FOOTBALL: Running game, clutch defense helps North Hunterdon past Watchung Hills

WARREN – The first half of Friday night’s game didn’t exactly go as planned for the North Hunterdon High School football team, as some mistakes on defense and special teams led to some big plays and dramatic Watchung Hills touchdowns. That made the halftime adjustment very simple for the Lions; clean up the errors and turn to the squad’s bread and butter, a brutal inside running game augmented by an offensive line that was playing beyond its years.

Senior back Mitch Finnegan collected 173 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown, and senior quarterback Matt Busher picked up 98 rushing yards and ran for four scores, as North Hunterdon’s defense held the Warriors to just 88 second-half yards, including just 12 on the ground, and rallied for a 34-26 victory at Tozier Field.

“It was just going their way in the first half,” said Lions coach Jared Mazzetta, whose team improved to 2-1. “But we also knew that on offensive side of the ball, that we’d be able to run the ball. That’s what we do. We’re a run-first team, making big plays in the run game.”

“We knew that we made mistakes, and that’s how they scored,” Busher said. “So all we thought of is that if we fixed those mistakes, they’re not going to score. Our defense, although they had that little hiccup at the end of the second quarter, our defense was still stellar tonight. Our run defense has been phenomenal and our offensive linemen just really pulled it out today.”

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North looked great on the game’s opening drive, needing just six plays to go 72 yards, highlighted by a 59-yard Busher run on a 3rd-and-1 from the Lions’ 37-yard line, and capped on Busher’s 2-yard scoring gallop.

But Watchung Hills (0-3) had an immediate retort, as Nadir Beyah ripped a 95-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff. The Lions hit right back, executing a 13-play, 75-yard drive, capped by another two-yard run from Busher, and the North defense stepped up at the end of the Warriors’ next drive, holding them to a field goal, one of four kicked by Brian Puccio, all from 34 yards out or longer.

Watchung Hills got another field goal on its next drive to make it 14-13, and after North scored on a three-yard Busher run, Puccio hit again to make it 21-16 with 14 seconds left before intermission.

What happened next is the kind of sequence that looked as if it might give the Warriors the momentum for good, as Michael Asante recovered the ensuing kickoff after North muffed it. Quarterback Jack Smith then threw the ball up in the front corner of the end zone on the first play, and Nick Ugarte went up and hauled it in for the score, and the home team led 23-21 at halftime.

“It was one of those games, back and forth,” Mazzetta said. “There was never a dull moment out there the entire time. It was stressful, but that’s what we practice for.”

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Watchung Hills scored what would prove to be its final points of the game on the first drive of the third quarter, as the North defense stepped up deep in its own territory, holding Watchung Hills to a 38-yard Puccio field goal.

The Lions stopped the Warriors’ next drive when Connor McMahon picked off a pass near his own 20, and after Finnegan capped a 10-play drive with a 15-yard scoring run, the 2-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the Lions with a skinny 27-26 lead.

But Watchung Hills couldn’t capitalize, as its drive stalled after three plays on an interception by Collin Lavigne, and after Busher capped the next drive with a 10-yard scoring run on a 4th-and-1 -- a charge that featured a pair of successful running plays on third downs – North pooch kicked the ensuing kickoff and finally got the bounce it was looking for, as the ball bounded right into the hands of Jack Malley to deny Watchung Hills an attempt at a game-tying drive.

“Our offensive line has just been amazing, our pulls and everything,” Busher said. “They may be young – we’ve got a couple of juniors in there, not much experience coming into this year with only three kids that had experience – but man, they’re playing like seniors. They’re playing their butts off, and me and Mitch really have a lot of fun running the ball.”

“These are the biggest these holes have been in the past three games,” Finnegan said. “Not sure what it was today, but our line came to play and they dominated today.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached atSPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN