SPORTS

Football: Historic Bound Brook season comes to an end against Shabazz

Daniel LoGiudice
@danny_logiudice

BOUND BROOK – The Bound Brook High School football team’s season may have come to a disappointing and lopsided end on Friday night, but the Crusaders were able to walk off the field knowing they accomplished what very few other Bound Brook teams were capable of doing.

The second-seeded Crusaders (7-3) may have fallen to third-seeded Shabazz 67-16 in the NJSIAA North 2 Group I semifinals, but Bound Brook made history in 2016. With a 34-18 victory over Newark Collegiate in the quarterfinals last week, the Crusaders won their second playoff game since 1978 and its first since 2008.

For that, the 2016 Crusaders will stand out forever in the history of Bound Brook.

“I told the guys that I was proud of the way they came out, they didn’t fold,” Bound Brook coach Dom Longo said. “Our seniors set a standard that the younger guys will remember forever and ever. We want to get to a point where people aren’t surprised when we go 7-3. Someday this will be a bad season for us.”

Longo believes it was the work his team put in at practice and the weight room both before and during the season that set this year’s team apart from the other teams in Bound Brook history.

“They worked hard in the weight room in January, and they understood that doing things in January was just an important as doing things in February and March,” Longo said. “This team practiced hard every single day. I think the teams of the past didn’t think practice was that important, they just wanted to play on Friday. This team knew practice was important, and I think it showed on Friday nights.”

The senior class, particularly the senior captains, set the tone for the Crusaders early in the season. Quarterback Alexander Navarro, running back Joseph Warren and tight ends Tyson Amaker and Eric Dubecky led the high-effort Crusaders all season long.

“Our senior set a different standard for Bound Brook football,” Longo said. “We put it onto them to lead, I can’t say enough about the senior class. Even the guys who didn’t play a lot, right down to the end they were here, they came everyday. They just banded together, they knew what they wanted to do this year, and I think in most terms we accomplished what we wanted to.”

As for the game, senior quarterback Alex Navarro scored two rushing touchdowns in the second half.

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