Saturday, September 13, 2008

By Ned Winner
NJS.com Correspondent

Seniors Danielle Weiner (left) and Erin Nerlino are battling it out for the second and third singles slot in Ramapo's stacked lineup.

EAST RUTHERFORD - Joseph Janovic had been thinking about this very moment since June. Since St. Joseph's Regional found out they'd be taking on St. Peter's Prep on the Giants' Stadium turf in Friday night's High School Kickoff Classic, Janovic had been thinking about what he was going to do when the ball came his way.

With the Green Knights clinging to a 7-0 lead late in the third quarter, Prep moved the ball into St. Joe's territory, threatening to finally get its sluggish offense moving. But on a fourth-and-four play from midfield, St. Peter's quarterback Justin Perez overthrew his receiver.

Janovic was right where he should have been, intercepting the ball and returning it 53 yards for a St. Joe's touchdown and a 13-0 lead. David Wood tacked on the extra point to make it 14-0 with 1:22 remaining in the third. The score would hold up the rest of the way and the Green Knights waltzed out of the drizzly Meadowlands with a season-opening mini-upset.

St. Peter's, last year's Non-Public, Group 4 state runner-up, had not lost a regular season game in more than five years.

"I dropped back and read the QB's eyes," said Janovic, a 6-foot senior. "I knew it was coming and I knew I had to get six. It's mind-boggling to do that at Giants' Stadium. I've been thinking about it since June."

St. Peter's fullback Paul Martino turning the corner for the Marauders' offense, which garnered on 95 total yards in the game.

With Prep struggling to move the ball for much of the first half, Janovic's heroics couldn't have come at a better time. The Marauders had picked up two first downs and some much needed momentum and were knocking on the door for the first time all night.

"Janovic, that was the play of the game," St. Joseph coach Tony Karcich said. "It was only 7-0 at that point."

It was a miscue by Prep's blue-chip prospect, Nyshier Oliver, that allowed the Knights to take the early lead. With 3:24 left in a scoreless first half, St. Joe's was forced to punt deep into Prep territory. Oliver made an ill-advised attempt to field the bounding ball, fumbling it away into a crashing wall of green jerseys. Two plays later, senior running back Kevin Adams scooted untouched into the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown run that made it 6-0.

"It was huge," Adams said of his team's ability to get on the board first. "It was a whole momentum swing. Coach called it up right. I just got to give love to my offensive line.”

While Adams was praising his blockers, St. Peter's coach Rich Hansen was lamenting his team's inability to gain any kind of traction. Prep quarterbacks Perez and Raphael Garcia combined to throw four interceptions, two of them snagged by St. Joe's junior Alex Aitkens.

Ryan Donahue and SJR got out of the gate fast with a 1-0 record.

The Marauders were also hurt by a slew of drive-changing penalties and were never able to move the ball passed the St. Joe's 23-yard line. The powerful Knights defense allowed Prep to rack up just 95 total yards.

"I didn't expect that tonight," Hansen said. "St. Joe's played well, but we had some major break downs. We weren't mature enough or good enough to dig ourselves out of it. It was a combination of a lot of things."

Karcich praised his team’s victory, but noted that they were on the right end of some fortunate plays. The Knights didn't exactly move the ball all over the field, collecting just 117 total yards.

"We were fortunate in that we got some great field position and big turnovers. A lot of things went our way,” said Karcich. “Let's put it this way – I wouldn't want to play them again tomorrow."

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