St. Joseph football sets school record for points as Epstein stars
Mitchel Epstein overshadowed the triumphant return from an injury of running back Manny Resto, who scored on the opening series, with an impressive all-around performance that lifted the St. Joseph High School football team to a record-setting 52-14 drubbing of J.F. Kennedy at Louis M. Bartha Field on Friday night.
The 52 points St. Joseph registered against the Mustangs set a new school mark. The Falcons scored 50 points in a victory over Carteret last season. Luke Yakely closed out Friday night's scoring with a 15-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter.
The victory was the eighth straight for the Falcons (7-0), whose streak began with a 35-0 season-ending win over Bishop Ahr last year. During its winning streak, the Falcons have allowed a total of 47 points, or an average of 5.9 per game.
St. Joseph, which is in just its sixth season of varsity football and fifth as a Greater Middlesex Conference member, can clinch its second White Division title with a win over Carteret at home on Oct. 29. The previously undefeated Ramblers had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 10-0 loss to South Plainfield on Friday night.
Playing his fourth game behind center after starting quarterback Paul Cocozziello suffered a season-ending injury, Epstein broke off four scoring runs and completed two screen passes for touchdowns to help the Falcons (7-0) build a 42-7 halftime lead.
A converted wide receiver, Epstein amassed 178 rushing yards and 141 passing yards before the intermission as St. Joseph began the second half of a game with a running clock for the second consecutive week (the Falcons led Donovan Catholic 35-0 at the half in their previous outing). Epstein accounted for 316 of St. Joseph's 458 yards from scrimmage in the opening half. He scored on runs of 70, 34, 25 and 1 yards.
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St. Joseph, which blanked its two previous opponents, had its shutout streak snapped at 11 quarters when J.F. Kennedy signal caller Kyle Heaney scored on a long run in the first quarter, cutting a 14-0 deficit in half. The Mustangs (4-3), who entered the game having won three of their last four, would get no closer.
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Resto, a senior running back who missed two and a half games with a shoulder injury, had a successful return to the playing field, connecting with Epstein on a 57-yard screen pass for a touchdown on St. Joseph's first possession. The play set the offensive tone.
Epstein gave St. Joseph a 14-0 lead with a 2-yard touchdown plunge. Epstein, who doubles as a strong safety, set up the score with an interception return on the Mustangs’ first series. Epstein built St. Joseph's lead to 21-7, completing an 82-yard screen pass to Jordan Davis. Davis had two long kickoff returns to provide his teammates with excellent field position.
Epstein closed out the first half scoring with three consecutive touchdown runs including a 70-yard jaunt that gave the Falcons a 35-7 lead with 4:51 left in the second quarter.
St. Joseph placekicker Jon Sot booted a 32-yard field goal, his seventh straight of the season, in the fourth quarter and converted all seven of his PATs to improve his mark to 34 of 34 in that department.
The first-half damage could have been worse, but St. Joseph lost a fumble at the J.F. Kennedy 1-yard line midway through the second quarter.
The victory was St. Joseph's fifth straight over the Mustangs.