GMC football: St. Joseph wins big over South Plainfield

SOUTH PLAINFIELD—The going nowhere defense and the power running of Luke Yakely were almost givens. But a St. Joseph air show behind quarterback Mitchel Epstein?

Now, that was an eyebrow lifter.

The Falcons sprinkled in passes during a surprising 37-0 win over South Plainfield in a meeting Friday between undefeated teams for Greater Middlesex Conference White Division supremacy. Epstein was 11-of-14 for 203 yards and two touchdown passes. Yakely, the 5-foot-10, 215-pound bruiser scored three touchdowns and rushed for 159 yards.

Jordan Davis scored on a 35-yard pass, while Jon Sot caught a 39-yard pass and added a 31-yard field goal. Both Davis and Sot caught screens, and bolted down the sidelines.

OK, maybe fans didn’t need binoculars every play. Epstein threw several screen and short passes, although he did go downfield on occasion. But Epstein was the X-factor. The senior was starting his second game after taking over for injured pocket passer Paul Cocozziello, who suffered a hairline fracture of his right tibia in a win over Colonia two weeks ago. Epstein attempted three passes in last week’s 28-6 win over Woodbridge, as Yakely did most of the work.

The Falcons (5-0) were already in double jeopardy with missing offensive starters as tailback Manny Resto was out with a shoulder injury suffered last week. So somebody had to step up against South Plainfield (4-1). Enter Epstein, who played varsity receiver the past two seasons after quarterbacking the freshman team.

“Last night I was talking to my parents and I was like, 'This is going to be me,'” Epstein said. “'They’re going to make me beat them.' And I came out and I executed. … They were stacking the box. Definitely surprised them.”

Some media members picked against St. Joseph in what was expected to be a close contest between teams ranked in the Home News Tribune Top 10. In the last two seasons at South Plainfield, the No. 6 Tigers twice won by a combined 65-21 over St. Joseph. That was not lost on the No. 7 Falcons.

“The seniors knew we got our butt beat pretty bad the last two years,” Epstein said. “I gave a quick speech in the locker room saying this is the last time we’re on this field. How do you want to remember it? I really don’t like this place. I’ve had nightmares about this place. But it’s kind of a happy place for me right now, so that’s good. It’s all good.”

The St. Joseph giddiness started immediately. After a short run, Epstein rolled out and competed three screen passes. Davis went for a 16-yard gain and Alister Murray had a 26-yard catch. On first-and-10, Epstein threw to Davis who looked like he was about to be tackled. He paused for a second, avoided a tackler and took off down the left sideline for the 35-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.

After a South Plainfield punt, Yakely bounced off a tackler and broke for a 59-yard touchdown down the left sideline for a 14-0 lead with 3:51 remaining in the first quarter. From there, the lead only increased. Sot, who kicked field goals of 55 and 45 yards earlier in the season, drilled a 31-yarder for a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter. A Yakely 22-yard touchdown run with 10 seconds left gave St. Joseph a 24-0 lead at halftime.

The Falcons suffered another injury when guard David Barattucci hurt a knee during the first drive and didn’t return. Senior Alex Aithal stepped in for him on the big line.

“I’ve never been so proud of a group of young men as I am in these guys, because they’re a true sense of a team,” St. Joseph coach Casey Ransone said. “And when you have a team combined with talent, that’s when special things occur. And I normally never say this, but I truly believe we can compete with anybody in the county and anybody in the state. … The only reason I say this is, because I think these kids have earned it. Earned the respect of what kind of team they are.”

ST. JOSEPH (5-0) 14-10-13-0-37

SOUTH PLAINFIELD (4-1) 0-0-0-0-0

SCORING SUMMARY

SJ – Davis 35 pass from Epstein (Sot kick)

SJ - Yakely 59 run (Sot kick)

SJ – Sot 31 FG

SJ – Yakely 22 run (Sot kick)

SJ – Sot 39 pass from Epstein (kick failed)

SJ – Yakely 3 run (Sot kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - SJ: Yakely 15-159, Epstein 5-26, Davis 2-2; SP: Lovett 6-25, Smith 2-17, DelVecchio 5-14, Sapini 1-6.

Passing - SJ: Epstein 11-14-0-203; SP: Lovett 5-10-0-39, Marston 5-7-1-30, Stankan 1-1-0-28.

Receiving - SJ: Sot 3-85, Murray 3-54, Davis 2-51, Wyatt 3-13; SP: DelVecchio 3-35, Lovett 1-28, Sapini 4-23, DeAnqelis 1-12, Marston 1-minus 1.