FOOTBALL: Bridgewater-Raritan edges Hillsborough in wild affair

BRIDGEWATER – It certainly wasn’t the cleanest game the Bridgewater-Raritan High School football team has played over the past three seasons, but when the chips were down and they needed a big play, the Panthers showed why they haven’t lost a regular-season game since 2014.

Senior running back David Usewick finished 30-for-124 on the ground with three touchdowns and junior quarterback Greg Verano added 132 yards from scrimmage and a score, as Bridgewater-Raritan overcame four turnovers and a host of ill-timed penalties, surviving a 2-point conversion attempt in the final seconds Friday night, running their regular-season winning streak to 24 games with a 31-30 edging of Hillsborough at Basilone Field.

“We knew it was going to be exactly this,” Bridgewater-Raritan coach Scott Bray said. “Coach (Kevin) Carty (Jr.) has a great team this year, great athletes across the board. We knew we were going to have to bang it out. I didn’t expect it to come down to a 2-point conversion (attempt), but I expected to be here in the fourth quarter. I was very proud of them. There was a lot of adversity today. Both teams played sloppy, but we were able to keep our focus when we needed to, make plays when we needed to, and come away with the win.”

“All the summer work that we put in, all the long days and double sessions, we’re a family here and the love that we have for each other, we just pushed through adversity and came out with the win,” Verano said. “That (Hillsborough) is a great team over there. It’s just about everybody executing their job. This is the ultimate team game, and when everybody does their job, it’s really nice.”

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While the game was back and forth for most of the evening, it looked as if Bridgewater-Raritan might pull away late. The Panthers got a one-yard Usewick scoring run with 3:12 left in the third quarter to take a 24-21 lead, and, after Chike Nwankwo intercepted a pass to give his team the ball at the Raiders’ 14-yard line, made it 31-21 after a five-yard Usewick run and a an extra point from Nick Ballilo, who finished 4-for-4 on PATs Friday.

After Hillsborough went 3-and-out on its next drive, BR got all the way to the Raiders’ 7-yard line, before Norman Washington recovered a fumble to keep his team alive. Hillsborough then embarked on a 13-play, 91-yard drive, settling for a 20-yard field goal from JR Metallo, who also went 4-for-4 kicking extra points.

Hillsborough came up with another huge defensive play on the Panthers’ ensuing possession, as Metallo recovered a fumble at the BR 40-yard line on the second play from scrimmage, giving the Raiders a chance to tie or win the game.

The offense did not disappoint for Hillsborough, as quarterback Matt Moore completed a trio of double-digit-yard passes, capped by a 24-yard hook up with Justin Brown with 1:55 remaining to make it a 31-30 game. Carty then opted to forgo the tying extra-point attempt in favor of a 2-point conversion try to take the lead, but Moore could not find an open receiver, dooming the try. Usewick then converted a 4th-and-1 on Bridgewater-Raritan’s ensuing drive to clinch it.

“I thought we would make it,” Carty said. “I thought we had momentum and that was the best way for us to get in there and try and win it on that play. I liked our offense at that time with what was going on, I thought we were on a roll, had a chance at a good play and that we would make it.”

“We talked (after the game) and I told him, I would have done the same thing,” Bray said. “I said, ‘At that point, everybody’s tired, everything’s going on, you guys have to try and do it.’ Just like I knew we were going for it on that fourth down and not punting it. You’re sitting there saying, this is it, we’ve got to finish it right now.”

Though the game featured seven turnovers and 21 accepted penalties, as well as a bunch of players cramping up on a warm and muggy night, it really was a thriller, and from the very start. Bridgewater-Raritan took the opening kickoff to its own 21-yard line, before Amankwaa intercepted Verano on the first play from scrimmage, setting up a 13-yard Moore-to-Brown touchdown pass.

The Panthers responded two possessions later, getting a seven-yard Usewick scoring run, before the Raiders immediately retorted as Moore hit Jackson Parham with a 53-yard touchdown pass.

Bridgewater-Raritan tied the game with 4:50 left before halftime on a one-yard run by Verano, extending its lead to 17-14 on a 27-yard field goal by Ballilo with 30 seconds left before intermission. But Hillsborough wasn’t done, getting a highlight-reel caliber touchdown gallop from Tyler Boatwright, who eluded a host of would-be tacklers to reach the end zone from 45 yards out with four seconds left on the clock, giving Boro a 21-17 halftime lead.

“These guys can fight and we have some talented players,” Carty said. “That’s what we need. We just have to finish it. We’re just not happy with this result. We’re going to get more chances against good teams – that’s what we get in our league. If we pass those tests, we can be back on top. And I know we can. I’m sick right now because we didn’t. They’re a great team and they played tough and they made the plays they needed to win, so all the credit to them, but we can’t be happy with that. I’m as happy as you can be with our fight and our effort and the players I know we have, but we have to do a little better. We’ve got to do one point better than we did. I love the guys we have and I know we’re going to do it.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached at SPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN

HILLSBOROUGH (1-1) 14-7-0-9 -- 30
BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN (2-0) 7-10-7-7 -- 31
SCORING PLAYS:
H – Brown 13 pass from Moore (Metallo kick)
BR – Usewick 7 run (Ballilo kick)
H – Parham 53 pass from Moore (Metallo kick)
BR – Verano 1 run (Ballilo kick)
BR – Ballilo 27 FG
H – Boatwright 45 run (Metallo kick)
BR – Usewick 1 run (Ballilo kick)
BR – Usewick 5 run (Ballilo kick)
H – Metallo 20 FG
H – Brown 24 pass from Moore (pass failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:
RUSHING: H--Boatwright 11-70, Moore 3-6, Amankwaa 6-21, Boczon 1-1; BR—Usewick 30-124, Verano 9-59, Goffe 4-53, Bryant 2-5.
PASSING: H--Moore 12-22-3-1-194; BR – Verano 8-15-0-2-73.
RECEIVING: H—Quick 2-34, Brown 2-37, Parham 5-97, Boatwright 1-0, Zdroik 1-26; BR—Usewick 1-(-3), Myers 4-48, Rosseland 1-4, Nickel 1-2, Bryant 1-22.