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FOOTBALL

Football: Bound Brook tops rival Bernards

Harry Frezza
@thefrez56

BOUND BROOK – The Bound Brook High School football team could have looked ahead toward its Mid-State 37 Conference showdown with Brearley next Friday night.

It could have considered Friday night’s cross-division game with ancient rival Bernards as a meaningless regular season game. But there were so many incentives for the Crusaders to choose from, and they answered with a terrific effort in a rousing 37-14 triumph.

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Bound Brook (5-1) went into last season’s game with Bernards at 5-0, but suffered a 48-7 loss in Bernardsville. Bound Brook didn’t forget and played with what looked like playoff game passion from start-to-finish in front of a spirited crowd.

Bernards (1-6) isn’t close to the same team that advanced to the NJSIAA Central Group II final last season, and will experience its first losing after six straight winning ones. 

But Bound Brook overlooked Bernards’ record and the number of its graduation losses. The Crusaders also didn’t have a letdown after throttling longtime nemesis and Union Division rival Roselle Park, 37-14, a week ago at LaMonte Field. 

“They (Bernards) have really beat us up the past three years, and we all had that in our minds,” senior right tackle Kyle Frauenheim said. “But we looked away from their record. We really had this game circled on our calendar.”

“I’m so proud of our guys,” said Bound Brook coach Dom Longo, whose team’s had lost five straight to Bernards, being outscored 209-47 in those games. Bound Brook leads the series 37-26-8.

Frauenheim had been on the losing end of three straight blowout losses, but said focus was more the key than thoughts of payback. He did add that the team considered this an extremely important game. Bound Brook has been atop the Central Group I power point race for a couple weeks. Despite its record, Group II Bernards also afforded Bound Brook a chance to gain valuable power points. But all of that was a bonus to what would happen on the field.

The Crusaders rushed for nearly 250 yards behind the offensive line of Frauenheim, junior right guard J.J Sistrunk, senior center Louis Hector, senior left guard Jeff Sumbana and senior left tackle James Killeen.

“Our OL across the board did a great job,” Longo said.

“We did a good job of combination blocks and getting on to the (line) backers to open up the holes for our running backs,” Frauenheim added.

Speedy  junior Mason Horsburgh went for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. He used his superior speed, but was also able to pick up tough yards through small holes up front.

“My line helped me, I couldn’t have done it without them, I couldn’t have done it without my coaches. They told me what to do and I did it,” Horsburgh said.

 The Crusaders took a 3-0 lead on Ken Reyes’ field goal, but Bernards took a 7-3 lead at 6:34 of the second quarter on a Joey Billotti run and Steve Lopez extra point.

Horsburgh’s 14-yard TD run with 3:01 left in the first half gave Bound Brook a 10-7 lead and was the start of 28 unanswered points. 

“I think we wanted to be physical and I think up front we were able to run the ball, control the line of scrimmage and that was the key,” Longo said. “We have done a good job this year running straight ahead. But you are never quite sure against a good program like that. You’re not sure if you can control the line of scrimmage. That was the difference for us.”

Bound Brook came out in the second half sustaining its momentum and scored on its first drive. Junior quarterback David LePoidevin scored off a scramble from nine yards out to give Bound Brook a 17-7 lead at 6:25 of the third quarter. The cushion became 24-7 with 1:52 left in the third quarter on Horsburgh’s 9-yard-run. That score came four plays after Bound Brook recovered a fumble at the Bernards 27.

BERNARDS (1-6) 0-7-0-7-14
BOUND BROOK (5-1) 3-7-14-13-37
BB: Reyes 37 FG
BE: Billotti 1 run (Lopez kick)
BB: Horsburgh 14 run (Reyes kick)
BB: LePoidevin 9 run (Reyes kick)
BB: Horsburgh 9 run (Reyes kick)
BB: Wilson 3 run (Reyes kick)
BE: Desiderio 75 run (Lopez kick)
BB: C. Vicuña 33 interception return (kick failed)