Saturday, October 3, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

UNION CITY – Clinging to a seven-point lead over Union City on its home field at halftime, North Bergen was looking for any kind of spark to give itself some breathing room in a game they had to win. Little did anyone know that it was the most unlikely of Bruins who would get his hands on the ball and make an impact before a play from scrimmage was even run.

Kicker Jeremias Vilches’ kickoff to start the second half was high, short, and into a stiff wind. So much so that the ball dropped to the turf without being touched and a hustling Vilches pounced on the loose ball to give North Bergen excellent field position to start the half.

The Bruins took advantage as, five plays later, Pete Ramanand hit Justin Glennon for a 15-yard scoring strike. That was all the Bruins needed as their stifling defense shut down Union City, holding it to 101 total yards and just 29 in the second half, en route to a 14-0 victory at Joseph ‘Pop’ Novotny Field.

“We knew we were in for a fight because we they needed this game as bad as we did,” said North Bergen head coach Vin Ascolese. “We had the wind in our face and it knocked the kickoff right down. We were confident in our defense and we didn’t give up the big play tonight.”

Union City’s best drive of the game was its first one. Ricky Ramos had a 20-yard run during the drive and Domenick Montanez kept it alive with a seven-yard jaunt on a fourth-and-two. The drive stalled though in painstaking fashion. On a fourth-and-nine from the North Bergen 23, Union City quarterback Pedro Aragon’s pass on a quick slant hit his receiver right in the numbers. But the ball was dropped and the Soaring Eagles turned the ball over on downs.

“We needed to make that catch, but that wasn’t the only play that lost us this game,” said Union City head coach Joe Rotundi. “There were a couple of swing plays that if they went our way, it might have been a different game. But we had a lot of drops, a lot of mistakes, and we couldn’t gain any traction offensively.”

On the ensuing possession, the Bruins rode the back of their quarterback, Ramanand, to march down the field. He completed four out of his five passes on the drive with the last completion being the most important. On a fourth-and-one from the Union City 12-yard line, he hit Josh Martinez on a slant. Martinez did the rest by breaking two tackles and spinning into the end zone with Vilches nailing the extra-point for a 7-0 Bruin lead.

Union City’s defense made a stand and had the Bruins backed inside their own 1-yard line. Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, they were out of timeouts. They could only watch as time ran out in the first half and the Bruins escaped with a seven-point lead.

The wind was howling towards the north end of the stadium all game long and North Bergen kicked into the wind to start the second half. Vilches’ kick was a high kick that appeared as if it was shot out of the sky and dropped straight to the turf. A sea of players from both teams dove onto the loose ball, but it squirted away. Vilches, coming down the field to cover the kickoff, saw the ball and dove on it to give the Bruins a free possession, starting at the Soaring Eagles 38-yard line.

“It wasn’t a designed kick or anything, the wind just knocked my kickoff right down,” said Vilches. “When I saw the ball pop out, I just dove on it and protected it like it was a little baby. In a game this close, you need to get the ball as many times as you can. I don’t get my hands on the football a lot. When I do, I wasn’t going to let anyone take it away from me.”

Behind the speedy Ramanand, the Bruins made the extra possession count. He rushed for an 11-yard gain on the first play and four plays later used both his legs and his arm to get the Bruins in the end zone. He was flushed out of the pocket to his left, then threw back across his body to hit Justin Glennon on a backside slant for a 15-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

“We were really worried about (Peter) Ramanand and with good reason,” added Rotundi. “He can make plays in so many different ways. I thought overall we did a pretty good job of holding him in check. But when he needed a big play, he got one and that hurt us.”

The Bruins used a bruising ground game to eliminate any hopes of a comeback. Although their biggest drive ended in a fumble deep in Union City territory, the damage had been done. They had chewed up over nine minutes of clock spanning the third and fourth quarters and Union City never got past its own 40 over the final 12 minutes.

The win was equally as gratifying for North Bergen (3-1) as it was crushing to Union City (1-3) as far as the North 1, Group 4 state playoff hopes go. North Bergen can possibly move up, but will be no lower than fourth in the power point standings. While Union City will likely have to win its next four games to get in; which is a very tall order being that they face state powerhouse St. Peter’s Prep next week.

North Bergen will face winless Dickinson before going through the heart of its schedule when it will face two of the state’s top teams, the aforementioned St. Peter’s Prep and Wayne Hills, in back-to-back weeks.

“This game was huge for us and it’s nice to come out of here with a win,” added Ascolese. “Union City has a very tricky offense and we played about as solid defensively as we could play. Our schedule gets tougher as we go and we have to be prepared for that. We knew if we lost this game, the playoffs would be an uphill climb to say the least. But to bounce after last week’s loss to Teaneck like this builds our character and will make us a better team.”

TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.