CLARK, NJ- The Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders varsity football team will return home to take on Hillside HS tomorrow night, October 6th at 7:00 p.m.
HISTORY:
The two teams have split meetings the past two seasons. Johnson won a road matchup in Week 7 of the 2015 season by a final score of 34-15.
In last year’s Week 5 matchup, Hillside defeated Johnson by a final score of 27-23.
NOTES:
Johnson comes off their 49-21 Week 4 win at Delaware Valley HS, where senior fullback and co-captain Joe Turek scored two rushing touchdowns, powering the Crusaders, along with 168 rushing yards on 18 carries. Senior kicker Mike Casalino got work on the ground, a 37-yard rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter, going 7-for-7 on extra points continuing to come up big, embracing the role of being a high school kicker.
Senior Kevin Metz recorded a second quarter interception and rushed for 56 yards on three carries. Senior Brandon Rapp ran for 83 yards on three carries, including a 13-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter that made the score 14-0 Crusaders.
Senior quarterback Mike Bruno also sparked the Crusaders on offense, but on the passing game with two major completions, a 35-yard pass to senior Andrew Giamella that set up junior Sebastian Iakouchevitch’s one-yard rushing touchdown that made the score 21-0 Johnson. The other majoe completion went for a 27-yard touchdown pass to senior Lorenzo De Paz in the victory, a score that made it 35-7 Johnson in the third quarter. On the ground, he ran for 77 yards on 13 carries, along with a three-yard rushing touchdown on a fourth-down play that made the score 28-0 Johnson, to go along with the 27-yard touchdown pass.
The Johnson defense got into the mix, causing three turnovers in the game last week. The first one was a lost fumble inside the Terriers 40-yard line near the end of the first quarter. The second turnover was an interception by senior Kevin Metz with the score already 21-0 Johnson. The third turnover came later in the second half, with Delaware Valley turning it over on downs, with the game out of reach.
In total, the Johnson running game has totaled numbers of 1,845 yards on 175 carries. Turek leads the offense with 670 rushing yards on 75 carries, to go along with eight rushing touchdowns.
Hillside is coming off a 14-12 Week 4 win over Roselle-Abraham Clark HS at Rahway River Park. They are led by senior quarterback Tajae Irby, who is filling in the shoes of former QBs Kevin Miller and Jihad Byrd, who both graduated last year.
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.
Irby is 31-for-43 on the season with 755 passing yards and six touchdown passes, along with one interception.
Other players on Hillside for Johnson to watch on Friday 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 Friday night.
The way the Johnson defense fought hard against Delaware Valley, 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 Delaware Valley’s defense, to keep their offense off the field and milk time off the clock.
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.
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.
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 Friday night.
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