SPORTS

Strickland leads South Brunswick to win

John Fortuna
Correspondent

MIDDLETOWN – In the end, there was too much speed, too much experience and too much Dontae Strickland for Middletown South to handle during Friday night's 36-24 non-divisional loss to South Brunswick.

But, for the Eagles, there were also reasons to feel good about themselves.

"We put up 24 points on a very good football team,'' Middletown South coach Steven Antonucci said. "If we had been able to limit the big plays, it could've been a different game.''

The biggest plays of the night came of Strickland, the Vikings' explosive senior halfback. His 46-yard halfback option pass to Marcus Jackson early in the third quarter put South Brunswick (1-1) in position to take a 20-10 lead courtesy of quarterback Amir Johnson's four-yard run. The score came with 8:02 left in the third quarter.

After the Eagles closed the gap to 20-17 on their ensuing possession via a nine-yard pass from Matt Mosquera to AJ Leandro, Strickland took a pitchout on second-and-18 from the Viking 24 and burst through the left side of the line untouched for an electrifying 76-yard touchdown run and a 27-17 lead with 4:55 left in the third quarter.

Strickland finished the night with 13 carries for 139 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

His 25-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter put the Vikings up, 36-17.

"(Strickland) definitely comes as good as advertised,'' Antonucci said. "If you take him out of the equation, we did a good job defensively.''

In the first half, Strickland turned the game in the Vikings' favor when, with 34 seconds left until halftime, he returned a fumble 30 yards for a score to give South Brunswick a 14-7 lead it never relinquished.

"That play hurt us,'' Antonucci said. "We had played a good first half, and it hurt to go into the half behind. That play gave them a lot of momentum.''

The Eagles had taken a 7-0 lead on their first possession when Cole Rogers ran in from three yards out. Rogers finished with 18 carries for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

"Cole ran well," Antonucci said. "Offensively, we did some good things against a good defense. We moved the ball.''

Mosquera's 28-yard field goal on the last play of the first half sent the Eagles into the locker room down 14-10. Rogers added a two-yard run with 9:56 to play for the Eagles final touchdown.

"South Brunswick is a good, veteran team,'' Antonucci said. "And they played like it. We will get better from this."