Sunday,
October 27, 2013
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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SJR quarterback Spencer Aukamp made some big plays to help keep his team undefeated with a 27-14 win over Paramus Catholic. |
MONTVALE – St. Joseph Regional head coach Tony Karcich is well respected among coaching circles for his attention to detail. In watching over tons of film in preparation for Saturday’s showdown with Paramus Catholic, something caught Karcich’s eye that he believed could be a game-changer . There were plenty of questions though.
First, would the Paladins actually run that play? Two, could his players recognize it when they saw the formation and, three, would they react properly under those circumstances? Little did Karcich know how quickly he would get those answers and how happy he would be with the end result.
Austin Barber read a hot route and picked off a pass, returning it 21 yards to the house just 1:33 into the game. It was all the momentum St. Joe’s needed as the Green Knights stayed undefeated with a 27-14 triumph in front of a packed house at St. Joseph’s Regional High School in Montvale.
Paramus Catholic got the ball first but was quickly saddled with a third-and-15 from its own 17 after a fumbled snap on second down. As the Paladins stepped to the line, Barber realized that the play Karcich had been drumming into their heads all week was materializing right in front of him. Although he was originally lined up to rush the passer, Barber slyly ducked down and slid back into a linebacker spot to where Paramus Catholic quarterback Steve Shanley never saw him. The hot route was a quick slant to his side and Barber easily stepped in front to pick it off and return it for the game’s tone-setting touchdown.
“We practiced it all week. We knew that when we run fire two and they come out with trips, Shanley was going to look for that hot receiver,” said Barber. “He looked right at the receiver and right where he was going to throw it. I took the same step back and it was just a matter of me catching the ball. It feels so good because we worked so hard on it all week. You have to keep your foot on the pedal against good teams.”
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Jabrill Peppers went 50 yards for Paramus Catholic's final touchdown. |
St. Joe’s forced a three-and-out on PC’s next possession and took advantage of good field position to set up the second score of the game. On a fourth-and-8 from the PC 28, senior quarterback Spencer Aukamp hit a wide-open tight end Anthony Paolello for a 27-yard gain before Boston College-bound tailback Sherman Alston took it in on the next play for a 14-0 lead just past the midway point of the first quarter.
Paramus Catholic showed its big-play capability when Keyon Washington broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and raced 50 yards to the end zone. Dan Conte added the PAT to cut the Green Knights’ lead in half, 14-7.
Possibly the biggest play of the game occurred on the next series as St. Joe’s was facing a third-and-11 while backed up on its own 17. A stop and PC would get the ball back, likely with good field position, and a chance to tie the game. Déjà vu set in though for the Paladins as Aukamp hit Paolello on the exact same route they ran on the previous series. This time it went for a 42-yard gain into PC territory. That led to a 30-yard field goal by do-everything senior Mark Fossati to make the score 17-7, which it remained through halftime.
“We made some big plays and Spence did some of that on his own buying some time,” said Karcich. “That was a great call by (offensive coordinator) Rob Stern and Spence hit Paolello in stride for some big gains that kept us going.”
St. Joe’s all but put the game away on its second possession of the third quarter with another huge fourth-down conversion. Aukamp escaped pressure and heaved one up for Alston on a circle route out of the backfield for a 27-yard gain down to the PC 6. Three plays later, Aukamp threw a wide-receiver screen pass to the short side of the field. Quai Jefferson hauled in the pass and dove for the pilon to make it 24-7.
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Boston College-bound Sherman Alston scored from 1-yard out to give SJR at 14-0 lead. |
Paramus Catholic (5-2) All-American Jabrill Peppers finally busted a big play on a 50-yard TD run off an option pitch from Shanley with 5:30 to go, but it was too little, too late as the Green Knights got a 34-yard run from Alston on a third-and-10 from the St. Joe’s 20 to ice the all-important win.
After a win over St. Peter’s Prep last week and yesterday’s victory St. Joe’s, the top-ranked team in New Jersey and in the top 5 in most national polls, will look to cap off its toughest three-week stretch of the season next week when they face a DePaul team that has certainly turned some heads this fall with double-digit wins over perennial powers Don Bosco Prep and Bergen Catholic. With a team that is a bit banged up after two physical games, how well the Green Knights respond to their next challenge will come as much in the training room as in the film room.
“This will be the third tough one in a row, but if anyone can pull this off it’s our guys,” added Karcich. “We have a lot of character and a lot of will to win. It’s going to take all our resolve to come in here Monday and start getting ready for a really good DePaul team that keeps getting better.”
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