Piscataway advances in Central Group V
PISCATAWAY—Fans are familiar with No. 2 on Piscataway. Elijah Barnwell is a bona fide star, who holds the school’s career rushing record. Saturday, the Chiefs showed they had other offensive weapons in a 41-14 win over Hunterdon Central in a NJSIAA Central Group V quarterfinal.
What is an opponent to do?
“You try to take away the run, they can blow by you on the outside,” Hunterdon Central coach Matt Perotti said. “You try to take away the pass on third down, they can run 60 yards up the middle. Just so many weapons. And (Piscataway coach Dan Higgins) uses it so well. He just knows his team. He knows how to get the most out of them. I couldn’t think of a worst team to play in round one.”
Second-seeded Piscataway will host No. 3 Old Bridge next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the semifinal. Old Bridge defeated No. 6 Hillsborough 34-21 in Friday’s quarterfinal.
Piscataway (7-2) and No. 7 Hunterdon Central (6-4) have had many memorable playoff games through the years, but Saturday it was the Chiefs afternoon.
Quarterback Danny Haus threw two touchdown passes—a 34-yarder to Joshua Boyd and a 35-yard pass to Trey Hogan. Blocking back Rodney Williams broke for a 50-yard touchdown and sophomore Juwon Jackson had his share of runs, including a late 53-yard touchdown.
Oh, and Barnwell wasn’t completely shutout as he added a 33-yard, spinning-off-tacklers touchdown and a 55-yard score. All in all, a complete effort for the Chiefs.
“I was real happy how multiple guys got involved offensively,” Piscataway coach Dan Higgins said. “That really makes us much tougher to defend. Our defense played really fundamentally sound. We disrupted the short-range passing and got after the quarterback. I thought that was really important.”
Indeed, Hunterdon Central’s Perotti noted that a telling play of the game was a Piscataway defensive stop. Despite the final score, it was 7-0 after the first quarter in an evenly played 12 minutes.
The Chiefs scored first while facing a fourth-and-six from the Red Devils’ 34-yard line. Haus pumped fake a short pass, pulled back and threw downfield to an open Boyd for the touchdown. Michael Stalenyj kicked the first of his five extra points for a 7-0 Piscataway lead with 5:42 left in the quarter.
On the next possession, the Red Devils marched to Piscataway’s 16-yard line keyed by a 27-yard pass from Christian Shaw to Frank DePaola, and a 14-yard pass to Musa Hemby. On the next play, Abdel Mohamed put pressure on the quarterback, and Nasir James came up with the interception downfield.
In the second quarter, Piscataway scored three touchdowns following Hunterdon Central punts to lead 27-0 at the intermission.
“Having a lot of weapons definitely makes it easier on me,” Haus said. “I trust every one of those guys out there. I have a great o-line to block for me. I mean, that o-line does a lot of work and I trust every receiver that goes on the field.”
Piscataway seemed to hold the advantage on the offensive line, as Perotti said, “I just feel physics weren’t working in our favor today.” He added that the Chiefs line held an edge “in size, not in heart. … I’m proud of the way that they came out of that locker room in the second half.”
In the final 24 minutes, Shaw threw two touchdown passes to DePaola as the Red Devils got on the board.
Among the highlights for Piscataway was Williams’ 50-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that gave the Chiefs a 20-0 lead. The 5-foot-10, 230-pound senior is primarily a blocking back, getting carries in short yardage situations.
Williams, nicknamed Thumper, went up the clogged middle, appeared to get stopped, but kept moving and broke loose for the score, untouched. It was his first varsity touchdown and longest run.
“It was quite the experience,” Williams said. “I wasn’t expecting it. But I just kept my feet moving and there you go. … My running back coach told me when you hit the hole, lower your shoulder. That’s what I did. And next thing you know, I’m in the secondary.”
Was he tired after the long run?
“No,” he answered. “I was ready to get another one.”
HUNTERDON CENTRAL (6-4) 0-0-7-7-14
PISCATAWAY (7-2) 7-20-7-7-41
P – Boyd 34 pass from Haus (Stalenyj kick)
P – Barnwell 33 run (Stalenyj kick)
P – Williams 50 run (kick failed)
P – Hogan 35 pass from Haus (Stalenyj failed)
P – Barnwell 55 run (Stalenyj kick)
HC– DePaola17 pass from Shaw (Scott kick)
HC– DePaola 25 pass from Shaw (Scott kick)
P – Jackson 53 run (Stalenyj kick)