Austin Kuterka’s late FG lifts Seton Hall Prep football team past Delbarton as Pirates win 5th in a row

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Junior kicker Austin Kuterka kicked a 20-yard field goal with :20 remaining in the game to lead the Seton Hall Prep football team to a come-from-behind 16-14 victory over Delbarton on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 19, at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field in West Orange.

The Pirates won their fifth straight game to improve to 6-1.

In the fourth quarter, Andrew Mitzak blocked a Delbarton punt and Jacob Maurice recovered it on the Delbarton 47-yard line to set up the game-winning drive. They went 45 yards to the two-yard line on 11 plays when SHP head coach Bill Fitzgerald called upon Kuterka, who split the uprights.

Trailing 14-7 early in the fourth quarter, SHP went 70 yards in 11 plays and cut the lead to 14-13 when Matt Colantuono ran it in from the two-yard line, but Kuterka missed the tying point when his extra-point kick was wide right. Delbarton had taken a 14-7 lead with :41 left in the second quarter on a 35-yard touchdown pass.

Early in the second quarter, the Pirates tied the score at 7-7 when Colantuono scored from the one-yard line with 10:09 left in the second quarter completing a 70-yard drive that lasted seven plays.

Delbarton took a 7-0 lead with :32 left in the first quarter on a 78-yard scoring pass.

Following the game, Kuterka said, “I had my teammates behind me the whole game. It was about trusting them and listening to them the whole game. That was the only way I made that kick.”

Mitzak said, “We switched our punt block formation and we knew we could block one and I did.”

Colantuono commented, “It came down to getting tough. Our big men got it done when we needed it and I am so proud of all these guys.”

With their sixth win, the Pirates have the most wins in a season since 2015. The last time they won five in a row was 2012.

SHP game stats

QB  Zander Zebrowski: 16 of 25 passing, 220 yards, yards, 1 interception. RB Matt Colantuono – 40 carries, 140 yards, 2 TDs. WR  Nicholas Gullace: 7 catches, 127 yards. LB  John Nicosia: 8 tackles. LB Dominic Busby: 8 tackles, 1/2 sack. DT Thomas Grippo  7 tackles.

Next game: The Pirates will host St. Joseph Regional of Montvale on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m.