GMC Football: St. Joseph clinches White Division title

CARTERET -  The St. Joseph (Met.) High School football team required 16 plays and more than nine minutes to travel the 72 yards it needed to score the touchdown that left it clinging to a 7-0 edge at halftime on Friday.

The Falcons needed just four plays — combined — to reach the end zone on its first three possessions of the third quarter to break open a taut contest and roll to a 35-7 victory over Carteret.

MEDIA BLITZ: WEEK 8 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FRENZY

The victory enabled St. Joseph (8-0), ranked third in the Home News Tribune Top 10, to clinch its second consecutive Greater Middlesex Conference White Division title.

“It feels pretty good,” St. Joseph first-year coach Rich Hilliard offered. “When Casey (Ransone) stepped down from this job he didn’t leave me in bad shape. The kids bought in and it paid dividends for us.”

The Falcons displayed great balance on offense while holding its seventh consecutive opponent to a touchdown or less. St. Joseph amassed 370 yards off total offense, including 211 on the ground on 38 carries.

“We try to stay balanced. You want to be able to run the ball, to throw it,” Hilliard said. “We established a little bit of a run, then we tried to air it out a little bit. It worked out good for us.”

And the defense continued to dominate.

“Our defense has been playing lights out all year long,” Hilliard said. “Without defense, you’re nothing.”

Manny Resto led the way with 129 yards on 17 carries, while Jordan Davis (12-88) and Brian Reilly (4-6) each ran for two scores. The Falcons' other touchdown came on a 70-yard pass from Paul Cocozziello (11-18-1-173) to Nate Wyatt.

Carteret (4-3), ranked eighth in the Home News Tribune Top 10, drove from its 27 to the St. Joseph 34 on its first possession before fumbling the ball away, with Jalen Murray recovering for the Falcons at their 28 with seven minutes left in the opening quarter. The Falcons picked up five first downs before Reilly bulled his way in from the one with 9:44 left in the half.

“Carteret gave us some a problems in the beginning and then that one drive, I think, we started wearing them down a little bit,” Hilliard said. “We took control of the game from that point on, I believe.”

The Falcons second-half salvo begin with a 45-yard interception return by Garrett Klurman to the 1, with Reilly finishing on the next play. A 39-yard first down run by Resto preceded a 9-yard romp to the end zone by Davis, before Cocoziello connected with Wyatt for the 70-yard score on another opening play of a drive.

The Ramblers finally broke through on a 24-yard scramble by Zamar Brake after the junior quarterback hooked up with Dario Demorla for a 53-yard gain. That made the score 28-7 with eight minutes remaining. 

ST. JOSEPH (8-0) 0-7-21-7-35

CARTERET (4-3) 0-0-0-7-7

SCORING SUMMARY 

SJ - Reilly 1 run (Sot kick)

SJ - Reilly 1 run (Sot kick)

SJ - Davis 9 run (Sot kick)

SJ - Wyatt 70 pass from Cocozziello (Sot kick)

C - Zam. Brake 24 run (Fotia kick)

SJ - Davis 25 run (Sot kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

Rushing - SJ: Resto 17-129, Davis 12-88, Reilly 4-6, Cocozziello 5-minus 12; C: Henderson 8-51, Chandler 7-34, Zam. Brake 8-3.

Passing - SJ: Cocozziello 11-18-1-173; C: Zam. Brake 9-18-1-109.

Receiving - SJ: Wyatt 3-98, Klurman 3-47, Sot 3-18, Reilly 1-8, Resto 1-2; C: Demorla 6-93,     Zac. Brake 1-8, Sharpe 1-8, Kelly-Gordon 1-0.