Carteret's defense takes over game in win over New Brunswick

CARTERET –

After bending but not breaking with two critical red zone stops in the opening half, the Carteret High School football team's stellar defense literally took matters into its own hands.

Hassan Williams recovered a fumble deep inside Carteret territory on the opening drive of the third quarter and Justin Taylor intercepted a pass near midfield on the ensuing series to preserve a 26-2 victory over New Brunswick at "The Pit" on Friday night.

The Zebras, who twice failed to convert fourth downs at the Carteret 14 yard line earlier in the game, trailed 14-2 when running back Maurice Ffrench lost the handle on the football at the Ramblers' 4 yard line early in the third quarter.

Three plays later, senior quarterback Nelson Baez hit a wide open Taylor in stride at the 35 yard line, and the sophomore tight end did all the rest, sprinting the remaining distance untouched for a tide-turning 92-yard scoring reception that gave Carteret a 20-2 lead with 5:37 remaining.

"We talked at halftime about trying to get a three-and-out there at the beginning of the second half," Carteret coach Matt Yascko said. "We were trying to get the ball back, and to their credit they moved the ball down field. I think that (fumble recovery) stemmed the tide and gave us some momentum. Then we had the big pass play, which I think was a big back-breaker for them."

Baez, who completed 6 of 8 passes for 217 yards, gave Carteret a 26-2 lead with 6:54 remaining in the game on a 41-yard scoring strike to Brandon Gilder. The reception put Gilder, who caught four passes for 100 yards, over the 1,000-yard mark for his career.

"This was a confidence boost for him today," Gilder said of Baez. "He had a great game. That's the way we need him all season. If we can have him like that and have our defense play the way they played, I think it's going to be hard for a lot of teams to beat us."

Strong safety Michael Nowak and Taylor, who doubles as a linebacker, were responsible for making separate tackles of quarterback Trevon Blakey on the aforementioned critical fourth down plays from the Carteret 14.

Nowak's key stop was the final hit of a 13-play drive that began at the New Brunswick 31 on the Zebras' opening series. Taylor's clutch tackle ended an eight-play march that culminated at the Carteret 37 following Ffrench's short return of the free kick after New Brunswick lineman Sam Pierce tackled tailback Ra'Keem Bennett in the end zone for a safety to make the score 7-2 with 9:25 left in the second quarter.

Carteret's critical red zone stops inadvertently gave the offense horrible field position. The Ramblers began drives at their own 2, 11 and 13 yards lines.

"We lost the field position battle early and that was hurting us," Yascko said, noting he did not want to abandon the pass, despite Carteret being pinned deep in its own territory. "We tried to get (Baez) in a rhythm early and he seemed to get more and more comfortable. I think we protected early. He had a chance to set his feet, which is important."

Baez had key completions of 25 and 36 yards to fuel a late second-quarter drive of 87 yards which Bennett capped with his second touchdown, a 4-yard plunge with 1:11 remaining in the opening half that gave the Ramblers a 14-2 lead.

Bennett carried four times for 56 yards – including a 2-yard scoring jaunt – on the game's opening series to give the Ramblers a 7-0 lead. He finished with 72 yards on 14 carries.

"We are always going to be a run first football team," Yascko said, "and I think we still could have run the ball but I think field position played a part. We've got to be a two-handed fighter. We do have the weapons in the passing game. We've got to make plays through the air and not let teams put eight or nine guys in the box. Hopefully, we can get some of those big plays in the passing game to loosen up the run, and that's the recipe here."

Ffrench, who finished with 113 yards on 21 carries for his third consecutive 100-plus yard game, came up lame after the fumble, walking gingerly on his right ankle. He was not the same for the rest of the night, but it made no difference as quarterback Trevon Blakey was forced to throw with his team down 18 points.

New Brunswick, which rallied from a 21-0 third-quarter deficit before falling 24-21 to J.F. Kennedy on a last-second field goal in its season opener, had no magic comeback Friday night, due in large part to the play of Carteret's defense, particularly end Sam Kamara.

"Before the season started, I told you I thought he was a Division I prospect," Yascko said of Kamara. "He's starting to get double teamed, definitely getting more and more noticed on the defensive side of the ball. He's a terrific player. Hopefully, he just keeps getting better and better."

Yascko, whose Ramblers were coming off a disheartening 31-6 loss to Long Branch, a team they had defeated in last year's NJSIAA playoffs, said defeating a revived New Brunswick program, which is vastly improved after dropping 36 of its last 38 contests entering this season, is a confidence boost.

"They are going to feel good about themselves tonight," Yascko said, "and have more of a pep in their step come Monday's practice."