PISCATAWAY, NJ—GMC Hoops traveled out to Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway to see the hometown Chiefs go for perfection and another sectional title as it took on Hunterdon Central of the Delaware East Division of the Skyland Conference in the 2007 North Jersey Section 2 Group IV State Sectional Championship. Ever since losing to Linden in the playoffs last year, Piscataway, led by the likes of Rutgers bound Marvin Booker, J.D. Griggs, and James White, were on a mission to go undefeated, and win a sectional title. As mentioned in the article on the Chiefs win over Woodbridge in the opening round of this tournament, Piscataway has had an illustrious history in football with 14 playoff appearances, 10 championship game appearances, and five titles. The Chiefs, which have gone 23-9 all time in state playoff competition, won titles in 1974, 1981, 2002, 2003, and 2004. In just the past ten seasons, P-Way has appeared in seven title games. Not taking a back seat to anyone, Hunterdon Central, which moved up into North Jersey Section 2 Group IV after winning the Central Jersey Group IV crown in 2006, have made 10 state playoff appearances, compiled a 13-7 record all time in playoff competition, made five appearances in the final, and won four crowns in 1979, 1998, 1999, and 2006.
Moreover, these two teams are no strangers to one another in state finals play. For the fourth time in the past ten years, the Chiefs and Red Devils, old rivals from the days of the Mid-State Conference, are competing against one another for a sectional championship. In 1998 and 1999, the Red Devils defeated the Chiefs for CJ Group IV titles while in 2002, Piscataway got revenge with a victory in the Central Jersey Group IV Championship. Each team is very solid with second seeded Hunterdon Central entering the game with only a 16-6 loss at the hands of an Immaculata of Somerville team that had its 23 game winning streak snapped at the hands of Holy Spirit of Absecon on Saturday in the Non-Public Group III State Championship. The Red Devils came into the game with tournament victories over Elizabeth (20-0) and Franklin (21-6), and by outscoring its opponents 313-56, or an average of 28 to 5. On the year, HCHS has only allowed ten or more points once including four shutouts. Meanwhile, Piscataway has gone unblemished through its first eleven games including a 27-7 win over eighth seeded Woodbridge in round one, and a 31-0 rout of fourth seeded Westfield. In the eleven games played by P-Way, the top seeded Chiefs have outscored their opponents by a margin of 366 to 113, or an average of 33 to 10. Piscataway allowed ten points or more five times, and only had one shutout.
After scoring on its opening drive thanks to a 68 yard touchdown run by diminutive tailback, Barry Garrard, the Chiefs were basically shutdown with the exception of a second quarter touchdown while Hunterdon Central took advantage of Chief miscues on special teams to score the go ahead safety after tying the game on a touchdown for a 9-7 edge. The Chiefs, which were playing essentially in their own backyard, retook the lead on a slant play to convert a 4th and goal from the 4 with 7:46 left before halftime that was reminiscent of the Chiefs gamble on its opening drive against Woodbridge in the first round. After Piscataway took a 13-9 lead, the Red Devils took the lead for good with a score in the second period that made it 16-13. The key play of the drive according to the Star-Ledger was a 4th and 7 conversion made by HCHS on a 21 yard pass play from quarterback Richie Lachner to tight end Dan Fitzsimmons that set up an Anthony Toresco one yard plunge for the lead at about the 4:17 mark of the second quarter. Both teams then exchanged fumbles with Garrard, who had 18 yards and 107 carries, but only 39 on the 17 others following his long touchdown run, turning the ball over on a run to the left on the P-Way 29 yard line at the 4:12 mark, and the Red Devils giving the ball right back a couple plays later on a fumbled snap from scrimmage.
Piscataway quarterback, Rashon Cooper had several nice runs including a 22 yard rush the 1:20 mark of the second quarter that put his team inside the midfield stripe, but Hunterdon Central knocked down three of his passes at the line of scrimmage to ultimately force Piscataway to punt with exactly a minute to go in the opening half. The Chiefs would not score in the second half. In essence, the old rule that great defense stops great offense came to the surface of this contest. That is not to say that the Chiefs didn’t move the ball. As a matter of fact, according to the stats presented in the Star-Ledger article on the game, Piscataway had outgained the Red Devils by a 270-258 margin, but when it mattered most, Hunterdon Central made the big plays while the Chiefs did not. Three times P-Way drove into Red Devil territory, but were stopped either on downs or by a turnover. The turnover occurred in the third quarter on a drive that began with 9:27 to go in the period and the Chiefs starting out from its 32 yard line. P-Way drove down as far as the Hunterdon Central 25 yard line in 9 plays highlighted by a couple nice runs by Garrard including a couple third down conversions, and a third down pass from Cooper to Coleman Peteet. However, what would be an 11 play drive over a span of 5:12 was first slowed down by a holding penalty that backed them up ten yards, and then halted completely when the Red Devils got hold off Cooper, and knocked the ball loose at about the 40 yard line.
