CLARK, NJ- It is hard to believe, but we have reached the second week of the 2017 New Jersey High School Football state playoffs. The Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders, the third-seeded team, varsity football team will remain home to take on seventh-seeded Hillside HS Saturday night, November 18th at 7:00 p.m. in the NJSIAA Central, Group 2 Semifinals.
It is the Crusaders’ second trip to the semifinals in the past three seasons.
HISTORY:
The two teams have split meetings the past two seasons. Johnson won a home matchup in Week 5 of this year by a final score of 22-13.
In last year’s Week 5 matchup, Hillside defeated Johnson by a final score of 27-23.
Notes:
Johnson comes off their 34-6 Week 10, NJSIAA Central, Group 2 First Round win over Holmdel HS, where the Crusaders came through for a 20-point first half to dispatch the Hornets, after Johnson put 13 points on the board in the second quarter. Johnson ended an early Holmdel drive by recovering a fumble, in a defensive stand in the first half, where they recovered two Holmdel fumbles, recorded one interception and forced them to punt two times.
Senior fullback and co-captain Joe Turek started the offense with a one-yard rushing touchdown and the offense got the ball back following a Jeff DeCicco interception, with the next drive starting at the area of midfield for the Crusaders. They slowly chipped away at the Holmdel defense and senior Kevin Metz ended the drive with a eight-yard strike on the ground and Johnson was now ahead by a score of 13-0.
After another Holmdel lost fumble, this one a short one, it took just one play for Johnson to open up the game. Junior Sebastian Iakouchevitch took the ball, ran through a hole and went untouched to the end zone for a 43-yard rushing touchdown to make the game 20-0 Crusaders after the first quarter.
Holmdel had their drives constantly ending with the turnovers and couldn’t get anything going in the game, as Johnson took a 20-0 lead over Holmdel into halftime.
Holmdel got on the board in the third quarter, but Johnson kept them at bay as the second half went along. A critical moment came in the game, as Johnson lost a fumble to open up the fourth quarter, but the defense made a huge stand, forcing the Hornets to punt.
Iakouchevitch led the running game again with two huge rushes into Holmdel territory, setting up senior Brandon Rapp’s eight-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 27-6 Johnson. Turek finished off the scoring on the evening with another one-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 34-6 Johnson.
Bruno ran for 15 yards on four carries, while senior Kevin Metz ran for 26 yards on three carries, along with his eight-yard rushing touchdown.
Turek had 134 rushing yards on 17 carries, to go along with two rushing touchdowns (11 yards, four yards). The Johnson running game ran for 374 yards on 44 carries in the win.
Their running game has totaled numbers of 3,611 yards on 312 carries. Turek leads the offense with 1,264 rushing yards on 158 carries, to go along with 11 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.
Hillside is coming off a 28-7 Week 10, NJSIAA Central, Group 2 First Round win over South River HS. They are led by senior quarterback Tajae Irby, who is 75-for-114 with 1,661 passing yards, along with 15 touchdown passes and six interceptions.
Other major talent the Comets lost to graduation last year include Joseph Stuckey, Siraj Abdul-Malik, Nathan McAlister and Joshua Graham and Jaden Stuckey, who powered the Comets on the passing game, along with losses on the ground game, including RBs Nasir Reese, Miller, Joseph Stuckey and Abdul-Malik.
Other players on Hillside for Johnson to watch on Saturday night include receivers Boris Nicolas-Paul and Nahree Biggins, who are major targets on the passing game, while James Louis and junior Brian Ugwu lead the way for Hillside on the rushing 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 Saturday 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 Saturday night.
For Johnson, the turnovers and bad plays cannot be made in a domino effect like they did last year, especially with the lead they had in the fourth quarter of last year’s matchup.
Johnson led 23-7 with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, before Hillside scored 20 unanswered points to complete the comeback, winning 27-23.
Another major aspect surrounding this matchup is discipline. The Crusaders held everything together and did not get called for any major penalties, where Hillside did, which stood out with how the last minutes of the first half went.
Hillside had a big rush called back in the closing minutes of the second quarter due to a holding penalty. Once the Crusaders took over following an interception, the Comets got called for a facemask penalty that pushed the Crusaders halfway to the goal line and it subsequently led to a field goal right before halftime.
Chris Di Nucci’s new defensive system, teaching the players the hands-on style of defense, will face their third major test this season. With Hillside’s passing game and defense, their passing game has been a major factor towards their success. If the Johnson defense can charge and chase Tajae Irby, slow down Brian Ugwu on the rushing game, 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.
Hillside opened up their 2017 season in their Week 1 home opener, losing to Rahway HS by a final score of 35-21. They defeated New Providence HS in Week 2 by a final score of 42-7. They also defeated Bernards HS in Week 3 by a final score of 42-0.
They defeated Roselle-Abraham Clark HS in Week 4 at Rahway River Park by a final score of 14-12. They lost to Arthur L. Johnson HS in Week 5 by a final score of 22-13. They defeated Dayton HS in Week 6 by a final score of 51-8.
They defeated Delaware Valley in Week 7 by a final score of 49-8. They lost to Cranford HS in Week 8 by a final score of 34-21. They defeated Brearley HS in Week 9 by a final score of 21-15.
Hillside is a football program that’s always been good in years past, an improved team from last year, so we will see what develops Saturday night.
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