November
30, 2002
March 21,
By
Jim McConville
NJS.com Staff Writer
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| Joe Sandberg and the BC offense were unstopple in the first half, just as St. Joseph's was after the half. | |
ORADELL - There was a surreal atmosphere at the close of Friday afternoon's Bergen Catholic-St. Joseph football game. There was no huge celebration by one team. In fact, the losing team showed more celebratory emotion than the winners. The losing coach was emphatic in telling his team how proud he was to be their coach, while the winning coach was looking to turn the page.
This strange turn of events came after a game that could be labeled "the Tale of Two Halves," as one team played a first 24 minutes that may have ranked among the best ever in school history, and the other staged a valiant and at times amazing second half comeback that fell just short.
So, who
won? In essence, both teams did, though this isn't about moral victories.
Bergen Catholic won the battle of the scoreboard with a 34-28 triumph, and
St. Joseph (8-3) earned the respect and the momentum they need heading into
next week's Parochial 3 championship game against Holy Cross.
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| BC quarterback Brian Saverino was 9-for-9 for 153 yards and three scores in the first half alone. |
The Crusaders have a championship game themselves, one that will not only determine the Parochial 4 champion but also crown the winner as the No. 1 team in the state. Between now and 2:30 next Sunday, Bergen will prepare for Don Bosco, the only team to blemish their 10-1 mark with a 47-16 win in week three.
"The Super Bowl is next week," was how BC head coach Fred Stengel began the much-anticipated hyping of the game with the Ironmen. "We won this one, now let's get ready for the next one."
It was a win that seemed in the bag at the half, but became a most extraordinary nail biter in the final minute, thanks to a never-say-die effort by the Green Knights.
"I'm
sure they just lost some of their intensity in the second half," SJR head
coach Tony Karcich said. "They deserved to win the game, but it's easy to
be motivate when things are going your way, but when you're down 34-0 at the
half and you come out and play the way we did in the second half, that's a
lot of character by our kids."
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| Bob Ferla led the St. Joseph's comeback in the second half by going 10-for-14 through the air after halftime. |
Not only did BC jump to the huge lead, it had everyone talking about just how dominant they were. The buzz in the stands had already turned to next week, and while the Green Knights may have also turned some of their attention to next week, they knew that next week began with the second half kickoff.
"They just got out of the gate so fast, and I was thinking that maybe they would be a little tight and we'd be loose," Karcich explained, "and it looked the opposite. I don't believe in moral victories, but if there ever was one, this was it."
That the game would even get close was one thing, but when Bob Ferla hit Charles Sullivan with a 12-yard touchdown pass on a seam route with 39 seconds to go and Anthony Galimberti recovered the onside kick after it hit off a Bergen player, it seemed as though a miracle was in store.
Two big plays by Bergen ensued, as Justin Abramopaulos sacked Ferla for a three-yard loss on first down, forcing Ferla to spike the ball on second down. On third down, Karcich went with a sweep right with Ron Girault.
"I thought
we would undress them with that sweep with no timeouts left," Karcich said
of the play, "but he ran right into his blocker. If he gets the seam, oh,
it was so close."
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| The St. Joseph defense stiffened against the run in the second half. |
Girault was stopped at the Bergen 43, and on fourth down, Ferla hit Sullivan for the ninth time in the second half, but the play was stopped at the 38 and time expired.
The final whistle left the Crusaders to wonder just how the game turned after a splendid first half in which everything was going their way. Quarterback Brian Saverino was continuing his resurgence over the second half of the season, completing all nine of his passes in the opening half for 152 yards and three touchdowns.
He opened the game with a 35-yarder to Jonathan Poppe down the middle, and two plays later he tossed a screen pass to Erik Dezelan, who turned it into a 29-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
A Green Knight three and out put BC back in business, and six plays later, Joe Sandberg went 28 yards for a touchdown, making a cut just off he right guard to avoid a tackle and racing the distance. Chris Hanly's second of four extra points made it 14-0.
Sandberg then grabbed the first of his two interceptions in the game (giving him a total of 8 and tying him with Willie Poppe in 1995 for the single-season school record) and returned it 34 yards to the SJR 8-yard line. Two plays later, Saverino hit Jim Dray for a five-yard touchdown, and even though the extra point was blocked, it was 20-0 just seven minutes into the game.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter, as Poppe grabbed his 8th TD pass of the year, an 18-yarder, and Sandberg (15 carries, 75 yards, 3 catches for 26 yards) went over from 12 yards out with 4:11 to go before the intermission, his 22 score of the season.
The second
half started somewhat innocently, as the Green Knights went 80 yards to score.
Girault got the touchdown from 8 yards out, but Bergen Catholic came back
with a 40-yard kickoff return by Sandberg and Saverino's 10th straight completion,
a 16-yarder to Poppe (4 catches, 82 yards) to move to the SJR 4-yard line.
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| Matt McConville gave BC a change of pace in the running game and played well on defense. |
They couldn't get it in the end zone, though, and Hanly came on for a 21-yard field goal try that went wide right. Suddenly, the Knights caught fire. Despite a Brad Dussault sack that had them facing third and 20, Girault went off the right tackle, broke a couple of tackles in the first five yards, got to the outside and beat a third tackle downfield for an 86-yard touchdown run, and with Andrew Giuliani's second of four extra points, the buzz had been pulled a bit back to the game at hand.
Bergen had to punt it back, and the Knights went 92 yards to score again, as Ferla and Sullivan became a tag-team in the passing department. They hooked up five times in the drive, the last a 4-yard TD with 4:18 to go in the game. An onside kick didn't work, but they used their timeouts to stop the clock and were able to get BC into a fourth down situation. The Crusaders took a delay of game with 1:44 on the clock, that made it fourth and 10 on 46, then elected to go for the first down.
Saverino connected with Poppe at the Knight 25, but the receiver was called for a legitimate offensive pass interference penalty, giving St. Joe's the ball at the Crusader 39 with 1:36 left. Two big completions to Sullivan (10 catches, 102 yards in the game), including a seam pass on third and five for 20 yards, put them in position at the 12, where Sullivan ran a skinny post, made the catch at the 5 and beat the defender to the goal line with 39 ticks showing, setting up the final onside kick sequence.
Ferla finished 12 of 23 passing for 126 yards after a 2 for 9 first half that saw both Sandberg interceptions. Girault ran 20 times for 178 yards to push him just over 1,400 yards on the year, and Galimberti added 60 yards on 10 carries while leading the defense with 10 tackles.
Dezelan had 15 carries for 56 yards and two catches for 52 yards and Saverino finished 11 of 13 for 182 yards and the three scores with no interceptions. Dominick Piegaro had 15 tackles for the Crusaders and Matt McConville added nine.
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