GMC Football: Gutsy call leads to Old Bridge winning in OT over Sayreville

SAYREVILLE – Chancellor Cooper hugged the football, holding a bigger smile. Minutes earlier, the senior ran in a two-point conversion in overtime as Old Bridge High School beat Sayreville 22-21.

He wasn’t about to let go of the ball anytime soon. He stopped pacing to take a deep breath as most of the Knights headed to the bus.

“That was the craziest thing ever,” he said.

Teammate, No. 4 Rich Cardaci, came over and patted Cooper on the shoulder pads.

“I knew you would get in, baby,” Cardaci said. “That’s why I told them to call it.”

It was a gutsy call. And a gutsy game all-around by both of the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division heavyweights.

“It’s exciting,” Old Bridge coach Anthony Lanzafama said. “This is why you coach. I mean, beautiful Friday night in Sayreville. Great crowd. Good opponent. This is why the kids play and this is why coaches coach.”

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The win most likely gives Old Bridge a home game when the NJSIAA playoffs begin next week. The Knights entered the evening sixth in the Central Group V bracket, but Lanzafama said it now appears they’ll move up in the power points standings. Sayreville has clinched a spot in the North 2 Group IV section, entering the game in fifth place.

Friday’s tussle was a good primer for both teams.

Start with the overtime. Sayreville got the ball first on the 25-yard line. Quarterback Mark Whitford picked up an 11-yard first down, then running back Connor Holmes kept running after the first hit and earned a 9-yard gain. Two plays later, Holmes scored the 1-yard touchdown and Nick Milewski nailed the extra point to give the Bombers a 21-14 lead.

On first down, the Knights’ went for the halfback pass toward the end zone, but Trevor Schwartz’s throw fell incomplete. On fourth-and-four, quarterback Anthony Imbimbo threw a 19-yard touchdown to Liam Knowles to make it 21-20.

Truth is, the Old Bridge coaches weren’t sure about going for the win.

“Honestly, we were on the fence,” Lanzafama said. “We ran that scenario by our guys hypothetically in the preseason and during the season. And they always say, ‘Coach, we want to win the game.’”

Well, naturally, most players would. But in crunch time in autumn, that call isn’t always so easy to make.   

“We were on the fence about it, thinking about going to double overtime,” Lanzafama continued. “And then Rich Cardaci, the middle linebacker, said ‘Coach, we’re here to win.’ He’s one of our leaders. And I said, ‘All right. Let’s go. Let’s do it.’”

The call went to the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Cooper, who shot straight ahead for the two points and the Old Bridge celebration.

“I just saw the gap, and I hit it as hard as I could,” Cooper said. “It wasn’t even a celebration. I was just so happy and tired. I just fell out, had all my teammates jump on me. It’s the best feeling ever.”

In a defense-dominated first half, Sayreville led 7-0 at the intermission via a Holmes 5-yard touchdown run. Old Bridge got three turnovers in the first half – two fumbles and an interception by Knowles.

“The linemen are so tough,” said Cooper, who also plays defensive end. “Our defense saves us a lot in our games. I got to give it the linemen on both sides of the ball. They were really working.”

Early in the second half, Old Bridge tied it 7-7 on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Imbimbo to Knowles and Calogero Caruso made the extra point.

Some highlight-film plays highlighted the second half. With about four minutes left in the third quarter, it appeared that Cooper broke for a 41-yard touchdown, but Sayreville defensive back Elijah Clark kept running and caught up to Cooper, tackling him on the 1-yard.

Let that be a lesson kids, never stop trying.

Two snaps later, Sayreville’s Antwan Golson came up with a fumble on his team’s 5-yard line. The 11-play drive ended with Clark catching a 19-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone on a fourth-and-eight with 10:50 left in the game.

Later in the fourth quarter, Old Bridge’s Bryce Madison blocked a punt as the Knights took over on Sayreville’s 22-yard line. Two plays later, Cooper busted for a 21-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14-14 with 6:45 left before the dramatic ending.

“It’s so overwhelming,” Imbimbo said. “When you have the group of players we have on my team, everyone’s tight. Everyone loves each other. We know what we have to do to win the game. We know we can’t put our heads down or else we’re not going to get to the end zone.”

Cooper said, “We like the pressure. That’s what we play for.”

And it came down to that pressure-filled, gutsy call.

“I knew we were going to go for it,” Cooper said. “(Lanzafama) has a lot of trust in us.”

After an interview, he headed toward the team bus still clutching the football and still smiling.

OLD BRIDGE (6-2) 0-0-7-7-8 – 22
SAYREVILLE (5-4) 0-7-0-7-7 – 21

S – Holmes 5 run (Milewski kick)
OB – Knowles 33 pass from Imbimbo (Caruso kick)
S – Clark 19 pass from Whitford (Milewski kick)
OB – Cooper 21 run (Caruso kick)
S – Holmes 1 run (Milewski kick)
OB – Knowles 19 pass from Imbimbo (Cooper run)