Strickland, South Brunswick run past Old Bridge

Senior running back Dontae Strickland's ability to score from anywhere on the field coupled with the rest of his offense's ability to string together long drives lifted the South Brunswick High School football team to Saturday's 34-14 victory over Old Bridge.

Strickland, a Syracuse University commit who rushed for 168 yards on eight carries, scored on runs of 54 and 58 yards to give South Brunswick a 14-7 lead at the intermission.

The Vikings (3-0) then scored on drives of 80 and 84 yards on their first two possessions of the third quarter while delivering the knockout punch to the resilient Knights (2-1).

Old Bridge could not overcome four turnovers – two inside the red zone – nor could it slow South Brunswick's vaunted running game, which accumulated 413 of the Vikings' 424 total yards from scrimmage.

"They beat us up front," said Old Bridge coach Anthony Lanzafama, whose team played without injured tackle T.J. Townsend. "They are physical and very good. We had a hard time stopping them."

The Knights also lost two-way starter and return specialist Myles Williams to a broken leg midway through the third quarter.

With his team trailing 21-7, Williams hauled in a 47-yard double pass from wideout Tyler Hopman, setting up a first-and-goal from the 1 yard line midway through the third quarter. Williams was injured on the play.

Quarterback Mike Gargano (10 of 24 for 80 yards) plunged into the end zone on the next play, closing the deficit to 21-14 with 5:55 left in the third quarter.

"Our coach always tells us a game is about runs," Strickland said. "Teams come in and try to knock you off, but you've got to be able to answer. You've got to have a reply back to a team. We knew we had to come back. The coaches called the right plays and the offensive line did a great job today."

South Brunswick answered with its 84-yard scoring march on which Marcus Jackson ran a reverse 32 yards, a play on which Old Bridge was called for a 15-yard face mask penalty, giving the Vikings a first down at the Knights' 13. Quarterback Amir Johnson scored three plays later on a 1-yard keeper for a 28-14 lead.

The Vikings turned the ball over on downs on their ensuing possession when Michael Yuhas and Noah Torino sacked Johnson at the Old Bridge 13 midway through the fourth quarter. Gargano, however, immediately gave the ball right back, losing a fumble on the next play from scrimmage, which Skyler Sciandra recovered.

Two plays later, Matt Golden broke off a 20-yard touchdown run to produce the final margin. His quick-strike ability was reminiscent of Strickland's scoring runs earlier in the game.

Strickland scored on South Brunswick's third play from scrimmage, breaking several tackles on the way to a 58-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

The Knights had two excellent chances to knot the score, but lost a fumble (Phil Campbell recovered) in the red zone and were intercepted (Strickland had the pick) in the red zone on their second and third possessions of the game.

After Old Bridge drove from its own 14 to the South Brunswick 11 – thanks to punter Ed Mish's 33-yard pass to Jake Esposito on a bit of fourth-down trickery from near midfield – the usually reliable Mish missed a 28-yard field goal attempt wide right with 4:02 left in the opening half and the Knights would have to wait until their next possession to get on the board.

After Williams recovered a fumble at the South Brunswick 39, Gargano capped a six-play march that was aided by a pass interference penalty with a 7-yard touchdown run, making the score 7-7 with 1:02 left in the second quarter.

Strickland, however, scored on the next play from scrimmage, breaking off a 54-yard touchdown run that allowed the Vikings to take a 14-7 lead into the lockerrom at halftime.

"Every time a team battles back, the team looks to me to come out as a leader and step up," Strickland said. "I'll tell coach give me the ball. I'll do whatever it takes to score to give my team the lead.

Old Bridge was outgained 424 to 238 in yards from scrimmage as six South Brunswick running backs combined for 413 yards on the ground.

"That's what makes it effective, having so many people to give the ball to," Johnson, who capped an 80-yard scoring drive to start the second half with a 1-yard keeper, said of the triple option. "That's why it works."

Phil Campbell (10 carries, 61 yards) and Golden (12 carries, 85 yards) complemented Johnson (20 carries, 61 yards) and Strickland.