SPORTS

Bridgewater-Raritan football coasts to victory over Union

Josh Rosenfeld

Correspondent

UNION --The Bridgewater-Raritan High School football team dominated Union everywhere but on the scoreboard Friday night.

After amassing a three-touchdown advantage and seemingly headed to a third consecutive shutout in a nearly flawless first half, the Panthers never returned to the end zone and could only muster a lone field goal after the break.

But the outcome was never in serious doubt as Bridgewater-Raritan, ranked second in the Courier News Top 10, coasted to a 24-14 victory to improve to 8-0 and apparently nailed down the top seed in the NJSIAA North 2 Group V playoff bracket.

"At the end we had some young kids in the game, maybe a little early on our part," Bridgewater-Raritan coach Scott Bray explained. "We want to see kids in those situations, because we have to prepare for the next seven weeks, hopefully. You want to see what kids are going to be there."

Bridgewater-Raritan required a total of 35 plays over its first three extended possessions, each leading to a touchdown. The first was a thing of beauty as the Panthers methodically marched 74 yards in 15 plays, consuming more than eight minutes before Nick Attanasio found David Usewick wide open in the left flat for a six-yard touchdown pass.

"We preach to our kids that whatever side of the ball we start on, we want to get off to a fast start," Bray said. "I thought our first half of football was the best first half we played all year. We got a little sloppy in the second half and the game ended up closer than it probably should be, but I was really happy with that part."

The Panthers' next two drives were similar, an 11-play, 75-yard trek that Ray Belleran finished from the 1, and a 58-yard, nine play excursion that ended with a 3-yard jaunt by Usewick. Bridgewater-Raritan had possession of the ball for 18 minutes of the 24-minute first half.

Justin Davidovicz, who concluded Bridgewater-Raritan's scoring with a 22-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, made sure Union could not get momentum from a kick return by blasting his first four kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, whether with or into the wind.

Attanasio was an efficient nine-of-10 passing for 83 yards, while Union completed just five of 20 passes for 88 yards with one interception. With an eye to the future, Bridgewater-Raritan let 10 different backs run the ball a total of 52 times for 221 yards. Union accumulated 89 yards on the

Ground, but 48 of those came on touchdown run by Al-Tariq Jones midway through the fourth quarter. Justin Beckett's two-point conversion pass to Kevin Willis reduced the deficit to 24-8, a two-possession game with 5:44 still to play.

"When it got to 24-8, you're sitting there like, 'Holy cow, we got a game here with six minutes left,'" Bray added. "Luckily, we were able to hold on."

FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Friday night's non-staffed games

BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN (8-0) 7-14-3-0-24

UNION (4-3) 0-0-0-14-14

SCORING SUMMARY

BR - Usewick 6 pass from Attanasio (Davidovicz kick)

BR - Bellaran 1 run (Davidovicz kick)

BR - Usewick 3 run (Davidovicz kick)

BR - Davidovicz FG 22

U - Jones 48 run (Willis pass from Beckett)

U - Cenescar 8 pass from Beckett (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: BR: Usewick 13-75, Vizzoni 8-38, Bellaran 9-33, Attanasio 10-38, Tate 1-23, Alessandro 4-12, Hanaska 3-6, Chirichello 1-0, Goffe 2-minus 4, Kelton 1-minus 4; U: Jones 5-55, Beckett 13-23, Whitfield 4-7, Bournes 1-4.

Passing: BR: Attanasio 9-10-0-83; U: Beckett 5-20-1-88.

Receiving: BR: Myers 3-29, Tate 2-25, Kelton 2-15, Usewick 2-14; U: Martin 2-59, Willis 1-14, Cenescar 1-8, Wooten 1-7.