GMC Football: Sayreville regroups in second half to beat East Brunswick

The East Brunswick High School football team threw an early scare into Sayreville, but the defending North 2 Group IV champion Bombers regained their familiar form in the second half to pull away for a 48-21 victory on Friday night.

After the Bears knotted the contest at 14-14 in the second quarter, Anthony Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, enabling the Bombers to take a lead into the locker room at halftime.

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Sayreville outscored East Brunswick 27-7 after the intermission with running back Connor Holmes leading the way. He rushed 15 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns.

“I think we just settled down a little bit,” Sayreville head coach Chris Beagan said. “We were overrunning a lot of plays defensively and they were doing a nice job moving us inside. They controlled the ball almost the entire second quarter. I thought they did a really nice job with their offensive game plan.”

Rookie quarterback Mark Whitford, a sophomore who succeeded three-year starter Jayson DeMild, the Home News Tribune’s 2016 Offensive Player of the Year, was efficient. He completed 11 of 15 passes for 91 yards including a touchdown to Elijah Clark.

Clark, a Temple University commit who also had a scoring run, finished with 100 all-purpose yards. Zuriel Wright also had a touchdown run for Sayreville.

Sayreville received another special teams touchdown when Zacari Carter returned a punt 50 yards for a score.

“We are very young,” Beagan said, “but we are also very explosive, so I was pleased with our effort on special teams. They provided a spark for us when our defense was struggling a little bit.”

Quarterback James Schuld scored on a 5-yard run and backfield mate Zahir Jackson scored on an 8-yard run for East Brunswick.