Bombers-Knights play with plenty on the line

BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff Old Bridge quarterback Ed Bucior finds some running room during the Knights' win over Woodbridge on the Barrons' muddy home field Friday night in Woodbridge. Sayreville clinched a playoff spot with a 7-6 win over East Brunswick on Friday. Old Bridge did the same with its 20-13 win over Woodbridge.

Still, you get the feeling both teams will bring plenty of intensity to this Friday night's match-up in Old Bridge.

The Bombers currently sit as the top seed in the Central Jersey Group IV bracket with 61 power points, well ahead of second-place Hunterdon Central. Their only loss of the year came to Piscataway, the top-ranked team in the Greater Middlesex Conference, who is still reeling a bit from a loss to Old Bridge two weeks ago.

The Knights, at 4-2, are currently fifth in the CJ Group IV bracket with 43 power points - just four points behind fourth-place West Windsor South. With two games left prior to the Nov. 4 state playoff cut-off, the Knights could certainly improve their chances at getting a home game in at least the first round with a pair of wins.

So you see, though both teams are postseason bound, there's still plenty to play for on Friday.

Not that these two rivals needed any extra motivation.

Sayreville certainly found East Brunswick to be better than its record indicated on Friday. The Bears, who entered the game at 2-3 and in desperate need of a win to help their playoff hopes, took the early lead on a one-yard Randall Nixon touchdown run in the first quarter.

From there, East Brunswick, with the help of five Sayreville turnovers, was able to shut down the Bomber running game, causing Sayreville head coach George Najjar to open up the offense a bit in the second half, despite windy conditions.

That change set up the winning play - an 8-yard TD pass from Mark Margres to Reinaldo Rodriguez on a fourth-and-goal play with 3:29 to play in the game. What made the play so remarkable was the fact that everyone, it seemed, knew it was coming, as the Bears triple-covered the talented junior wideout. But Rodriguez simply jumped over the defenders to reel in the ball, and give the Bombers an unlikely escape.

Sayreville isn't exactly coming into Old Bridge this Friday with the momentum it was hoping for, while the Knights have never felt better about themselves.

The Knights managed to avoid the letdown after the big win over Piscataway by taking advantage of several Woodbridge mistakes on Friday to post the 20-13 win.

Old Bridge ran for three touchdowns to jump out to a 20-0 lead before Woodbridge made things interesting in the fourth quarter with a pair of touchdowns. However, after the Knights recovered an onsides kick following the second score, the important win was locked up.

Old Bridge, who lost running back Teddy Greffin to a sprained ankle in the third quarter, got a big effort from Eddie Ebewo (13 rushes for 93 yards and two TDs) and QB Ed Bucior (26 carries, 72 yards), and will look for similar success on the ground against the Bombers tomorrow night.

Logic would tell you that a team that could run the ball on Piscataway (as the Knights did) should be able to do the same against Sayreville.

History tells you to throw out such notions when it comes to rivalry games.

Get there early for this one - it will be a packed house.

Game time is 7 p.m.

With each passing win, the Monroe Falcons are looking more and more like a contender in the CJ Group III playoff picture.

Despite falling behind 6-0 when Perth Amboy's Joshua Ayila returned the opening kick-off 95 yards for a touchdown Friday night, the Falcons took control from there, dominating the Panthers en route to a 33-14 win to improve to 6-1 on the year.

Monroe got a big night from Ryan Messeroll (16 rushes for 110 yards and three touchdowns, while QB Ryan Cushman was also impressive (9-for-16 for 140 yards), as the Falcons built up a 33-6 lead following the opening kick-off return.

Equally impressive was the Monroe defense, which picked off the Panther QB twice and completely shut down the Panther running game throughout.

With the win, Monroe moved up to fourth place in the CJ III power point standings, where they're tied with Monmouth Regional, just two points behind Hightstown.

Wins over South Plainfield (Friday) and Montgomery (Nov. 4) should be enough to get the Falcons a home game in their first-ever state playoff appearance, and help them avoid either of the two state powerhouses (three-time defending state champion Middletown South and Lawrence) that sit atop the CJ III standings.

South River improved its standing in the CJ Group I race with a 25-14 win over Dunellen on Saturday, as Jarvis Crandell raced for four touchdowns on the day to lead the Ram attack.

Though South River led only 12-8 at the half (thanks to Crandell's first two TDs), head coach Rich Marchesi's team was able to build that lead to 25-8 by the end of the third as Crandell (14 carries for 180 yards overall), was simply too much for the Destroyers' defense to handle.

South River, which was able to balance its offense with another strong performance from QB Markeith Dobbins (8-for-18 for 125 yards passing), heads to New Brunswick tomorrow night to face a 4-3 Zebras team coming off a big win over Carteret.

Tomorrow night's game will certainly be a big test for the Blue Division champion Rams (5-2), who enter the contest as the top seed in CJ I, 5 power points ahead of defending state champion Florence (6-0), winners of 42 straight games. South River also has a good Middlesex team (4-2) left on its schedule (Nov. 4) prior to the state playoff deadline.

East Brunswick, who fell to 2-4 with its loss to Sayreville on Friday, will take on Edison on Saturday, before hosting North Brunswick on Nov. 3.

Spotswood (3-4), a 41-12 loser to A.L. Johnson on Saturday, will be back in action tomorrow night against Middlesex.