CLARK, NJ- The Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders varsity football team will return home to take on Roselle-Abraham Clark HS tomorrow night, September 22nd at 7:00 p.m.
HISTORY:
The two teams have split meetings the past two seasons. Johnson won a home matchup in Week 6 of the 2015 season by a final score of 23-14.
In last year’s Week 3 matchup, Roselle defeated Johnson by a final score of 56-41.
NOTES:
For the second straight season, both Roselle and Johnson come into their meeting with 2-0 records.
Johnson comes off their 38-7 Week 2 win at Bernards HS, where senior fullback and co-captain Joe Turek scored two rushing touchdowns, powering the Crusaders, along with 144 rushing yards on 13 carries. Senior kicker Mike Casalino connected for a 33-yard field goal, his third of the season, going 5-for-5 on extra points and forced six touchbacks on kickoffs, once again coming up big, embracing the role of being a high school kicker, when the offense wasn’t able to find the end zone on one drive.
Senior Brandon Rapp also sparked the offense with a 46-yard rushing touchdown that would make the score 24-7, picking up the defense after they gave up a touchdown to Bernards junior Ethan Caldwell. In addition to the rushing touchdown, he ran for 64 yards on three carries.
Junior Sebastian Iakouchevitch added an 80-yard rushing touchdown in the victory, a score that made it 17-0 Johnson in the second quarter, following an interception by the Crusaders defense. He ran for 151 yards on nine carries, to go along with the 80-yard rushing touchdown.
In total, the Johnson running game has totaled numbers of 882 yards on 69 carries. Turek leads the offense with 319 rushing yards on 27 carries, to go along with five rushing touchdowns.
Roselle is coming off a 28-21 Week 2 win over Delaware Valley HS. They are led by senior quarterback Quraan Dixon, a transfer from East Orange Campus HS, who is filling in the shoes of former QB Gerald Hairston III (now playing Division II Football at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania).
Other major talent the Rams lost to graduation last year include WRs Drew Stephens (playing with Hairston III at Lincoln University) and Junior Jean, along with RB Isiah Byrd (playing at Virginia Union University).
Dixon is 20-for-41 on the season with 458 passing yards and four touchdown passes, along with four interceptions.
Other players on Roselle for Johnson to watch on Friday night include seniors receivers Nasir Cherry (had game-winning 80-yard receiving touchdown in last week’s win) and Jordan Gray, who lead the Rams in catches made on the season.
If the Johnson Crusaders continue to play the way they’ve always been playing, hard, fast, physical and going at the football and charging through other team’s defenses on offense and drawing up good game plans, they will compete on Friday night. Roselle has always been a challenging team in the James Williams era. He took over the program in 2013, succeeding Lou Grasso, Jr., the current head football coach at Union High School, who has been there since taking the job in 2013.
Roselle may not be as explosive as last year and we may not see a high-scoring shootout like last year, but only gametime will tell. Their team presents a big group of athletes.
For Johnson, the turnovers cannot be made in a domino effect like they did last year, especially with the lead they had in the second quarter of last year’s matchup.
Another major note is that turnovers were the major difference as to why the Johnson Crusaders lost last year’s game. After holding a 21-7 lead and following a Roselle touchdown that cut the lead down to 21-14, an interception just within the final minutes of the first half led to a second Roselle touchdown that cut the lead down to 21-20, the score as the two teams went into halftime.
Roselle drove off that momentum and took a 28-21 lead as Hairston III connected with Drew Stephens (playing with Hairston III at Lincoln University). Johnson would tie the game 28-28, but Roselle went back on top 35-28 and a second major Crusaders turnover turned the momentum completely in Roselle’s favor.
A lost fumble on the ensuing kickoff gave Roselle possession deep in Johnson territory and would pound it in to take a 42-28 lead through three quarters of play. The next Crusaders drive featured a lost fumble that would taken back for a touchdown, the score becoming 50-28 with Roselle out in front.
Another major factor will be how the Johnson running game can do, especially with fighting to remain on the field by charging Roselle’s defense, to keep their offense off the field and milk time off the clock.
Chris Di Nucci’s new defensive system, teaching the players the hands-on style of defense, has worked during the first two games and will be tested. With Roselle’s running game and defense, their passing game has been a major factor towards their success. If the Johnson defense can charge and chase Quraan Dixon, along with slowing down the receivers, it is quite possible that could stand out as a factor as to the outcome of tomorrow night’s game.
Roselle opened up their 2017 season in Week 1, defeating Bernards HS by a final score of 34-17 at Rahway River Park.
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