North Brunswick ends 9-game losing streak, beats Perth Amboy

NORTH BRUNSWICK - The North Brunswick High School football team had not won a game since October of last year. On Friday evening, the Raiders’ nine-game losing streak over two seasons came to an end.

Rushing for a combined 210 yards, the Raiders (1-6) defeated Perth Amboy 13-6 on a chilly Senior Night almost a year to the day of their last victory.

“We left four weeks in a row with our hearts broken, what do you tell the kids, this program needed a win,” North Brunswick coach Don Zsak said. “What I can tell you is these kids always fight their (butts) off.”

Freshman running back Myles Bailey led the rushing attack with 145 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Chich Petrillo added 66 rushing yards on 10 carries.

After a scoreless first quarter, the running game got the Raiders on the board first when Bailey ran for an eight-yard touchdown with 10:27 left in the first half to take a 6-0 lead.

After conceding a rushing touchdown later in the quarter that tied the score at six, Bailey scampered for a 29-yard rushing touchdown to take a 13-6 lead with 3:49 left in the first half.

“Anybody that knows me knows that I like to pound it,” Zsak said. “I love (Bailey), I trust him to run the ball. Over the course of the last four games, he’s really grown as an athlete. He carries the rock for us.”

As time expired in the third quarter, the Raiders muffed a punt that set up Perth Amboy on the North Brunswick 6-yard line to start the fourth quarter. The Raiders stuffed three Perth Amboy runs and on fourth and goal, junior quarterback Roberto Davila intercepted a pass in the end zone to give the Raiders the ball back with under 10 minutes to play.

Having gone with a three-man front up until that point, North Brunswick defensive coordinator Mike Sepot switched to a four-man front which helped lead to the big stop.

“When adversity hit and they got the ball on the six, they rose to the occasion,” Zsak said. “I give a of credit to our defensive coordinator, he changed it up at the right time and did a really great job.”

Perth Amboy did get the ball back with 2:32 to play and no timeouts left on their own 13-yard line but on fourth and 7 with 33 seconds left, the Raider defense forced an incompletion to ice the game.

Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached at dlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.