Nick Dunneman
MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep football team overcame a 35-21 deficit in the third quarter to defeat Montclair, 43-42, at Woodman Field in Montclair on Saturday, Oct. 12. The Pirates won their fourth straight game and improved to 5-1 on the season.
Myles Thomason opened the scoring for the Pirates with a 12-yard run just 1:00 into the game and Austin Kuterka added the first of his five extra-points on the afternoon to make the score 7-0.
Montclair tied the score on its next drive before Matt Colantuono ran it in from the six-yard line to give Seton Hall a 14-7 lead after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Montclair outscored the Pirates, 21-7, to take a 28-21 halftime lead. Colantuono scored on a 41-yard run.
Montclair added a touchdown with 9:31 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 35-21.
Colantuono added two, 20-yard touchdown runs in the third and fourth quarters to tie the score at 35-35 with 7:37 left. Montclair took a 42-35 lead with 2:57 left.
On their next drive, the Pirates went 60 yards in four plays. Colantuono took a screen pass from Zander Zebrowski and went 40 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown with 2:01 left.
SHP head coach Bill Fitzgerald elected to go for the lead on the ensuing two-point converstion attempt. Zebrowski sprinted to his right, turned back and delivered a pass in the left corner of the end zone to wide open tight end Jack Larsen to give the Pirates a 43-42 lead. That score ultimately held up in the end. It marks the second straight season that the Pirates have won four straight games.
Following the game, Zebrowski said, “We worked on that play for some time and it was definitely in our playbook. As soon as we scored the touchdown, we knew we were going for two, just like we did last year in the 29-28 Pirate victory over Montclair.”
Colantuono added, “Never for a second did I doubt our team coming back. As far as the two-point conversion, we knew we had that play ready to go and Zander and Jack made sure the play worked out perfectly.”
Fitzgerald said, “Our kids responded well near the end of the game, battled from behind and came away with a hard-fought win against a Montclair team that had a great game plan against us.”
SHP game stats
Passing
Zebrowski: 17 of 22 attempts, 272 yards, 1 TD, 2 interceptions.
Rushing
Colantuono: 21 carries, 146 yards, 4 TDs.
Receiving
Giye Jenkins: 5 catches, 116 yards.
Defense
Ryan Monteleone: 20 tackles. John Nicosia: 14 tackles. Tim Macko: 12 tackles. Tyler Cook: 10 tackles.
Next game: The Pirates will host Delbarton this Saturday, Oct. 19, at 1 p.m. Delbarton has won three straight to improve to 4-2.
Seton Hall Prep (5-1)
August 31,Won, Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa.), 42-20, at Rutgers
Sept. 6, Loss, at DePaul, 52-21
Sept. 21, Won, Passaic County Tech, 24-10
Sept. 27, Won, at Paramus Catholic, 38-19
Oct. 5, Won, East Orange Campus, 31-12
Oct. 12, Won, at Montclair, 43-42
Oct. 19, Delbarton, 1 p.m.
Oct. 26, St. Joseph (Montvale), 2 p.m.
Nov. 2, at Pope John (Sparta), 1 p.m.
Photos by Rich Morris/Courtesy of SHP
Seton Hall Prep vs. Montclair
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