a nice drive going, highlighted by a Whitford-to-Carter pass of 32 yards, but Milewski’s 19-yard attempt failed. Piscataway then moved down the field behind three completions to Nahjir Woods, making it down to the 17-yard line, but Elijah Clark intercepted on the one and returned it seven yards. Piscataway closed in again, but with fourth down on the eight, Germann came through again for Sayreville to stop Jackson short of a first down.
Joseph Hatcher found Isaiah Colon for 28 yards over the middle to put Piscataway ahead, 6-3, midway through the fourth quarter. Sayreville then drove and tied it on another field goal by Milewski, this one 21 yards to knot things at 6-6 with four minutes left. It looked like overtime when Piscataway punted until Woods intercepted at midfield and returned it to the 13 with 52 seconds left. Jackson cashed in on a 7-yard run through traffic to score; Holmes broke through to block the extra point and it was 12-6 with 25 seconds left. Colon intercepted on the final play to seal the win.
Play Of The Game: Jackson’s touchdown was the game winner with 25 seconds left.
Game Balls: Jackson had 135 yards on 32 carries, scored the winning touchdown, and earned everything against a tough Sayreville defense. Hatcher was 13-22 for 145 yards and one touchdown; he threw two interceptions, but did a good job of managing the game. Woods had the interception that set up the winning score and caught six passes for 75 yards. Colon caught four passes for 42 yards and one touchdown and his interception ended the game. Linebackers Michael Petite and Jevon Buckmire spearheaded the Chief defense and lineman Brijon Artis came through on both sides of the ball. Actually, the Chief defense deserves credit for keeping them in the game when the offense was turning the ball over.
For Sayreville, Germann played a very good game at linebacker, making key hits: one forcing the fumble on the opening drive and another stopping Piscataway on fourth down in the red zone. Carter caught six for 76 yards and intercepted a pass. Holmes blocked an extra point, recovered a fumble, and had 70 very tough yards. Whitford, a sophomore, was 8-13 for 106 yards.
Quotes:
Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins - “It’s the Piscataway-Sayreville annual showdown; it’s always a tough game. With the bye week, you get some rest, but with the penalties and mistakes; it didn’t matter because we kept fighting back. Some of our guys making our worst mistakes came back and made some of the biggest plays. Our defense stepped up when we needed it most. It was like a chess match at the highest level and I give Coach Beagan of Sayreville the most credit; they brought their A-game.”
Piscataway running back Juwon Jackson - “I did it all for my team; I didn’t care if I was going to get hurt or not, I was going to get that touchdown. It feels good to beat Sayreville and it’s a great rivalry. We kept pushing until we got the W. When one man goes down, we picked him up and said to keep pushing. It was a mental game; we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
Piscataway lineman Brijon Artis - “As long as we were doing our jobs, we were going to be fine. In the first half we were thinking we had to step up, I had to step up. I made a lot of mistakes in the first half and thought I set my team back. In the second half, I knew what I had to do and I did it. My family has been in this game for many years, this is my senior year, and it’s nice to come out with a win. We will have to have that playoff mentality the rest of the year. We have to cut down on both mental and physical mistakes and I don’t believe we’ve played our best football yet.”
Piscataway linebacker/fullbacker Michael Petite - “Our games with Sayreville are always close. We always know these games are tough and we come in ready for a battle. We were ready for them to take their shots. We just had to be mentally tough and not break.”
Petite on how wrestling translates to football - “Since I’m short, I make sure I stay low, keep my pad level correct. It helps with the tackling a lot. Coach Higgins is a former wrestler and he says they go hand-in-hand. It helps being a wrestler playing football.”
Piscataway linebacker Jevon Buckmire - “This was my first game playing on the Sayreville field, since we played them home the last two years. We didn’t start well, but we had to come out in the second half and make it special and that’s what we did.”
