Sunday, September 9, 2007

By Jim McConville
NJS.com Staff Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD -- It was evident from the moment it entered the Giants Stadium playing field. The Bergen Catholic football team coming through the tunnel was different than it had been in a long time.

It wasn’t the new design of the jerseys, or the infusion of black into the standard red and gold colors. It was their posture, or more specifically, their demeanor. This wasn’t a couple of guys with that intensity, this was a team as fiercely focused as it has been in almost a decade.

That high level didn’t fade after the first few minutes, either. It lasted the full game, and combined with a physical prowess that has also been missing from the Crusaders, there was little doubt right from the get go that Bergen was in for a stunning performance.

It took only 13 seconds to score first, and before the first six minutes elapsed, it was 20-0 on the way to a rousing 48-7 triumph over Phillipsburg that puts BC right back in the middle of the radar screen after consecutive 6-4 seasons had shoved them to the side.

“For a start, I’ll take it,” BC head coach Fred Stengel. “Last year was a bitter pill to swallow, knowing we hadn’t played our best, and we were determined not to let that happen this year.”

He was referring to the 28-27 overtime loss to the Stateliners, who this time paid the price for the Crusaders’ wrath. It began on the first play from scrimmage, with Lloyd Morrison picking up a fumble and going 27 yards for a touchdown that took any pressure the Bergen players were feeling and flushed it away.

“The nose guard (Mike Ciresi) pushed the center back into the quarterback, and I just saw the ball rolling by my feet,” Morrison recalled. “All summer, coach was telling me, scoop and score, scoop and score. I wasn’t falling on it. As soon as I picked it up, I saw somebody to my left crack somebody and I knew I was gone.”

After that, Morrison took his spot at left guard and played like a man-child, blowing open holes a truck could drive through. Junior Nick Gerst, in his first varsity start, took major advantage of those openings to set a new BC single game rushing record and tie the single game mark with five rushing touchdowns.

Gerst turned 15 carries into 302 yards, surpassing Ed Whalen’s old record of 281 yards set on October 11, 1986 against Hackensack. His 20.1 average per carry also set a single game record, passing Larry Molloy’s old mark of 17.0 set back in 1968.

“He’s tremendously explosive and unbelievably fast,” Stengel lauded. “My only concern is his size and taking a pounding.”

There was no pounding on this day, as Morrison and his linemates consistently obliterated the Phillipsburg defensive front. Three times on Gerst touchdowns, he dove off the left guard-tackle and went untouched straight ahead to the end zone.
“Don’t forget (left tackle) Chris Symetz, (center) Steve Spada, (right guard) Jack Holuba and (right tackle) Troy McKenna,” Stengel remarked. “Veterans who have a chance to be outstanding, but we’re not there yet.”

“It’s just great,” Gerst said of the trench warriors. “Once I got the ball, I could have picked five different places to run. I credit all my success to them tonight, and I’m taking them out to lunch tomorrow.”

Bergen Catholic owned a 20-0 lead after one quarter, courtesy of Morrison’s TD and 15 and 35 yarders by Gerst. Phillipsburg turned an end zone interception and a 52-yard halfback option pass completion into their touchdown, a 14-yard pass from Mike Crossley to Jack Buckley. Alex Toma kicked the extra point.

When the Crusaders fumbled it away on the next series (one of six BC turnovers) in the final minute of the first quarter, it looked like it might get dicey, but this wasn’t the same old Bergen.

John Saati recovered a fumble after a 15-yard run by Eric Deery (11 carries, 64 yards) which, combined with a personal foul penalty, set Bergen Catholic up at the Stateliner 28-yard line. Four plays later, Gerst zoomed 19 yards to make it 27-7 after freshman David Cordal’s third of six extra points in seven tries.

“It’s totally different, a whole different group of kids,” Gerst assessed. “We’ve come together and we’ve worked hard. We got on the field and capitalized.”

“Everything from the last two years has been stripped down,” Morrison said. “You can see it, even the uniforms. It’s different, and as seniors, this is our last chance. Every game is a playoff game to us.”

It was a mater of the final score from there, with Gerst adding his final two scores and James Williams getting the final tally. BC QB Rob Eckrote wasn’t called on to throw it, but he did throw two interceptions in five passes, completing only a 22-yarder to Jon Rigg. Of course, when your backs rack up 420 yards, the passing game gets a week off.

In addition to Gerst, John Mitchell had 10 carries for 53 yards and Williams was 8-47. Phillipsburg QBs were a combined 12 of 26 for 164 yards with two interceptions, by Jeremy Grasso and Bill Schautz. The Crusaders also had seven sacks, two in the fourth quarter by Doug Rigg.

The next step in Bergen’s resurgence will play out next Saturday night when they host Maryland’s Gilman at Overpeck Park in Palisades Park.

“There’s a team we’re playing next week that’s real good, real good,” Stengel said of Gilman. “

There’s also the matter of that lunch, though Morrison made it clear he’s not going to be a cheap date.

“Steak or ribs,” he said in reference to the expected menu, and Gerst will be more than happy to accommodate his bodyguards.

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