GMC Football: North Brunswick's Bailey runs for miles in win over South Plainfield
SOUTH PLAINFIELD—For fans watching, it’s blink-eye fast.
Sometimes, Myles Bailey looks like he’s bottled up, but before you know it, the North Brunswick tailback rips off a long run with everyone chasing him.
Somehow, some way.
Just don’t expect the sophomore himself, though, to feel like he’s in hyper speed-mode.
“Everything goes super slow,” he said. “Everything’s slow. Like coach (Pushaun) Brown told me, he said when you start running it, you start feeling it, things get slower and it’s touchdown after touchdown.”
Bailey and the Raiders continued their resurgent season with a 28-10 win over South Plainfield in Thursday’s Greater Middlesex Conference White Division game. Bailey unofficially rushed for 205 yards on 15 carries.
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Last fall, North Brunswick finished 1-9, but played competitively and had close loses. Against power South Brunswick on Thanksgiving, the Raiders lost 19-0 but showed sustained drives and glimpses of a potential turnaround this fall.
The players kept working under first-year head coach Mike Cipot. Now, North Brunswick (2-2) owns back-to-back wins with hopes of making a playoff run. As Cipot said, “We’re learning how to win.”
That was evident the last two games. On Sept. 23 against Carteret, the Raiders held on for the 13-6 victory. Thursday, North Brunswick led the tight contest 13-3 at halftime. On the first play of the third quarter, Bailey took off down the right side for a 66-yard touchdown.
South Plainfield got its own highlight when Dondre Tate broke for a 52-yard scamper that cut the deficit to 21-10 with 4:54 left in the quarter.
On the next drive, however, Bailey scored on a deflating 55-yard run for a 28-10 lead with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter. This season, the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder added a spin move that helps him to elude tacklers after working with Brown, the offensive coordinator and former North Brunswick star.
It’s just another tool in his repertoire.
“He’s got it all,” Cipot said. “He can outrun you. He can run you over. He can spin. He’s like the total package running back.”
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Bailey said he’s looking for the outside zone and he’s “got my tackle blocking for me and all that. I got my brothers that I trust to block for me.”
Cipot added that Bailey is a great student and someone “that you love to coach.” Oh, he's as hungry as ever.
“Here’s the thing, he’s got a natural talent but the hard work that he puts in is what really sticks out,” Cipot said. “The kid never missed a weight room session. He’s there every day. He’s lifting up big weights. If you guys ever saw him at practice, you would think that he was working for a job. … He has expectations for himself, so he’s never satisfied where he is as a player. He wants to be better and he wants to reach goals.”
Junior quarterback Christian Petrillo has a good view of Bailey.
“He’s athletic,” he said. “I can’t put it to words. He’s not in this nature. He’s unbelievable. He’s fast. He’s agile. He’s just so smooth, I guess you could say. He’s smooth. So smart. He’s a brilliant football player.”
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Of course, Bailey isn’t a one-man show. Petrillo himself smoothly runs the offense behind a tough offensive line. Thursday, he threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Amir Alderman and added a four-yard keeper for the score.
The players stuck together after a tough 2016, now things are starting to pay off.
“In football, out of football, we’re always there together,” Petrillo said. “We always have our little, like hangout sessions. We’re always trying to keep a family. And it’s succeeding and we’re all clicking.”