The final of four state championships played at MetLife Stadium on Friday was perhaps the most exciting of the bunch. The St. Joseph Green Knights looked for revenge on the Don Bosco Ironmen, who had just defeated archrival Bergen Catholic for the second time this season to reach the Non-Public A title game, and had escaped their first entanglement with St. Joe’s on a walk-off field goal.
Tonight, after trailing at the half, the Green Knights roared back and caught the Ironmen on their back foot. Seniors Lamar Best and Nate Bailey found the end zone to put SJR on top, then their defense, led by a relentless pass rush, shut down Bosco’s offense to seal a 24-21 victory which portends ripple effects across the top echelon of New Jersey high school football for years to come.
The undefeated Ironmen needed just a minute and 20 seconds to strike first. With a fresh set of downs at midfield, sophomore quarterback Carson Schoen connected with junior receiver Isaiah Alvarez for the 50-yard touchdown to open the scoring. The Garden State’s top team had announced their arrival.
The Green Knights’ reply was a lengthy, methodical drive with plenty of running. Lamar Best authored a few slippery runs, but ultimately his arm got them on the board. Running to his left out of the pocket, he fired the ball past the pressure and into the waiting arms of junior Stalin Knowlden. Knowlden kept his feet as a Don Bosco defender lunged at him and somehow stayed inbounds to reach the goal line. That 38-yard catch and run evened the ledger at 7 apiece.
But on the opening play of the second quarter, Bosco reasserted themselves. As the pocket collapsed around Schoen, he lofted an absolute dime to junior wideout Zakai Murphy for the 40-yard score. St. Joseph did well to kill clock on their first scoring drive, but if the Ironmen could put up points on them that quickly, they would be in trouble down the stretch.
Thankfully, the Green Knights got a stop on their next defensive possession, and benefited from a massive special teams play. Junior safety Jonathan Galette broke containment and blocked the punt, setting up a goal-to-go situation for SJR. They benefited further from an illegal kick penalty which placed the ball on the 1-yard line. But a false start immediately backed them up to the six, and that was all the space the Bosco defensive front needed to limit them to three points.
The Knights grabbed a huge takeaway late in the stanza when a Ryan Barry strip sack of Schoen was recovered by Jason Hall. But Gino Greco dropped Best for a loss of eight on first down, which effectively put the kibosh on any SJR plans to take the lead.
After empty possessions from both sides, the Knights got a drive going past midfield into Don Bosco territory. A defensive pass interference call had them creeping closer before Harvard commit Nate Bailey sent broke off a 35-yard run to reach the end zone and deliver SJR their first lead of the night.
On the ensuing kickoff, disaster struck for Don Bosco. The Ironmen returner bobbled the ball and it came free on the turf, opening a window of opportunity for AJ McClain. The senior safety scooped up the rock inside the 20, handing the Green Knights yet another golden opportunity. This time, Best seized the moment. With tacklers crashing down on him, the senior QB who had missed four games earlier in the season, risked it all on a run to the end zone, and plowed his way in to extend the lead to 24-14.
Schoen tried to respond, but the Ironmen’s protection increasingly broke down, allowing SJR’s pass rush to land several hard hits on the sophomore. After taking another big blow, Schoen tried to find Jeremiah Alvarez in the end zone, but sailed it far ahead of him, and SJR took over.
The Bosco defense held, and after a disquieting bobble on the punt return, Schoen got another shot. He lofted a few more passes too far of their targets, but their running game came back to life. Senior running back Dante DeLuca converted a 4th-and-1 on a direct snap, and later brought it to the house from inside the 10 to get the Ironmen back to a one-possession game; 24-21.
The Knights had no intention of letting the Ironmen touch the ball again, but Don Bosco forced their hands. The punt failed to flip the field, and Schoen and the offense went back on the field in plus territory. DeLuca made a few nice plays to move the sticks, but the Knights’ defense responded in kind, and forced fourth down on the 34-yard line with time winding down.
Too far away to kick a game-tying field goal, Dan Sabella’s offense remained on the field. Schoen took the snap and fired to the far side in search of tight end JT Geraci, but corner Colton Romanoff swooped in cut in front and knocked the ball down. Cheers erupted from the near side of the field as the Green Knights put the finishing touches on a classic championship clincher.
With the victory, St. Joseph Regional became the first team outside of Bergen Catholic to claim a Non-Public A championship. They snatched the title right from under the noses of an undefeated Don Bosco club who was feeling their oats after their elusive second win over the Crusaders in the prior round. The Green Knights spoiled a storybook ending, and in so doing, authored one of their own.
(Photo Credit: Devon Gray)
