GMC Football: Piscataway tops South Brunswick

Wanting to capitalize on his team’s size and depth, Piscataway High School football coach Dan Higgins and his staff devised a simple game plan for the top-ranked Chiefs’ showdown with second-ranked South Brunswick.

“We knew they were playing both sides of the ball with their kids,” Higgins said. “We just wanted to pound on them because we knew offensively, whey let them have the ball. So if we could just pound on them and beat them up a little bit, it helps us defensively.”

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The Chiefs ran 38 plays from scrimmage, keeping the ball on the ground 33 times with 24 of those handoffs going to junior running back Juwon Jackson who finished with 200 yards and three touchdowns in an entertaining 28-14 victory on Friday night.

Piscataway (3-0) utilized an array of formations out of which they ran the ball with the result of each handoff but one going for positive yardage as the Chiefs achieved their desired goal of wearing downSouth Brunswick (2-1).

“That was the game plan,” said Higgins, whose running plays were mostly between the tackles. “We had multiple sets. We ever spread them out and ran inside. We did different things to make it look different. I was really happy they executed as well as they did.”

South Brunswick was only outgained 267 to 257 in total yards from scrimmage as quarterback Felix Quinones and wideout Justin Shorter teamed up to counter Jackson.
Quinones completed 8 of 11 passes for 105 yards and carried 15 times for 90 yards to finish with 195 yards from scrimmage. Shorter caught six passes for 85 yards including a 29-yard touchdown reception that made the score 14-7 with 4:40 left in the third quarter.

Piscataway answered Shorter’s touchdown with a 25-yard touchdown run from Jackson on which offensive linemen Jordin Martell and Austin Mosier opened a gaping hole for their gifted back, who ran virtually unscathed into the end zone.

“I love the way Juwon runs,” Higgins said. “He slides through holes. You can see he has vision and he has breakaway speed, but when you see him not get touched until he’s downfield that makes me even more happy that the line is doing their job, digging in the dirt and being unselfish.”

The resilient Vikings rallied yet again, cutting the deficit to 21-14 when Jaylan Lawson caught a ball that Shorter, who was the intended receiver, tipped to him in the back corner of the end zone on a fourth-and-3 from the Piscataway 10 yard line with 5:31 left in the fourth quarter.

After Piscataway recovered the ensuing onside kickoff at the South Brunswick 45, Jackson carried four consecutive times setting up fullback Jevon Buckmire-Davis for a well-deserved 2-yard touchdown run that gave the Chiefs a 28-14 lead with 4:06 remaining.

Davis spent the bulk of the evening blocking for Jackson and turning in a stellar defensive performance from his linebacker position.

Kamille Pryor iced the victory with a 31-yard interception return to midfield. The turnover was the second of the game the Chiefs recorded.

A fumble recovery from Keshawn Grant on an errant pitch late in the second quarter gave the Chiefs possession at the South Brunswick 31. Piscataway then called Jackson’s number five consecutive times with the fifth rushing play resulting in a 1-yard scoring plunge for a 14-0 lead.

Jackson opened the scoring on a 9-yard run in the second quarter. His jaunt capped a 25-yard drive following a short South Brunswick punt as Piscataway won the field position battle in the opening half.

South Brunswick was outgained 118 to 85 in total yards from scrimmage at the intermission, at which time it had already amassed six penalties for 58 yards. The biggest flag was a procedure call that negated an apparent 94-yard scoring strike from Quinones to Shorter.

The teams combined for 113 yards in penalties with South Brunswick owning a 73 to 60 yard advantage in that department.

“We played 48 minutes,” Higgins said, noting that every time the Vikings appeared to have an answer, “we responded.”

“I was really proud of how different guys came up and made big plays at different times.”