The ball was recovered by Hunterdon Central and returned 21 yards to the Piscataway 39 yard line with 3:53 left. On first down, Lachner, who completed 9 of his 17 passes for 130 yards, connected with Fitzsimmons again, who darted down to the Chief six yard line with a couple of P-Way defenders trying to get him down. Hunterdon Central got to the goal line on a run by Jared Delello (averaged nearly 5 yards per carry on 21 carries), but then was called for a false start, which backed them up to the five. Toresco then ran a sweep to the right for the goal line, but was stopped just short. Staring at a fourth down and goal with the game hanging in the balance at the 1:16 mark of the third, head coach, Matt Perotti went for it with a quarterback sneak that was a throwback to the infamous Ice Bowl between Dallas and Green Bay in 1967 in which Bart Starr crossed the goal line to cap a drive that brought the Packers into their second straight Super Bowl. Once the extra point was made, the score was 23-13 with 1:13 remaining in the third period.
On the next drive, Piscataway got another scramble for a run by Cooper inside midfield to the 47 yard line of Hunterdon Central that ended the third quarter. Then, at the start of the fourth, Cooper connected with Coleman Peteet for 27 yards on a 2nd and 7 situation from the Red Devil 44 yard line to get P-Way in the Red Zone. However, the Hunterdon County school held the Chiefs to one yard over the next three plays setting up a 4th Down and 9 from the 16. Cooper tried to run the ball again for a first down by rolling out to the right side, and running up the Piscataway sideline, but he was knocked out of bounds well short of the sticks. Hunterdon Central would run some time off the clock, but eventually punt the ball away to the Chiefs. Again, P-Way took the ball, and drove into Red Devil territory where they were again stalled. Now facing a 4th and 20 from the HCHS 38 yard line, Cooper went back to pass and tried a familiar target in Coleman Peteet, but the play was defended well by Tim Irwin.
The Devils then ran out the clock by making key third down and fourth down that kept the sticks and the clock moving. For the game, Cooper ended up completing just 9 of 23 passes for 135 yards, and a touchdown while rushing for 61 yards for a combined 196 total yards. With the victory, Hunterdon Central, which finished 11-1 overall, won its fifth sectional championship, and its first in North Jersey Section 2 Group IV. The Red Devils join Piscataway as schools to rarely win back to back sectional titles in different sections. The Chiefs did it with a Central Jersey Group IV Championship in 2002 and a North Jersey Section 2 Group IV title in 2003. P-Way ended the season at 11-1. Read other GMC results from Championship Weekend below. You can also view video highlights of this game at YouTube.
Other GMC Results From State Tourney Play
For the first time since 1996, the Carteret Ramblers, another proud football program in the GMC, won a sectional crown by defeating Rumson-Fair Haven in the Central Jersey Group II Championship at Rutgers on Sunday afternoon on a very wintry day in the region. The Ramblers were tied late in the fourth quarter at 14-14 before putting together the winning drive capped by a one yard one off the right side by Byron Lewin for the 20-14 lead with 2:18 left. Lewin, a senior tailback, ended up with 143 yards on 22 carries for an average of 6.5 yards per carry. Then, Carteret, came up with its second goal line stand of the half that prevented a tying or perhaps a game winning score by the Bulldogs to come away with the six point victory. Carteret, which has made 16 playoff appearances, compiled an 11-13 record all time in the post-season, advanced to five championship games, and won three previous sectional crowns in 1976 (Group III), 1992, and 1996, closed out the season with eight wins in its last nine games to finish up at 9-3 overall. The only loss during that stretch was a 3-0 defeat against Colonia.
The Ramblers, which compete in the GMC White Division, had begun the season losing two of three including a defeat to South Plainfield for the first time in 14 years. Two of those wins included hard fought playoff victories on the road over third seeded Delaware Valley and second seeded Rahway in a backyard brawl of sorts. Speaking of the Tigers of South Plainfield, their dream season ended with a 20-0 loss versus Newark Westside in the North Jersey Section 2 Group III Championship game at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. With the game starting at 11:00 AM, there were wintry conditions at the start with snow falling, and still some accumulation on the field. The Roughriders jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead, and after a couple attempts to score by the Tigers were turned away, Newark Westside closed the game out with a score in the fourth quarter. After knocking off top seeded Irvington and fourth seeded Scotch Plains on the road, the SPHS express was derailed first by North Plainfield in a 39-6 loss on Thanksgiving Day, and ended the season being outscored 59-6 in its last two games.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunterdon Central (11-1) | 9 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 23 |
| Piscataway (11-1) | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |