METUCHEN, NJ — On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, Nov. 4, the Seton Hall Prep football team traveled to Metuchen to take on St. Joseph High School of Metuchen in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Non-Public “A” playoffs. The Pirates defeated the Falcons 61-20 at The Brennan Family Field.
Seton Hall opened the scoring when a snap from center was bobbled by the St. Joseph punter and the ball went out of the end zone after a scramble to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead with 5:32 left in the first quarter.
On the Pirates’ second play after a Falcons kickoff, senior quarterback Liam Londergan hit senior Julius Vicari down the right side for a 41-yard touchdown pass and senior Jack Catchpole hit the first of eight extra points for a 9-0 Seton Hall lead.
The Pirates took over on downs on the St. Joseph 45-yard line and Londergan hit junior Caleb Pasols down the right side for a 41-yard scoring pass to extend the lead to 16-0 just :14 after their first touchdown. After a St. Joseph punt, the Pirates drove 40 yards in five plays, with senior Michael Dunmore scoring from the 2-yard line to make the score 23-0 with 11:19 left in the second quarter.
On St. Joseph’s next drive, senior linebacker forced a fumble and junior defensive end Charlie Hodulik recovered the ball on the 11-yard line. On the first play, junior Ben Mitrow ran it in from the 11 to extend the lead to 30-0 with 8:16 left. Later in the quarter, the Falcons scored a touchdown, making the score 30-7 with 3:48 left.
On the Pirates’ next drive, they started from their 20-yard line to the St. Joseph’s 4-yard line and Catchpole connected on a 22-yard field goal with :06 left to make the score 33-7. St. Joseph scored a touchdown on its first drive of the third quarter to make the score 33-13 with 7:39 left.
Later in the quarter, the Pirates drove 39 yards in two plays after a St. Joseph’s punt, with Londergan hitting senior Danny Easter with a 15-yard scoring pass, increasing their lead to 40-13 with 2:28 left. The Falcons scored a touchdown on their next drive to cut the Pirate lead to 40-20 with :06 left.
In the fourth quarter, Easter caught a 20-yard TD pass from Londergan, Dunmore scored on a 4-yard rushing TD and sophomore Bryce Robbins scored on a 53-yard TD run to make the final 61-20.
Following the game, SHP head coach Bill Fitzgerald said, “We have to be unselfish with regard to our offensive output, which is the key. We also have to be patient and we have to trust each other. I think we did that today.”
Londergan added, “This was big. We had a rough start to our season. This is going to boost our confidence and make us work hard this coming week.”
Dunmore commented, “We wanted to do this the whole year. Some stuff went wrong early in the regular season and we needed to step up, which we did, and put it all together today.
The Pirates will now travel to Montvale on Saturday, Nov. 11, in the quarterfinals to face St. Joseph of Montvale in a 1 p.m. start. Earlier this season, the Green Knights defeated the Pirates 30-21 in a game that went back and forth before St. Joseph pulled away later in the second half. Last season, Seton Hall Prep defeated St. Joseph 34-30 in the quarterfinals. In the all-time series, the Pirates hold a 9-5 lead.
Seton Hall Prep game stats vs. St. Joseph of Metuchen
- Passing: Londergan – 11 of 17 attempts, 251 yards, 4 touchdowns.
- Rushing: Dunmore – 21 carries for 118 yards, 1 TD. Mitrow – 8 carries for 62 yards, 2 TDs. Robbins – 1 carry for 53 yards, 1 TD.
- Receiving: Easter – 3 catches for 59 yards, 2 TDs. Pasols – 1 catch for 57 yards, 1 TD. Vicari – 2 catches for 59 yards, 1 TD.
- Defensive leaders: Black – 9 tackles, 1 forced fumble. Dylan Gilmore, junior linebacker – 8 tackles, 1 sack.
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