Cocozziello is an air force in St. Joseph football team's Military Appreciation Day victory

Considering how often Paul Cocozziello threw the ball during the St. Joseph High School football team’s second annual Military Appreciation Day Game, one might think the senior quarterback was paying tribute to the Air Force.

The Falcons, however, came out throwing by design as Cocozziello set what is believed to be a school record with 319 passing yards and four touchdowns in a 40-7 victory over Woodbridge on Saturday.

“That was our game plan,” St. Joseph head coach Rich Hilliard said, noting workhorse back Manny Resto, who entered the contest averaging 27 carries and 166 yards per game, was a little banged up.

READ: Amid Anthem controversy, St. Joseph football program honors those who protect and serve

“We wanted to hit them early and get out of here as healthy as we can. We wanted to rest Manny and Manny knew that going in.”

The defending Greater Middlesex Conference White Division champion Falcons (4-0) extended their division winning streak to 13 games.

St. Joseph opened the game with four consecutive passes and seven of its first 11 plays from scrimmage were through the air as the Falcons raced out to a 28-0 first-quarter lead.

The military veterans, policemen and firemen who were honored during a pregame ceremony barely had time to get off the field and into their seats before Cocozziello threw his first touchdown pass just 107 seconds into the contest.

Cocozziello, who completed his first eight attempts, sandwiched scoring strikes of 33 and 20 yards to Jordan Davis around touchdown passes of 73 yards to Nate Wyatt and 45 yards to Jon Sot.

His aerial display was set against the majestic backdrop of an enormous American flag that dangled from the top of a fully extended ladder of a Colonia Fire Department truck located in the parking lot behind the visitor’s sideline around midfield.

“Every single one of my receivers played well, every single one of my linemen played well and the running backs blocked,” Cocozziello said. “I just had the opportunity (to air it out) this game. That’s what coach asked.”

Against Woodbridge, Cocozziello nearly equaled his passing yardage total through St. Joseph’s first three games combined, during which he completed 22 of 36 attempts for 375 yards and two touchdowns.

Former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano, now a defensive coordinator at Ohio State, and Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, both in town for the Scarlet Knights’ home game against the Buckeyes, paid a visit to St. Joseph to check out tackle John Olmstead.

With the game against Rutgers just hours later, both coaches could only stay for the opening half, during which they got a chance to see Olmstead mostly provide pass protection.

“They got a good look at him,” Hilliard said of his 6-foot-6 and 300-pound tackle who is the GMC's most heavily recruited player since Bryan Fortay played quarterback at East Brunswick in the late 1980s. “They got to see what he can do.”

St. Joseph emptied its vast and diverse offensive playbook as the Falcons operated out of a variety of formations and asked Cocozziello, who split time operating out of the shotgun and lining up under center, to make some difficult throws.

Cocozziello displayed a deft touch, as well as a strong and accurate arm. He completed his first eight attempts and 11 of his first 13 passes.

The first touchdown came out of a four-wideout set with Davis, as the inside receiver on the right, beating his man on a pass across the middle of the field for a 33-yard score.

On the second touchdown, Wyatt, as the outside receiver, made an inside release and went back outside, where Cocozziello found him wide open down the right sideline for a 73-yard bomb.

With trips right and Davis in motion to the left out of the backfield, Cocozziello hit Sot, the lone receiver on the left side, in stride for the third touchdown, a well-defended 45 yard pass along the sideline on which Sot demonstrated tremendous concentration and excellent hands.

The fourth touchdown came off play action out of the I formation. Davis, the inside receiver, made a move to the post before breaking back toward the flag, beating his defender before settling under a 20-yard pass that he caught while falling backwards in the end zone.

“We have a large playbook, we all memorized it and we know what we are doing,” said Cocozziello, who could care less about his final passing numbers. “Stats don’t mean anything to us. We want to win. It was pretty ugly, but we got the job done.”

Cocozziello was referring to the final three quarters of the game, during which St. Joseph only outscored Woodbridge 12-7 as the Falcons, in their new all black uniforms with green numerals, looked sharper than they at times played.

Davis scored on a 1-yard run and Sot booted field goals of 45 and 32 yards to account for the rest of St. Joseph’s points.

Ke’sean Glover’s 45-yard interception return off a tipped pass set up Nick Nyers for a 1-yard touchdown with 8:58 remaining in the third quarter as Woodbridge (1-3), which was blanked in its first two games this season, averted a third shutout.

Glover finished with a game-high 101 rushing yards, 63 of which came on one play. His long run gave the Barrons a first-and-goal from the St. Joseph 6 yard line with time winding down in the second quarter, but the Barrons could not punch the ball into the end zone before time expired in the first half.

Woodbridge, playing without starting quarterback Donovan Tabon (shoulder injury), was limited to 22 yards through the air and St. Joseph recorded two interceptions, one off a halfback option pass.

The Barrons were outgained 411 to 132 in total yards from scrimmage. Resto finished with 53 yards on eight carries.

“We accomplished what we wanted to do,” Hilliard said. “We wanted to heal some kids and rest them. Thank God we got out of here with a W.”