Couzzi rallies Somerville football in win over Rahway

RAHWAY - There's one thing for sure about Rahway High School's new football field, located in the middle of  Rahway River Park: the scoreboard certainly works.

High-flying Somerville put it to the test Friday night with a 59-35 victory in a battle of unbeaten teams on the plush new field.

Quarterback Nick Couzzi led the assault by completing 15 of 27 passes for 301 yards and five touchdowns, and running 20 times for 216 yards and another score, for 517 yards of total offense.

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"Nobody can stop us, we're on a roll," Couzzi said. "Now we have to keep this going."

It took Rahway three and a half years to get the field built, but the Indians needed less than two minutes to find the goal line.

Terrance Anderson delivered the first touchdown on the new field with a 5-yard run less than two minutes in, added a second less than two minutes later on a 20-yard pass from Zahir Wilder after Somerville muffed the kickoff, and scored a third on the final play of the quarter, staking Rahway to a 20-7 cushion.

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While the Indians scored twice before Somerville got its hands on the ball Couzzi and his teammates weren't rattled.

"We knew going in that they were a very athletic team," Couzzi explained. "We knew they were capable of getting a lead and we would just have to come back."

The Pioneers came roaring back as each team scored touchdowns on their first four possessions, leaving the game deadlocked at 28-28 at the half.

Rahway took its final lead on 4-yard pitch to Zi'on Pendleton for a 35-34 edge with 1:55 left in the third quarter. The Indians maintained that lead for all of 17 seconds, as Couzzi hooked up with Chris Ciempola for an 80-yard strike on Somerville's next play from scrimmage.

The Pioneer defense took over from there, shutting out Rahway over the final 14 minutes, an eternity in this high-scoring three hour and 15 minute epic. A.J. Akins led the defensive charge with three sacks after Somerville took the lead for keeps.

"All that was happening is that the big men up front were doing their job, and our receivers were getting open," Couzzi said.

Somerville entered averaging 48 points per game and has scored at least 41 points in all five contests under first-year coach Jeffrey Vanderbeek.

SOMERVILLE  (5-0)  7-21-14-17-59

RAHWAY  (4-1)  20-8-7-0-35

SCORING SUMMARY

R - Anderson 5 run (kick failed)

R - Anderson 20 pass from Wilder (run failed)

S - McDuffie 25 pass from Couzzi (C. Ciempola kick)

R - Anderson 3 run (Strickland pass from Wilder)

S - Newton 3 run (C. Ciempola kick)

S - Petties-Jackson 10 pass from Couzzi (C. Ciempola kick)

R - Cummings 45 pass from Wilder (Anderson run)

S - J. Ciempola 10 pass from Couzzi (C. Ciempola kick)

S - C. Ciempola 33 pass from Couzzi (kick failed)

R - Pendleton 4 run (Cardoza kick)

S - C. Ciempola 80 pass from Couzzi (McDuffie pass from Couzzi)

S - Couzzi 18 run (C, Ciempola kick)

S - C. Ciempola FG 2

S - Lee 3 run (C. Ciempola kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - S: Couzzi 20-216, C. Ciempola 1-23, Newton 4-23, Lee 4-13, Burnside 1-3, McDuffie 2-3; R: Anderson 14-109, Moore 3-26, Pendleton 1-4, Velez 2-3, Lacefield 1-minus 2, Wilder 14-minus 14.

Passing - S: Couzzi 15-27-1-301; R: Wilder 22-32-1-310.

Receiving - S:  C. Ciempola 2-113, Petties-Jackson 6-92, McDuffie 2-31, Newton 2-31, J. Ciempola 2-26, Lee 1-8; R: Cummings 8-184, Halsey 6-36, Strickland 2-27, Anderson 1-20, Lacefield 2-20, Moore 2-18, Smith 1-5.