HNT Football: South Plainfield rallies for win
SOUTH PLAINFIELD — Charles Lovett picked a good time for his first dive.
With the game on the line, the South Plainfield High School quarterback rolled out and flew into the end zone as two defenders moved in. The touchdown with 36 seconds left gave the Tigers a 15-12 win over Woodbridge in a rugged Greater Middlesex Conference White Division game.
“I saw green grass and I went for it,” the junior said. “I just saw the end zone and I knew I had to get in it.”
The touchdown and his two-yard conversion pass to Benjamin Lundy capped a 90-yard drive in two minutes and an improbable win. South Plainfield scored nearly 48 minutes apart in a game consisting mostly of big plays and tight defense. The game featured two teams in the Home New Tribune’s Top 10— South Plainfield was No. 5 and Woodbridge No. 7.
“They bent a little bit, but they manned up,” South Plainfield coach Gary Cassio said. “Offensively, we weren’t at our best. But crunch time, they stepped up. The boys all stepped up. You give Charlie Lovett credit. You give whoever you want credit. It was a complete team effort. Defense locked it up. The kids were motivated tonight. They didn’t want to give this one up. It was a big game for them.”
After the first minute, fans might have been expecting a shootout. South Plainfield’s Deshai Smith returned the opening kickoff 75 yards to Woodbridge’s 14-yard line as Woodbridge’s Keshawn Henry chased him down. The Tigers’ Zach DelVecchio reeled off an 11-yard run followed by a three-yard touchdown 33 seconds into the game. Smith’s extra point made it 7-0 with 11:27 remaining in the first quarter.
Two plays later, Woodbridge’s Da’Avian Ellington sprinted down the left sideline for a 71-yard touchdown. The Barrons missed the extra point, but cut the deficit to 7-6 with 11:09 left in the quarter.
Woodbridge struck again with 5:37 remaining in the second quarter. Daniels Messiah broke for an 84-yard touchdown to give his team a 12-7 lead. The two-point conversion run failed for the Barrons.
On the drive before that touchdown, South Plainfield added another gutsy, big play. On a fourth-and-five from its own 45-yard line, DelVecchio took the snap on a punt and spurted forward for a 39-yard gain. DelVecchio, though, remained down for a couple minutes after the play before jogging off. He was sidelined a few snaps as the Tigers’ drive stalled, turning the ball over on downs.
Toward the end of the first half, Woodbridge crossed into South Plainfield territory. But back-to-back sacks from the Tigers’ Austin Fritze and Luke Niemeyer forced Woodbridge to punt with 25 second remaining in the half.
South Plainfield nearly had two epic drives in the fourth quarter. The first one lasted just over seven minutes. It included the Tigers converting on a fourth-and-two from their own 33-yard line when DelVecchio had a seven-yard gain. The 5-foot-9, 225-pounder also had a 21-yard run, and appeared to catch a 25-yard touchdown from Lovett with just over four minutes remaining. Lovett threw as he was getting tackled from Woodbridge’s Marquan Payne. The scored, however, was negated from a holding penalty.
South Plainfield forced a quick punt and got the ball back with 2:14 remaining at its 25-yard line. A holding penalty pushed it to the Tigers’ 10-yard line with 2:09 left. South Plainfield moved the ball with a 10-yard pass from Lovett to Ryan Stankan and a facemask penalty. Lovett then reeled off a 52-yard up the middle to Woodbridge’s 9-yard line for first-and-goal with the clock running. On fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard, Lovett said he had the option of throwing the ball or keeping it. He kept it.
“We were going to get that ball in no matter what,” Lovett said. “Team win. Everybody pitched in. It wasn’t just me. It was the whole team. We pitched in. We stuck in the whole entire second half. We were able to come up with the win.”
WOODBRIDGE (1-2) 6-6-0-0-12
SOUTH PLAINFIELD (3-0) 7-0-0-8-15
SCORING SUMMARY
SP – DelVecchio 3 run (Smith kick)
WB – Ellington 71 run (kick failed)
WB – Messiah 84 run (run failed)
SP – Lovett 2 run (Lundy pass from Lovett)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - WB: Messiah 4-112, Ellington 12-80, Henry 6-41, Glover 3-21, Tabon 4-minus 27; SP: DelVecchio 14-98, Lovett 13-84, Smith 4-38, Lundy 2-7.
Passing - WB: Tabon 4-6-0-32; SP: Lovett 6-11-0-48.
Receiving - WB: Glover 2-18, Henry 2-14; SP: Sapini 3-27, Stankan 3-21.