GMC Football: New Brunswick tops East Brunswick in OT

NEW BRUNSWICK — With a mere three wins between them, Friday’s tussle between the East Brunswick and New Brunswick High School football teams may not have been the most compelling matchup in the Greater Middlesex Conference.

But it was the most exciting.

The outcome remained in doubt until Ramiro Osuna and the rest of the New Brunswick line were able to stuff East Brunswick quarterback James Schuld on a fourth-and-2 from the 17, giving the Zebras a hard-fought 20-14 verdict in overtime.

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Dylan Johnson, who carried 28 times for 122 yards, staked New Brunswick (2-7) to the lead by breaking a couple of tackles en route to a 16-yard touchdown run on the first possession of overtime.

East Brunswick (2-6) tried to answer with four straight runs by Schuld, who carried a remarkable 35 times and finished with a game-high 145 yards. Schuld delivered both Bears touchdowns on keepers, the second from 11 yards out with 59 seconds remaining to force the extra session.

All of the first-half scoring came on successive plays from scrimmage early in the second quarter. East Brunswick’s was by design. New Brunswick’s wasn’t.

The Bears scored first on a 10-yard keeper by Schuld, capping an eight-play, 80-yard march with 11:21 to play in the second quarter.

On New Brunswick’s first play from scrimmage, three Bears defenders appeared to have New Brunswick quarterback Ny’dir Harmon sacked. Just as the sophomore appeared to be going down, he spotted Johnson and dumped the ball off to him. The junior back darted to his left, raced down the left sideline, then weaved his way across the field and crossed the goal line near the right corner. It was a 69-yard play but Johnson ran at least 100.

Harmon connected with Dahvey Hicks for the two-point conversion, giving the Zebras an 8-7 edge just 32 seconds later that would last through halftime.

The temperature plummeted during halftime and the win picked up in the third quarter, causing Schuld to throw a wobbly third-down pass into the wind on the first possession of the second half. Hicks stepped in front of the pass and raced 36 yards for a touchdown for a 14-7 New Brunswick advantage a minute and a half into the second half.

And that’s where the score remained until Schuld’s second visit to the end zone in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

EAST BRUNSWICK (2-6) 0-7-0-7-0-14

NEW BRUNSWICK (2-7) 0-8-6-0-6-20
 
SCORING SUMMARY 

EB - Schuld 10 run (Safeer kick)

NB - Johnson 69 pass from Harmon (Hicks pass from Harmon)

NB - Hicks 36 interception return (kick failed)

EB - Schuld 11 run (Safeer kick)

NB - Johnson 16 run (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

Rushing - EB: Schuld 35-145, Jones 5-20; NB: Johnson 28-122, Harmon 7-42, Brown-Miller 1-5, Hicks 2-3.

Passing - EB: Schuld 7-16-1-89; NB: Harmon 4-13-0-107.

Receiving - EB: Solimini 2-43, Gudzak 3-30, Crocco 1-9, Brenner 1-7; NB: Johnson 1-69, Brown-Miller 1-27, Moore 1-9, James 1-2.