FOOTBALL

Football: Delaware Valley struggles in loss to Johnson

Harry Frezza
@thefrez56

ALEXANDRIA - The Delaware Valley High School football team knew it would need to be as close to mistake-free as possible Friday night if it was going to topple a polished machine like A.L Johnson.

Unfortunately for the Terriers, costly errors made it easier for the unbeaten Crusaders to depart Tap Webb Field with a 49-21 victory in a Mid-State 37 Valley Division game.

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A.L. Johnson improved to 4-0 both overall and in division play. Delaware Valley dropped to 2-2 and 1-2 in the division. A.L. Johnson can wrap up the division by beating Hillside in Clark next Friday night. Delaware Valley plays at division rival Bernards.

Delaware Valley had the opportunity to make it a three-team division race, but it didn’t happen for various reasons. 

The most significant was A.L Johnson’s 428 rushing yards. That number came in large part of a quality line that enabled halfback Joe Turek to run for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Quarterback Mike Bruno went for 120 yards and a touchdown. He threw just two passes and completed both, one for a 27-yard touchdown to Lorenzo De Paz in the third quarter.

Johnson led 28-0 in the second quarter and was in command with its hybrid triple-option offense doing the damage. Turek and backfield mates ran counters, misdirections, “iso” runs and sweeps.

“Every time I see Johnson they seem to fire off the ball harder and harder than they did the last time,” said Delaware Valley coach Mike Haughey, in his second year as head coach after being an assistant under former coach Mike Columbo. “You cannot simulate their physicality and speed in practice. The physicality is the hardest thing.”

Two turnovers and a botched snap on a punt gave the Crusaders prime short fields, something the Terriers wanted to avoid.

“We had dropped balls, fumbles, an interception, a punt snap over our heads,” Haughey said. “Even against New Providence in a (40-0) win last week we made mistakes, and we did not clean them up this week. Hurting ourselves is uncharacteristic of Del Val football. We have to clean them up going forward.”

The positives were that the Terriers didn’t quit on the night. Twice Johnson reached mercy rule territory in the second half and both times Delaware Valley answered with touchdowns. But that wasn’t exactly what the Terriers had in mind for their highlights on a day the unbeaten 1960 Delaware Valley club was honored.

A.L. Johnson scored on the first series of the game and soon was in complete control.

“Johnson is a better team, but I don’t know if they are 28 points better than us,” Haughey said.

A division title is no longer a possibility for the Terriers, but a Central Group II playoff berth is. Short memories will need to be part of that quest. The Johnson game film was reviewed Saturday morning, but that’s where any thoughts of it should die.

“We have to put this game behind us,” Haughey said. “We can’t afford to let one loss compound into two.”

One of the key sequences came with Johnson up 7-0 and just over five minutes left in the first quarter. Junior Lucas Romaine was set to punt from the Johnson 43, but the snap sailed over his head. Romaine did a lot just to beat the Crusaders to the ball, scoop it and get off a short punt. But despite his efforts, the  Crusaders were set up at the Terrier 40.  It was soon 14-0 as Brandon Rapp swept left for a 13-yard touchdown.

“You can’t give a team like that short fields. If we kick it deep and they’re pinned back and have to go 80 yards, it’s a different game,” Haughey said.

Delaware Valley got scores from Jared Pershyn on a 5-yard run and Pershyn touchdown passes of 10 and 42 yards to senior wide Joey Beljand and junior Zach Fleming respectively. Beljan was a bright spot as he made seven catches for 50 yards and touchdown and finished with eight tackles.