Tigers Trickery And Razzle Dazzle Unable To Overcome First Half Deficit, 37-12
CRANFORD, NJ–Trailing 21-0 with 5:50 to go in the first half, the South Plainfield Tigers, seeded seventh in N2 Group III, tried everything in the book to get back into the contest. Â Using a combination of unorthodox formations with only three players on the line and four players out wide left, reverses, flea flickers, and onside kicks, the Tigers made things interesting for a while early in the third, but were unable to overcome the deficit as Cranford’s Reggie Green displayed why he is going to Pittsburgh next fall, and the Cougars were going on to the semifinals in two weeks.
Green had two touchdown runs and a TD pass in the first half, and then had runs of 22, 54, and 60 yards in the second half to lead Cranford to a 37-12 win over the Tigers.  Friday night’s output  by the Cougars was the most points given up by a South Plainfield defense all year.  The Tigers entered the contest yielding about 14.3 points per game, and had not given up more than 27 points in a game all season.  In a 27-0 loss to Carteret in week three, the Tigers gave up two fourth quarter touchdowns including an 80 yard pass play to the Ramblers with a little over three minutes remaining.Â
Like the Carteret game, the Tigers had their moments although Cranford had their way a bit more with SPHS than the Ramblers did. Â South Plainfield appeared to be out of sync for much of the first half, especially in the second quarter until it was able to take advantage of an intentional grounding penalty on Green, and forced the Cougars to punt. Â Joe Pellegrino, who has been coming up with solid returns on kickoffs and punts all year, turned in a key punt return into Cranford territory with a little over a minute remaining in the first half. Â Kyle Moroney, who made a number of nice completions in the game, followed up another run from Pellegrino with a pass into the end zone that drew a pass interference call. Â Moroney scored several plays later and SPHS trailed at the half, 21-6.
South Plainfield head coach, Gary Cassio rolled the dice to start the second half, and went with an onside kick that paid off with the Tigers recovering in Cranford territory. Â Moroney then zipped a pass completion inside the Cougar 10, but SPHS would be thwarted on a fourth down run by Pellegrino that was stopped at about the Cranford two yard line. Â A score and a two point conversion would have pulled the Tigers to within seven. Â The visitors from Northwestern Middlesex County would get no closer after that. Â Green and the Cougars took over, and drove the ball 98 yards including a 60 yard run by Green to set up a Jim Dwyer TD for a 28-6 lead with 4:43 to go in the third.
The Tigers tried to pull within two scores again on the ensuing drive as Moroney connected with Tory Russell for a 21 yard completion to the Cranford 41 yard line, and then fired another strike to Roemello Monroe for 30 yards to the Cougar 15. Â However, on the next play, Cranford intercepted a pass in the end zone for a touchback. Â Then, a couple plays later, Green scampered for 54 yards to the SPHS 24 yard line with less than two minutes to go in the quarter. Â Cranford would eventually add a field goal on that drive, and a late score for a 37-6 lead before Moroney hooked up with Pellegrino for a 65 yard TD pass with 52.5 seconds remaining to round out the scoring.
Cranford jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first period, and were on the drive again as the period came to a close. Â Green had a couple runs late in the frame to the SP 18 and inside the SP 5 to eventually set up his second score of the game at the 11:11 mark of the second for a 14-0 lead. Â After the Tigers went three and out and punted with 9:24 to go in the half, Green came up with a huge run on 4th and 5 with 7:39 to go in the half. Â South Plainfield made matters worse by giving Green a late hit along the Cranford sideline at the Tiger 30. Â A couple plays later, on a 3rd and 11 situation, Green hooked up with Bobby Bruns for a 13 yard TD, and a 21-0 lead with less than six minutes to go in the half.
Tonight’s loss showed how far South Plainfield has come, but also how much farther it still has to go. Â This year’s playoff appearance marked the first time since 2007 that the Tigers qualified for the state playoffs. Â SPHS, which had its three game winning streak snapped, dropped to 4-5, but have a chance to finish its season at .500 with a win over North Plainfield on Thanksgiving. Â A victory over the Canucks would be the first for SPHS since the rivalry was renewed in 2002. Â Cranford improved to 7-2-1 on the season, and will face the winner of the contest between third seeded Palisades Park and sixth seeded Rahway on November 30th.