CLARK, NJ- It is hard to believe, but we have reached the final week of the 2017 New Jersey High School Football regular season. The Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders varsity football team will return home to take on Governor Livingston HS tomorrow night, November 3rd at 7:00 p.m.
It is the Crusaders’ Senior Night game, where the senior football players, cheerleaders and band members will be honored for their hard work and dedication towards their respective programs over the past four years.
HISTORY:
Johnson has been in full control the past two seasons, winning the last two meetings. Johnson won a Week 4 matchup in the 2015 season by a final score of 12-0, in a massive rainstorm.
Johnson won a road matchup in Week 9 last year by a final score of 35-20.
Notes:
Johnson comes off their 41-20 Week 8 win at North Plainfield HS, where the Crusaders came through for a 27-point second half to dispatch the Canucks, after the teams were tied 14-14 at halftime. Johnson overcame early adversity, when North Plainfield erased their 14-0 lead, but the Crusaders prevented them from taking the lead and took care of business as the second half rolled along.
Senior quarterback Mike Bruno had himself quite a game in the second half. He gave Johnson the 21-14 lead with a 14-yard rushing touchdown to open the third quarter on the Crusaders’ first drive of the second half, but the main story was how the Crusaders kept the Canucks offense off the field, thanks to the special teams.
Senior kicker Mike Casalino prepared to kick the football off to North Plainfield, but he suddenly motioned forward and gave the football a short boot and the Crusaders won the foot race to the ball and recovered the onside kick to get the football back with 8:12 left in the third quarter. They were wasting no time with the football and moved towards another drive and they came through.
Senior fullback and co-captain Joe Turek pounded it in for a four-yard rushing touchdown to make the game 28-14 Johnson with 5:23 left in the third quarter. The next kickoff attempt would catch many by surprise. Johnson lined up for the kickoff, but Casalino, once again, gave the football a short kick and Johnson recovered it yet again, getting the football back.
All it took for Mike Bruno and Johnson on the next drive was one play, a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Fedak to open it up, as Johnson took a 34-14 lead with 5:15 left in the third quarter, the Crusaders now in full control of the game. Bruno finished the scoring with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mike Casalino to make the score 41-20 Johnson.
Bruno ran for 61 yards on nine carries to go along with his 14-yard rushing touchdown, along with going 3-for-4 through the air with 106 passing yards and the two passing touchdowns to Fedak and Casalino. Senior Kevin Met provided a rushing touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter, a 38-yard rushing touchdown.
Turek had 103 rushing yards on 16 carries, to go along with two rushing touchdowns (11 yards, four yards). The Johnson running game ran for 330 yards on 44 carries in the win.
Their running game has totaled numbers of 2,831 yards on 312 carries. Turek leads the offense with 1,029 rushing yards on 130 carries, to go along with ten rushing touchdowns. They are anchored by a strong offensive line that has allowed them to maintain and achieve all the successes they’ve had all season long.
Governor Livingston is coming off a 28-6 Week 8 loss to Delaware Valley HS. They are led by senior quarterback Pat DeAngelis and junior quarterback Dylan Dwyer. Dwyer threw two interceptions for the Highlanders in the loss last week.
On the season, DeAngelis is 28-for-51 with383 passing yards, along with two touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Other major talent the Highlanders lost to graduation last year include Doug Anderson, Turner Haddad, Will Nicholson and Jon Wong.
Other players on Governor Livingston for Johnson to watch on Friday night include receivers Matthew Schuman, Matt Richel, Jake Faulkner and Jake Pencek, while Chris Bruno, James Synder, Brendan Fenton and Dwyer power the way for the Highlanders on the running game.
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.
The way the Johnson defense fought hard against in their victories this season, playing hard, fast, physical and going at the football and charging through other team’s defenses on offense, limiting all mistakes, playing a clean, physical game and drawing up good game plans, they will compete Friday night.
Another major factor will be how the Johnson running game can do, especially with fighting to remain on the field by charging Governor Livingston on defense, to jump on them early and get a win for the seniors, with tomorrow being Johnson’s Senior Night, when the football players, cheerleaders and band members will be honored for their hard work and dedication over the past four years.
If the Johnson defense can charge and chase Dylan Dwyer, Jake Penneck and handle Governor Livingston in all angles of the game, it’ll be a major factor in the game.
Governor Livingston has struggled all-year around and opened up their 2017 season in their Week 1 season opener, losing to Voorhees by a final score of 23-0 at Kean University. They lost to Rahway HS in Week 2 by a final score of 42-14.
They won their Week 3 home opener against North Plainfield HS by a final score of 36-29. They had their bye week in Week 4.
They went back on the road and lost Week 5 to Summit HS by a final week of 35-8 in Summit’s annual Friday Night Lights game. They went back out on the road and lost to Somerville by a final score of 60-7 in Week 6.
The Highlanders returned home for their annual Friday Night Lights game, losing to Cranford in Week 7 by a final score of 38-0 in their Senior Night and went back out on the road for Week 8, losing to Delaware Valley by a final score of 28-6.
While Governor Livingston is a football program that’s always struggled in years past, there is still the sense of a rivalry between the two teams and they have guys who can still make plays and run the football, so we will see what develops Friday night.
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