Gov. Livingston rides second-half offense, tough defense past North Plainfield
NORTH PLAINFIELD – In what became a defensive showdown, the Governor Livingston High School football team was able turn on the offense, as they defeated North Plainfield 19-7 at Krausche Field on Friday night.
“We went to work,” said Highlanders (1-2) head coach Daniel Guyton. “All the credit goes to the kids for focusing and working hard in practice…Our kids continued to believe and continued to be hungry and I thought they did great tonight.”
Scoreless after the first half of play, the Highlanders were able to get two touchdowns out of junior running back Evan Lerch. Lerch took his first score from the three-yard line, and his second coming from the Canuck (0-2) nine.
“It feels great,” said Lerch, who finished with 25 yards on the ground. “My coach gave me the ball and I was just able to get in the end zone, it feels good.”
Senior Frank Barone led the Highlanders, rushing the ball 17 times for 91 yards. Senior quarterback Mike Policastro threw from just 19 yards, but his 82 rushing yards, including a 58-yard scamper in the third quarter, were good for second on the team.
“We got fired up in the locker room,” said Lerch. “We always condition, and we always say to dominate the second half and we came out and were able to beat up North Plainfield. It feels good to win.”
For the Canucks, the game marked the first since a racially directed prank was aimed at the team in their week one matchup against Summit.
Allegations earlier this month stated that the Canucks squad was taunted with bananas while inside their locker room before their week one game.
The Canucks stated that the bananas were placed through an open doorknob in the team’s locker room. Summit stated the bananas were meant for good luck, but both teams decided to submit reports to the NJSIAA committee.
The incident will be brought to a hearing on October 16, and the NJSIAA Controversies Committee will issue a ruling. Both Summit and the Canucks have a right to appeal the decision, but suspensions or the forfeiture of games could be handed out.
“The kids are fine,” said Canucks’ head coach Robert Lake. “Our kids are resilient and they just want to play football. Our kids are fine, they’re working hard and they’re playing hard.”
Khawar Malik led the Canucks through the air, finishing with 69 yards. Celsean Tucker led the team in rushing, carrying the ball seven times for 35 yards.
It was a tough go for the Canucks, who lone touchdown came in the third quarter as Malik found senior fullback Patrick Salako for a 25-yard score.
“I thought we played very well defensively,” said Lake. “Going in we had a feeling it’d come down to the line and it did. It’s a credit to them, they’re big kids did a great job.”
As for the Highlanders, the win marks their first for the 2014 campaign. Shaking hands after the game telling their teammates to “act like we’ve been here before,” the Highlanders will look to recreate that winning feeling moving forward.
“We’re just looking to constantly improve and show progress,” said Guyton. “Our program hasn’t been over .500 in five years…we just want to keep improving and get our program to where we want to be.”
GOV. LIVINGSTON (1-2) …0 0 12 7 — 19
NORTH PLAINFIELD (0-2) 0 0 7 0 — 7
SCORING SUMMARY
N – Salako 25 pass from Malik (Salako kick)
G – Lerch 3 run (kick failed)
G – Lerch run (run failed)
G – Wong 14 run (Anderson kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – G: Barone 17-91, Policastro 9-82, Rhodes 7-48, Lerch 7-25, Wong 2-18, Boyd 4-8, Longo 1-2; N: Tucker 7-36, Cole 7-35, Kaiser 5-24, Zavaleta 3-5, Salako 1-0.
Passing – G: Policastro 2-9-0-19; N: Malik 5-17-0-69
Receiving – G: Giambra 1-12, Barone 1-7; N: Salako 1-25, Gilmore 2-19, Hanks 1-14, Cole 1-10.