Spotswood football wins opener against South River

SOUTH RIVER — Ninety-degree days are meant more for the poolside than running with heavy equipment on a football field.

“Terrible,” said Spotswood High School quarterback Nick Mohr of the warmth. “I hate playing in heat like this. Your hands are sweating. It’s so hot in the helmet. But we have to play it no matter what. No matter the conditions, our number one job is to get the win.”

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So Mohr and his deep Chargers team did what they had to Saturday and methodically beat South River 31-6 in the season opener for both schools. Spotswood had question marks with five starters returning after repeating as the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division champs in 2015.

They were answered early as Spotswood scored less than three minutes into the game and led 24-6 at halftime. One of the questions was Mohr, who started at strong safety last season but was the backup quarterback. Saturday, the senior looked just fine as he finished 8-for-10 for 176 yards, rushed for a 2-yard score and threw two touchdown passes. He connected with a wide-open Ryan Szatkowski for a 59-yard touchdown with 20 seconds left in the first quarter, and threw a 50-yard scoring pass to fullback Nick Vincelli on a screen. Vincelli deftly avoided a tackle as he sprinted down the left sideline to give Spotswood a 21-6 lead with 6:12 left in the first half.

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“We’re real inexperienced, so we were worried about it coming in,” Spotswood coach Andy Cammarano said. “We know South River’s a tough team and they expect to win. We knew we had to come out and play hard because those guys come out and play hard, too. Turnovers made the difference in the first half. We were able to capitalize. I’m really happy we were able to put it away running the ball at the end. … When you look at it, we were very balanced.”

Spotswood scored two touchdowns following turnovers. The first came when safety Eddie Rogers fell on a fumble on the second play of the game at the Rams’ 4-yard line. Two plays later, Jack Keenan punched it in for the 3-yard touchdown. Later in the quarter, Chance Fee recovered a fumble on a botched lateral. In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Ray Baureko added an interception for Spotswood. Up front, defenders Yousef Elhalaka, Michael Leroy, Jesse Sowell and Paul Toth kept the pressure on for the Chargers.

The young South River team showed potential, moving the ball at times both in the air and on the ground. Sophomore quarterback Michael DeSantis, wearing number 33, showed he’s an emerging dual-threat force. He scored the Rams touchdown on a 1-yard run with 8:25 left in the second quarter. The touchdown was set up by a 43-yard scamper by sophomore Billy Drum, who got stopped on the 1-yard line. In the first quarter, DeSantis connected with a diving Travis Thomas for a 35-yard gain.

Of course, both teams dealt with the heat and there was plenty of cramping up. Mohr said he felt fine and simply drank a lot of water and wiped his hands with a towel. Plus, Spotswood is used to practicing in steamy heat with no shade during its July and August workouts.

“We practice every day in the summer,” he said. “We run miles. We lift. Every day in the summer, 8-12 we’re out there in the heat. Cam does a great job of getting us ready. All the conditioning and the lifting we do gets us really prepared for games like today.”

Regardless, if given a choice, Mohr much prefers that perfect 70-degree day than Saturday’s conditions.

“It’s too hot,” he said. “It’s summer still.”

SPOTSWOOD (1-0) 14-10-0-7-31

SOUTH RIVER (0-1) 0-6-0-0-6

SCORING SUMMARY

SW – Keenan 3 run (Szatkowski kick)

SW – Szatkowski 59 pass from Mohr (Szatkowski kick)

SR – DeSantis 1 run (kick failed)

SW – Vincelli 50 pass from Mohr (Szatkowski kick)

SW – Szatkowski 26 FG

SW – Mohr 2 run (Conahan kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - SW: Vincelli 12-50, Esser 11-41, Keenan 8-33, Mohr 2-14, Obado 1-2; SR: Drum 7-59, DeSantis 10-50, Santos 6-14.

Passing - SW: Mohr 8-10-0-176, Szatkowski 0-1-0-0; SR: DeSantis 7-14-1-70.

Receiving - SW: Szatkowski 3-73, Vincelli 2-55, Toth 1-20, Janeczek 1-14, Fee 1-14; SR: Thomas 4-44, Kowalski 1-14, Baszak 1-7, Murdzek 1-5.