Saturday,
October 24, 2009
By
Rich Barton
NJS.com
Staff Writer
JERSEY CITY –
Despite being playing on one of New Jersey’s top football
teams and being one of the state’s best tailbacks, St. Peter’s
Prep senior Savon Huggins feels neither he nor his team get the
respect they deserve. It’s a matter of perception, but the
motivation the perceived slight provides has served the Marauders
well this season. Having already knocked off Bergen Catholic this
season, Huggins and the Marauders looked to further their case
as an elite New Jersey program on Friday night against a St. Joe’s
(Montvale) team that recently snapped Wayne Hills’ 55-game
winning streak.
Huggins and his teammates
passed the test with flying colors. Huggins ran for 205 of his
career-high 307 yards in the first half as St. Peter’s Prep
led wire-to-wire in a 42-19 romp over previously unbeaten St.
Joe’s at Caven Point.
“We knew how
big this game was and we knew the kind of weapons St. Joe’s
has,” said St. Peter’s Prep head coach Rich Hansen.
“Especially since we lost to them last year, we wanted to
come out and show we’re a more disciplined football team
this year.”
St. Joe’s shut
out the Marauders, 14-0, in the season-opener in 2008. After not
scoring for 48 minutes against the Green Knights a year ago, it
took just two drives for that to turn around.
Huggins, who had 61
yards on the drive, opened the scoring on a 2-yard run on the
first drive of the game and the Marauders quickly got the ball
back. James Fox recovered a fumble and Prep found the end zone
two plays later. Raphael Ortiz hit a wide-open Corey Davis for
a 34-yard touchdown. Less than five minutes into the game, Prep
already owned a 14-0 lead.
The Green Knights also
showed their big-play ability in the first quarter. Alex Aitkens
and Kamal Hogan each had 47-yard touchdown runs, sandwiched around
an Ortiz touchdown pass to Brendan Dolaghan. Hogan’s touchdown
cut the Prep lead to eight, 21-13, with 1:42 left in the first
quarter. But the extra-point attempt was blocked and little went
right for St. Joe’s from that moment on.
“Our defense
had to step up as a whole, no two ways about it,” said Prep’s
middle linebacker/tight end, Gianni McLaughlin. “Our offense
was doing its job and doing it really well. We didn’t want
them to come back and make it a close game like what happened
against Bergen Catholic. We had to make plays and get the ball
back to our offense.”
Behind Huggins, the
Marauders essentially delivered the knockout blow just before
halftime. His 38-yard run got them down to the one-yard line and
he plunged into the end zone with 33 seconds left. Even when things
went wrong, they went right for St. Peter’s. The extra-point
snap was mishandled, but Ortiz collected himself and hit McLaughlin
in the end zone for the two-point conversion and a 28-13 halftime
lead.
“That whole drive
hurt us, that hurt us big time,” said St. Joe’s head
coach Tony Karcich. “If we don’t let up that big run
by (Huggins), we go into the locker room down eight and with a
little momentum. Instead, we are down two scores and with a lot
of ground to make up.”
McLaughlin caught a
TD pass from Ortiz in the third quarter and Huggins capped the
scoring and the 300-yard mark with a 25-yard jaunt for the final
42-19 margin.
Despite a career night
and a lopsided win against their toughest opponent to date, the
Marauders and their standout tailback feel the best is still yet
to come.
“We’re
playing with a lot of confidence right now and we have good reason
to,” said Huggins. “My O-line did a great job tonight.
When they open up lanes for me, I feel like I can’t be stopped.
We have worked really hard towards this game and we played great.
If you work hard and play hard, good things will come of it.”
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