The New Jersey night sky set the stage for the day’s final matchup, and boy, did it live up to the hype! BC came in looking for their fourth straight state title after finishing 11-1 in the United Red Division. One of their eleven wins was against Don Bosco back in September, edging the Ironmen 24-20 at home.

Bosco entered Friday night, winners of six-straight games, with all but one being in dominant fashion, and were hungry to take down the Crusaders under the lights at MetLife Stadium. Fans from both schools could be seen in the parking lot hours before the game started, tailgating with music blasting, getting fired up for kickoff.

The opening kick sailed into the end zone as Dominic Campanile and the Bergen Catholic offense trotted out to the field looking to strike first. After moving the chains on the first play of the game, a penalty set up 3rd and 20 and the Ironmen took full advantage. Junior Matt Occhipinti came through the line untouched to come up with a massive sack, forcing BC to punt the ball away on their opening drive.

Deven Sisler, who was knocked out of the first meeting between these schools, came out firing as the Bosco offense began to march down the field. The Ironmen converted on a 4th and 9 to move deep into enemy territory, but after Sisler overthrew an open Mikahi Allen for what would have been the opening touchdown of the game, the Ironmen could not convert on 4th down. The turnover on downs gave the ball and momentum back to the Crusaders.

A big run by Dante Kain set the tone for BC as they drove into Bosco territory as the Crusaders started to up their tempo, moving quickly on offense. Campanile hit his tight end Hunter Ditrano inside the five to set up a first and goal. Campanile then took it himself and plunged into the end zone, giving Bergen Catholic the early 7-0 lead.

Sisler and the Don Bosco offense struck back immediately. Faced with a 3rd and 16, Sisler found sophomore Isaiah Alvarez for a huge pickup, putting the Ironmen in the red zone. Dante DeLuca took care of the rest, scoring on a 20-yard touchdown run to tie the game up at seven.

After the back-to-back scores, we would not see another touchdown until the 4th quarter. The Bergen Catholic defense gave the Crusaders the lead, forcing a safety in the 2nd quarter, giving them a 9-7 lead heading into the break.

Neither team could find pay dirt in the 3rd quarter, and what once looked like a shootout had now become a defensive battle. It wasn’t until the opening minute of the 4th quarter that Bergen Catholic started to pull away. A beautiful punt backed up Bosco to their own 1-yard line and on the first play from scrimmage, senior linebacker David Matesic stopped DeLuca in the backfield for BC’s second safety of the game.

With the score now sitting at 11-7, and receiving the free kick, Bergen Catholic had a chance to put the state title game away with a touchdown, and they did just that two plays into the drive. Sophomore Bryan Porter took a jet sweep 48 yards to the house, giving BC an 18-7 lead and full momentum. Porter tacked on another touchdown later in the quarter on a 26-yard run as the Crusaders captured their fourth straight state title. Najee Calhoun finished the game with 18 carries for 113 yards while Porter hauled in 4 catches for 45 yards and had two carries for 74 yards, scoring on each of them to earn the Player of the Game honors.