Football: Bound Brook brothers rescue the Crusaders

MANVILLE – If you squinted, it looked like a play that could have been drawn up in the dirt in the backyard of the LePoidevin household.

Bound Brook High School junior quarterback David LePoidevin rolled out to his right near the goal line looking for a white and red jersey to throw to late in the fourth quarter. He found nothing but charging blue and gold bodies as the Manville defensive pressure began to close in.

Running out of time and space, LePoidevin saw a very familiar face streaking across the goal line, his brother, senior wide receiver Joseph. David threw across his body and field, a ball that probably flew further laterally than vertically, and hit Joseph for a four-yard touchdown to give the Crusaders a 7-6 lead with 4:42 left to play. The Crusaders held onto to that lead to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

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“I could barely see anything other than everyone in my face, but I knew it was my brother on the other end,” David said. “I just threw it up where I put it everyday in practice, and I knew he would be there.”

The play truly resembled a broken play that a pair of brothers would pull off as kids in the backyard or out in the street with the neighborhood boys. It was also a very risky play, with David floating a ball across the middle of the field for anyone to grab. The quarterback had all the faith in the world that his older brother would be there to pull down the rock.

Chemistry between quarterback and wide receiver is paramount, and what better way to develop that rapport than share the same DNA? The Bound Brook brothers are always talking football, and their growth and improvement doesn’t stop when practice ends.

“We have the upper hand on most people because we get some extra practice, like talking at the kitchen table,” Joseph said. “We’re always talking to each other and working on each other’s craft.”

The LePoidevin connection has also contributed to the brotherhood within Bound Brook. The group is a tight-knit group that’s transformed the Crusaders from perennial basement dwellers to a playoff team last season.

“We have a literal brother bond, but throughout the team there’s a brotherhood,” Joseph said. “Everybody holds each other accountable. The older guys are always treating the freshmen like little brothers. It’s a big bond.”

Bound Brook isn’t traditionally viewed as a football powerhouse, but that’s starting to change. The Crusaders finished 8-3 a season ago and made it to the NJSIAA North 2 Group I semifinals where they fell to Shabazz. It was Bound Brook’s first season finishing over .500 since 2007.

Already 2-0 to start 2017, the Crusaders are well on their way to continuing this new tradition of winning.

“Not too long ago, I think we would have found a way to lose this game,” Bound Brook coach Dom Longo said. “It’s a different mindset with these guys. They don’t know how to lose, so they expect to win.”

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