WEST ORANGE, NJ — On a beautiful Saturday October afternoon, Oct. 26, at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field, the Seton Hall Prep football team, ranked No. 19 in the state, defeated No. 2-ranked St. Joseph of Montvale, 28-27, for its sixth straight victory to improve to 7-1 on the season.
In come-from-behind fashion, this victory was one of the biggest in the program’s storied history.
Trailing 27-21, on fourth-and-goal from the St. Joseph six-yard line, SHP quarterback Zander Zebrowski threw a backwards pass to Matt Colantuono in the backfield. Colantuono then threw a forward pass in the end zone to tight end Jack Larsen for the touchdown with 5:01 left in the game. Austin Kuterka kicked his fourth extra point to give the Pirates a 28-27 lead.
During the game, Seton Hall trailed 10-0, 17-7, and 24-14, but never quit and kept coming back.
In the third quarter, down 24-14, the Pirates drove 60 yards in eight plays as Colantuono bulled his way in from the one-yard line to cut the lead to 24-21 with 12:20 left.
In the second quarter trailing 10-0, Zebrowski hit Dominic Busby with a five-yard scoring pass to cut the lead to 10-7 with 6:27 left. Late in the quarter after a Busby interception, the Pirates drove 45 yards in five plays, with Zebrowski hooking up with Busby again from the 16-yard line with :45 left to make the halftime score 17-14.
Following the game, SHP head coach Bill Fitzgerald said, “It’s a tremendous victory for our program. We just kept hanging around, made a few big plays and had a couple of key third down stops that really helped us.”
Zebrowski said, “Beating St. Joe’s is a fantastic win for our program, but we also know that there is still a lot of work left in this season and we have to focus on Pope John for next Saturday.”
NOTES: The last Seton Hall victory over St. Joseph was 1974, 41-12. This is the most victories (seven) since 2013. This is the Pirates’ sixth consecutive victory, which is the most since 2012.
SHP game stats:
Passing: Zebrowski: 17 of 22 attempts, 190 yards, 2 TDs.
Rushing: Colantuono: 18 carries, 35 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving: Busby: 7 catches, 88 yards, 2 TDs.
Defense: Ryan Monteleone: 15 tackles, John Nicosia, 13 tackles, 1-fumble recovered. Tim Macko: 13 tackles.
Next game: The Pirates will visit Pope John of Sparta this Saturday, Nov. 2, at 2 p.m.
Photos by Rich Morris/Courtesy of SHP.
Seton Hall Prep vs. St. Joseph of Montvale
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