The first major body blow of the 2024 high school was thrown Saturday afternoon.

Chatham threw it.

Mount Olive absorbed it.

For sure, no one could have seen this one coming: Chatham 31, Mount Olive 6.

The Cougars were physical and dominated for almost a full 48 minutes.

The Marauders were pushed all over the place and a step behind all afternoon. 

Chatham spent four quarters high-fiving.

Mount Olive players? They didn’t know what hit them … and probably still don’t.

The Marauders came into the game as one of the best five or so public school teams in all of New Jersey. And with good reason: They returned most of the key elements from a powerhouse 2023 sectional championship team. They had already rolled up 97 points in two victories, including a 49-14 win over Randolph last week. 

Simply put, they stepped off the bus at Chatham with an overpowering look.

And Chatham? Well, the Cougars left the field last week with a back-to-the-old-drawing-board feeling after a 34-13 loss to Montville.

How did Chatham go from that to this?

Well, the surprising outcome all started above the shoulder pads and underneath the helmet right after the Montville game.

Chatham coach Evan Pichariello became Dr. Phil and went to work on the Cougars’ minds. 

Yes, the team lost by 21 points. But a deep dive into the particulars revealed that Chatham actually hung in.

They gave up 200 yards of rushing, but two of those carries were for 120 yards. 

“Take those two carries away, and we gave up about 2 ½ yards per carry,” Picariello said. 

Not only that, Chatham committed four turnovers, some of them untimely, against Montville.

“I told the kids we left a lot on the field,” Picariello said. “It’s about us, not our opponent. We cleaned up the mistakes in practice. That score did not reflect the team that we are.”

Apparently, it didn’t.

Chatham began its statement win with a statement play early in the game.

Nick Lagunowich scored a 97-yard touchdown on a pass from quarterback Will Allen.

“That play,” Picariello said, “really sparked us.”

Mount Olive responded when Jekori Zapata caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Jake Asbury, but the Marauders missed the extra point.

Later in the second quarter, Chatham’s Caden Gabrielle scored a 2-yard touchdown run with under a minute left before halftime. On the ensuing kickoff, Mount Olive fumbled, Chatham recovered, and Alex McWilliams booted a 20-yard field goal.

In the third quarter, Chatham struck for another score when McWilliams broke off a 52-yard run, making it 24-6.

In the fourth quarter, Gabrielle picked off a pass and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown.

“Mt Olive is a really good football team,” Picariello said. “We were able to buckle down defensively.”

That they did.

Chatham used a 3-5 defense that Mount Olive had trouble solving with Jase Catullo at nose, Eric Riso and Will Colvin at end, and with Dylan Abernethy and Jeremy Hoffman ably filling in. Gabriele and Kyle Ruddy set the edge at outside linebacker, while Hunter Bigham, Charlie Murray and Tommy Douglas handled the inside linebacker positions.

Mount Olive’s passing game was shut down with Chatham corners Ryan Carey and Sonny Arden and free safety Michael Freeman in the back of the defense.

“Asbury runs their offense great,” Picariello said. “They have had a lot of success with the RPO and he makes a lot of easy-access throws. Our gameplan was to limit the RPOs and limit the run game and we executed perfectly.”

“Our defensive line dominated up front,” Allen said. “To give up just six points is awesome.”

Chatham’s O-Line was able to push around Mount Olive.

Riso, a three-year starter, played center and was surrounded by Colvin (another three-year starter), Catullo (two-year starter), Ryan Bailey, and Ben Bernich.

“I think the O-Line did a great job of getting into their D-Linemen’s heads,” Riso said. “We used our mentality to dominate them. We saw they were getting tired and we kept pushing. We stayed composed and didn’t let ourselves get tired.”

“The O-Line gave the runners huge holes and gave me time,” Allen added. “We were dominant, especially in the lines.”

Chatham’s linemen kept it going for 48 minutes, thanks to an arduous summer routine.

“It was really all the guys all the time, cleaning, benching, and squatting,” Riso said. “We got on each other’s butt if someone wasn’t working hard. This is the first year we did more conditioning. With two-way players like me, it helped when we were going both ways.”

So now the Cougars own a monumental win no one – repeat, NO ONE – 

saw coming. So what’s next? Livingston at home next week.

“It’s high school football,” Picariello said. “You are only as good as your next week. We just gotta keep working, fix some mistakes. You are never as good or bad as it looks.”

Ah yes, but Chatham is now on the map. Perhaps the Cougars will become circled on everyone’s wall calendar the way Mount Olive was coming into 2024.

Before the game, Picariello warned his team about looking good on film. The reason: The tape doesn’t lie.

“Before we took the field,” he said, “we said, ‘What you put on tape every week is who you are as a player and who you are as a team. What do you want the tape to look like?’”

Apparently, that Mount Olive tape is looking mighty good to Chatham right now.