Fueled by doubters, John F. Kennedy upends favored South Plainfield

ISELIN – The John F. Kennedy High School football team came into its matchup Friday night against South Plainfield as the underdogs, but that’s just the way they wanted it. The prediction fueled the fire for coach Andrew Maurizio and his squad.

“This is what they wrote in the paper about us. They said South Plainfield 23-16, predicting us to lose,” Maurizio said. “When they say stuff like this, they are saying flat out that our boys aren’t good enough and I take that personal. These boys are like my sons, when you wrote stuff like this, it’s like you are saying my sons aren’t good enough. They took it personal. This is what I showed them and they responded.”

JFK proved all the doubters wrong on their way to a 22-16 victory over the Tigers. The defense made a huge defense of stand, which allowed the Mustangs to take a knee to clinch their second win of the season.

The name of the game during the first half was defense. With the help of some timely mistakes from both sides of the ball and a few costly penalties, JFK went into halftime with a tight 3-0 lead. The biggest penalty came in the first quarter when South Plainfield’s quarterback Jason Lee jetted down the sideline for a 50-yard score, but it was called back due to a holding penalty.

The lone score during the first came thanks to a Matt Scalia field goal.

Kyle Heaney and Ari King were like ball hawks during the first half, as they each registered an interception.

The Mustangs came out firing when the second half began. Andrew Roberts bombed the ball down field for Terrance Young for a 57-yard score to add-on to their lead, 9-0.

Young said about the mentality coming into the game, “We had to pick it up.” He went on to say, “It was about respect. The season wasn’t over, we want a championship. We had to get the win and continue to stay focus.”

Something clicked for Young in the second half as he went on to carry the Mustang offense. During the following offensive possession he found a hole and won the foot race for a 69-yard touchdown. Young was effective through the ground game and on the receiving end. He finished the game with 68 receiving yards and two scores, and had 86 rushing yards and added another score. The game was now 15-0 in favor of JFK.

At the end of the first half the Tigers made a swap at quarterback and receiver. Lee moved from quarterback to wide receiver, which made Kyle Dickerson the quarterback. It made a big difference for South Plainfield’s offense.

Dickerson connected with Lee for a 36-yard touchdown towards the end of the third quarter. This came after a huge 30-yard pass to Leonard Scarpitto during the previous play. The touchdown trimmed JFK’s lead to 15-7.

The fourth quarter supplied enough excitement for a season. South Plainfield were not finished when the final quarter began, they kept clawing away at the score.

With JFK buried deep on their side of the ball, John Chillemi exploded past the line-of-scrimmage and blocked Scalia’s punt. This block went flying through the end zone and made the score 15-9.

The pursuing kickoff did not go far and the Tigers took over with great field position, at the 41 yard line. The offense quickly marched down the field. Dickerson had several important runs; including a 2-yard touchdown that gave South Plainfield a 16-15 lead.

Dickerson finished the game with 95 rushing yards and another 85 yards through the air. Lee made a comfortable switch to wide receiver and went on to have 116 yards rushing and another 39 receiving yards.

The Mustangs were down, but not out. On their next possession the Roberts and Young duo once again went to work. Roberts found Young down the sidelines for a 50-yard score and that was enough to secure the victory. JFK won the game 22-16.

“I love this guy,” Roberts said about Young. “He’s my go to go. I look for him every play and he’s one hell of an athlete.”

Roberts finished the contest with 152 yards through the air and two touchdown passes. He was an important part to the rushing attack, adding 90 yards on the ground.

After a disappointing loss during the previous week, JFK was able to bounce back. This is just the beginning of the road to greatness and leaving a mark in Middlesex County.

“It’s about changing the perception of Kennedy football forever,” Maurizio said.

South Plainfield (1-2)… 0 0 7 9 — 16

JFK (2-1) …0 3 12 7 — 22

SCORING SUMMARY

J – Field goal by Matt Scalia

J –Young 57 catch (Conversion failed)

J – Young 69 run (Kick blocked)

SP – Lee 36 catch (Kick good)

SP – Chillemi blocks kick for safety

SP -- Dickerson 2 run (Kick good)

J – Young 50 catch (Kick good)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - SP: Lee 10-116, Dickerson 16-95, Scarpitto 1-minus 5, Cone 8-minus 8; J: Roberts 10-90, Young 8-86, King 5-minus 4.

Passing - SP: Dickerson 8-14-85-1, Lee 3-13-47-0; HP: Roberts 9-15-152-2, Young 0-1-0-0.

Receiving – SP: Lee 4-39, Scarpitto 1-30, Martinez 2-26, Dickerson 1-9, Chillemi 2-6; J: Young 5-118, Oziegbe 2-23. Matusz 1-10, Mott 1-0.