HS Football: Tantleff, Bernards rout Bound Brook
BERNARDSVILLE – Friday evening’s football game between the Bernards and Bound Brook High School football teams very quickly turned into the Matt Tantleff show.
The senior ran for 138 yards and three rushing touchdowns and intercepted one pass on defense to lead the Mountaineers to a 48-7 victory over the Crusaders. Tantleff also caught four passes for 67 yards.
“There was a lot of momentum shifting, and our team really came together,” Tantleff said. “We got excited and kept rolling.”
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With the score tied 7-7 early in the first quarter, Tantleff weaved up the middle and scored on a 50-yard touchdown run to give the Mountaineers a 13-7 lead. On the ensuing Mountaineer drive, Tantleff ran for a 2-yard touchdown to push the Mountaineer advantage to 21-7 with 1:25 left to play in the first quarter.
On the ensuing Crusader drive, Tantleff intercepted a pass on the opening play. Tantleff then ran for a 44-yard touchdown run on Bernards’ first play of their ensuing drive to take a 27-7 lead.
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“That was my offensive line right there,” Tantleff said. “They were blocking all game and made the holes for me. It’s all on them.”
Bernards opened up the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Stephen Gribben to senior wide receiver Curt Gouldin about five minutes into the game.
Bound Brook tied the score 7-7 about three minutes later on a 3-yard rush by Mason Horsburgh, but the Mountaineer defense shutout the Crusaders for the rest of the game.
Bernards played with a palpable edge. According to Bernards coach Jon Simoneau, the feeling of being overlooked and the fear of having a losing season gave his squad an essential edge.
“We felt that everybody left us to die,” Simoneau said. “We felt everybody was coming here to watch us lose to the undefeated Group I team. There’s a fear amongst our guys that they’re going to be the guys who have a losing season for the first time in a long time. I think that was the difference.”
Coming off a tough 27-12 loss to Delaware Valley on Oct. 7, the convincing victory was an emphatic way to get another tally in the win column.
“It was a win or don’t make the playoffs kind of situation, so we knew a win would give us hope,” Tantleff said. “We went the whole week of practice knowing that. We worked hard, grinded it out and a good turnout happened because of it.”
Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached at dlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.