If the NJIC playoffs were a mid-term exam, then the Butler Bulldogs passed with flying colors.

And now they are even more ready for the final: The state playoffs.

Butler beat Glen Rock to win the NJIC playoffs, 21-12, and drew the top seed in North 1, Group I.

The Bulldogs will host Weehawken Friday night.

Coach Jason Luciani’s team has already mastered one postseason. After beating Becton last week, 28-13, the Bulldogs had to work hard to beat previously undefeated Glen Rock for its first NJIC championship in seven years since joining the Bergen-Passaic conference in 2018.

“The coaches prepared us well,” two-way standout P.J. Coffey said. “Our offseason was great. Being champs is great. But we cannot fall asleep. We have to go out and do our best. We can’t get high on ourselves. We have to go in to each game and not take anyone lightly.”

Butler will enter the playoffs as a champion already – a psychological edge the Bulldogs will wear proudly when they walk onto their home field Friday night.

“Absolutely,” Coffey said. “Playing great competition gets us ready for the playoffs.”

“We already had a taste of the playoffs,” quarterback David Smith added. “That gives a good advantage.”

Said Luciani, “One of the great things about the NJIC format is that you go into the playoffs being tested and you learn so much by being in tough games against teams that exploit your weaknesses and then you fortify those weaknesses.”

Butler’s defense played magnificently and the offense came up big when it had to.

“I’m not used to playing an important game this late in the season before the state playoffs,” Luciani said. “The competition was great and they got a chance to get work in against a great team. The NJIC has a great format. To play a meaningful game with clearly the two best teams in the league was something special.”

Butler’s defense was stout up front, strong in the middle, and stellar in the back.

The ringleader up front was D-Lineman Peyton Kibburz, who had 13 tackles and a sack.

“He was a beast,” Luciani said. 

Joining Kibburz up front were Luca Toriello, Tyler Tortola and Tommy Henehen. 

The linebackers were Peter Calvi, Jaden DiNatale (subbing for the injured Matt Berile, who tore his ACL on the opening kickoff against Becton last week), and Mikey Henehan.

Nick Parkinson and Max Reilly played safety while Coffey and C.J. Bentley played the corners.

“We have a lot of weapons on offense, but we are a very, very good defensive team,” Luciani said. “Glen Rock was explosive all year and we contained them. We were not at our best offensively but our defense stepped up.

“Our D-Line did an outstanding job containing their outstanding QB (Nick Atme, who was just 8 for 17 for 84 yards). They have good skill kids and our DBs stayed in coverage. I definitely thought it was our best effort.”

Glen Rock is solid up front on defense – good enough to hamstring Butler early on – but the Bulldogs O-Line (Maks Stoyanovic, Toriello, Tortola, Tommy Henehan, Cole Benicasa, and TE Peter Calvi) picked things up as the game wore on. 

“One of the reasons Glen Rock was undefeated was they are really good up front,” Luciani said. “They were giving us problems. We were behind the sticks early, so they were able to pin their ears back on third down.

“Our first three drives we were behind the sticks. The fourth drive, we got some first downs and then P.J. had an explosive play.”

That’s when Coffey broke free for a 50-yard touchdown run to put the Bulldogs ahead, 7-3.

In the third quarter, Coffey caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Smith, making it 14-6.

Smith’s 8-yard touchdown run late in the game put the team up, 21-12, and sealed the win.

“David was dealing with a little bit of us behind the sticks but he responded in the second half,” Luciani said. “We strung together drives but stalled in the red zone. The flipping of the field is how we won the game.” 

“I started rough but my guys had my back,” Smith said. “We found our rhythm in the second half. The defense stepped up big. When I had trouble finding my footing, they stepped up.”

With the game on the line, so did the offense. 

With 2:30 left and the Bulldogs on the Glen Rock 28, Luciani decided to go for it on fourth-and-11. Smith completed a pass to Mikey Henehan for the first down. 

“We had a feeling they’d double Coffey and they did,” Luciani said.  “They pulled the whole defense over, David called the play, and we converted and punched it in.”

One championship down, one more to go.