Ramblers Overcome Slow Start To Wear Tigers Down And Pull Away With Big Plays
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–For a while, South Plainfield gave an unfocused Carteret team a tough time, but eventually the Ramblers got their heads in the game, wore the Tigers down, and pulled away for an easy 27-0 win. In the first half, the Tigers were able to use Rommello Monroe and Joe Pellegrino to run right into the Carteret defense for some good yardage. Unfortunately, South Plainfield was unable to take advantage, and put the ball in the end zone. The Tigers had three first half possessions were they were able to move the ball to inside the Ramblers 30 yard line, but were unable to score.
Meanwhile, Carteret hurt themselves early with penalties and fumbles, but were able to withstand the Tiger charges, and ultimately go into the half on top. Tyler Rodriguez made things happen for the visitors from Northeastern Middlesex County by using both his arm and his legs. He engineered a quick drive of a little over a minute and a half by making a nice pass to the Carteret sideline for a completion to the SPHS 38 yard line, avoiding pressure and running out of bounds for another first down inside the Tigers 30, and then throwing a pass to Naji Johnson for the only score of the half.
South Plainfield has been able to dominate the time of possession thanks to its three long drives. SPHS owned the football for 15:51 of the total 24 minutes of the half. Carteret did help though with a few lapses on defense. The Ramblers took over the game in the second half with a touchdown in the third quarter, and two more scores in the fourth to put the game away. CHS held the ball for 8:55 of the third, and another minute and a half in the fourth. Again, the Tigers were able to drive the ball, but hurt themselves with mistakes.
In the final 14:54 of the game, South Plainfield had three turnovers including a fumble at the 46 yard line with less than three minutes to go in the third, and then two interceptions in the fourth including one in their own territory that helped set up a Carteret touchdown with just over 10 minutes to play in the game. For the contest, the Ramblers won the turnover battle with a +3 in the giveaway/takeaway ratio. Carteret also had three of its scores in quick fashion. The first TD of the game came in just over a minute and a half, the first score of the fourth quarter took 34 seconds, and the final score came in just 17 seconds.
Rodriguez set up the first score of the second half by first completing a 4th and long pass for a first down to the 14 yard line of South Plainfield, and then connecting with Leo Llanos on a pass over the middle for a first and goal inside the Tigers one yard line. One play later, Carteret ran the ball over the right side of its offensive line for a touchdown, and tacked on the extra point for a 13-0 lead with 5:19 to go in the third.
After the Tigers fumbled on its next possession just inside Carteret territory, the Ramblers almost got another score as Jerod Johnson broke a big run to the right side into the end zone from about 40 yards out, but it was called back thanks to a penalty. CHS would eventually have to punt the ball away, but did so to the Tigers one yard line. The field position put SPHS in a tough spot down two scores heading into the fourth. South Plainfield tried to dig out of its predicament, but threw an interception off a deflection. Moments later, Rodriguez made them pay with a TD pass to the right side for a 20-0 lead with 10:04 remaining.
The Tigers received the ensuing kickoff, and again moved the ball well as they were able to get to the Carteret 32 yard line, but were stopped on downs with approximately three and a half minutes left. On the first play from scrimmage after taking possession, Carteret added another touchdown as Rodriguez threw to Erik Fruscella in the flat, and the receiver went down the South Plainfield sideline for about a 70 yard touchdown to wrap up the win. With the victory, Carteret improves to 3-0 on the season, and is now averaging about 42 points per game while giving up only 11. South Plainfield, which was coming off a bye after its opening night win over New Brunswick, fell to 1-1.