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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