CLARK, NJ- The Johnson Crusaders varsity football team defeated the Metuchen Bulldogs on the road by a final score of 27-7. The game featured a strong outburst on offense, mainly through the air and a physical and heavy defensive presence needed to get back on the right track.
The offense was fueled by sophomore quarterback Joe Greenbush, who went 3-for-5 with 122 passing yards and three touchdown passes, sending two of those passes to junior wide receiver Max Carmino and the other one to senior running back Vito Galluzzo, accounting for all the 21 unanswered points in the second half rally for the Crusaders.
Senior running back Sebastian Iakouchevitch ran for 78 yards on 13 carries, along with a two-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter that made it 21-7 Johnson. A successful two-point conversion was scored following the second touchdown grab by Carmino. The defense limited Metuchen to one touchdown late in the second quarter and did not allow one first down for the Bulldogs in the second half.
Here Are Three Things We Learned From the Road Win:
1.) Discipline Has To Be Better Moving Forward
While it was a great time to get a win for the Johnson Crusaders, flags were thrown on a number of occasions that could have been disastrous for the team. Johnson was called for around seven penalties on the afternoon, where there were three personal foul/facemask penalties, three holding penalties and one false start penalty, where the team was forced to regroup with either being in their territory or getting pinned back additional yardage due to the penalties whenever the offense is on the field.
The first one, a personal foul penalty, occurred in the first quarter when Metuchen had the football. After initially being at the Johnson 42-yard line, got moved up to the area around the Johnson 27-yard line and the 24-yard line, giving them the edge on the drive. It ended with a turnover on downs, an incomplete pass allowing the Johnson Crusaders to catch a break.
Some great plays made by the guys on offense had been halted by holding penalties, which without a doubt, can kill drives and force teams to make plays they’ve never done before, but at times, it appeared Johnson rode greatly on those plays. In the third quarter, despite being dealt with 20 lost yards on penalties, Greenbush connected with Carmino for his second touchdown pass.
Moving ahead, the guys have to work better on their discipline to limit the penalties to play clean, hard and physical football.
2.) Air Game Achieved Successes, Along with Offensive Line Blocking
The Johnson offensive line, anchored down with senior left guard Luke Giltner, junior center Patrick Brennan, junior right guard Albert Galiszewski, senior tackle Thomas Bizzoco and junior tackle Jerome Palmer. They kept the Metuchen defenders at bay, allowing the Johnson running game, consisting on the afternoon of Iakouchevitch, junior Evan Parenti and Vito Galluzzo to make the big plays to convert the key moments on the drives.
Joe Greenbush was given the protection needed to find some time to air out the football, completing three of his five passes for touchdowns, two to Max Carmino and the other one to Vito Galluzzo. The passes were deep to Carmino and the blocking got it done for Galluzzo’s TD reception, which was a side pass and him thundering down the sideline for the final scoring on the afternoon.
The Johnson offense changed in the offseason and the passing game from Greenbush really did what they needed to do to get back on track and to hopefully set the tone for the rest of the season. While the Crusaders excel with running and using the triple option to get touchdowns and win games, it was the passing game that excelled and stood out in the win.
3.) Back on Track, Major Test Awaits In the Coming Week of Practice for the Roselle Game
The Johnson Crusaders (1-2) are now in a position to really get back on track. Roselle-Abraham Clark HS has been known to give opposing teams’ defenses a hard time on the field and will provide a major test to see how really good defensive coordinator Chris Di Nucci’s defense can be disciplined and players are when it comes to handling an offense that can be really feature big plays like the Rams have in previous years.
On the year, Roselle has 368 passing yards and 34 rushing yards from sophomore quarterback Cameron Chancellor-Rice. Lamar Moore (5 receptions, 173 yards), Clifton Brutus (three receptions, 106 yards), Naseer Page (one rushing touchdown, 28 rushing yards on seven carries) and Khair Pendleton (one rushing touchdowns, 147 rushing yards on 26 carries) lead the Rams offense.
They are a fairly young team, losing quarterbacks Quraan Dixon and Marvens Lormejuste, running back Craig McRae and wide receivers Nasir Cherry and Jordan Gray all to graduation. The offense of the Rams appears to be tough, but not as they were through their first two games during the 2017 season, where they scored a total of 291 points, losing the NJSIAA Central, Group 2 First Round to Manasquan by a final score of 41-8.
Roselle battled closely with Bishop Ahr in their season opener on Friday, August 31 before the Trojans stopped the Rams on the potential game-tying two-point conversion. The Rams returned back to Rahway River Park for the past two games, being outlasted by South River, who scored 19 second half points, as compared to Roselle’s 13 secone half points.
Roselle led Hillside 7-6 in their most recent game at Rahway River Park, but allowed 29 second half points as the Comets defeated the Rams 35-7. Hillside held off Roselle 14-12 in last year’s meeting.
Friday night presents the test for the Crusaders to see how they will handle the offensive targets on the Roselle-Abraham Clark HS team.
What’s Next?
Johnson heads back out on the road to play Roselle-Abraham Clark HS at Rahway River Park on Friday, September 21 at 7:00 p.m.
The Rams, who finished last year with a 6-4 record, lost their Week 0 season opener at Bishop Ahr HS by a final score of 22-20. They are playing their home games at Rahway River Park for the 2018 season, with new turf and a new field house being installed into Arminio Field will be complete for the 2019 season, where Roselle played all their home games in previous seasons. They lost their home opener against South River 33-20 in Week 1.
They lost this past week to Hillside HS by a final score of 35-7.
Roselle is led by quarterback Cameron Chancellor-Rice who’s had to fill in the shoes of Quarran Dixon and Marvens Lormejuste. On the season, Chancellor-Rice is 15-for-29 with 291 passing yards and four passing touchdowns with one interception.
Lamar Moore is a major target on the Rams passing team, while Naseer Page and Khair Pendleton lead the way for Roselle on the rushing game.
If the Johnson Crusaders continue to play the way they have the past two weeks, playing hard, fast, physical, with discipline 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 on Friday night.
Roselle is a football program that’s always been good in years past, especially in the past few years, so we will see what develops Friday night. Especially with both teams coming into next week with struggling records.
