By: Joe Haemmerle '86
SEPTEMBER 12 – WEST ORANGE, NJ - The young Crusader gridders posted their first shutout of their high school careers, a 24-0 blanking of Seton Hall Prep.
The Crusaders received the opening kickoff on Saturday morning and
Matthew Cusick expected the ball to roll into the end zone. His miscalculation (the ball rolled to the 1 yard line) turned into good fortune as he never gave up on the play and returned the ball to the 30.
The frosh put together a nice drive with running by
Peter DiBlasi and
Bryce Crawford moving the ball to the SHP 1. The drive stalled there, but Mr. Reliable,
Jake Sadaka drove a field goal through the uprights, giving BC an early 3-0 lead.
The ensuing kickoff was mishandled even worse by the Pirates, whose returner let the ball bounce off his chest and right into the hands of, you guessed it,
Matthew Cusick.
With the ball 1
st and 10 on the SHP 25, Cusick took a
Michael Martino handoff and did his best Devin McCourty impersonation cutting the ball all the way back to the right side, after sweeping left and taking it into the endzone. (Here's a fun watch: known as the "BRIAN CUSHING GAME" check you can see McCourty's "Cusick" impression at the 11:55 mark).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNpUkFzGuZM
Sadaka's kick was good and BC led 10-0.
Nakai Booker and
Malachi Thomas were giving the Pirate offense fits, but then the Pirates drove the ball, thanks to a pair of back-to-back defensive offsides penalties on fourth down. They had a big run, with one man to beat and he was run down and tackled by...
Matthew Cusick. As the ball approached the goal line BC needed a big play and on fourth and one, they got one from
Nico Santoli and
Frank Boguski who sacked the QB, setting up a 2
nd and 15. SHP couldn't move from there and threw a pass into the end zone on the last play of the first quarter and it was broken up by...
Matthew Cusick.
After being tackled for a loss, the Crusader offense stalled three-and-out and were forced to punt from the shadows of the SHP goal posts.
Michael Martino blasted a punt that travelled 53 yards before being returned for a couple. Multiple Pirates held Crusaders on the play (but you can only accept one penalty) so the Pirates were backed up to their own 34.
Auquan Moses, Jr. delivered the first blow to the Pirates on first down, tackling a sweeping running back for a 5-yard loss.
Frank Boguski made a solo tackle for a short gain on second down and then
Michael Martino broke up a third down attempt forcing a SHP punt.
I'm not even going to say who returned the punt to midfield as it's getting a little embarrassing at this point, but suffice it to say, you know who.
Michael Martino delivered a nice pass to
Matthew Cusick, who doesn't seem to be a fan of running into the endzone with the football, so he was tackled at the 10 yard line. Three plays later,
Nico Santoli powered the ball in, giving BC a 17-0 lead.
QB
Luciano Tarone finished off the scoring when he found a wide-open
Mason Baitala in the seam to put the finishing touches on the Pirates.
| TEAMS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
FINAL |
| Bergen Catholic |
10 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
24 |
| Seton Hall Prep |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
