WEST ORANGE, NJ — The expectations for the Seton Hall Prep football team have been high following a strong end of last season and a very talented senior corp returning.
The season started off with a bang as junior Darren Burton II took the opening kickoff on the Seton Hall 16-yard line and returned it to the Pope John 35-yard line. Two plays later, senior quarterback Jaden Craig found senior Nick Dunneman down the right sideline for a 31-yard touchdown pass and senior Nick Conforti added the first of his 6 extra points to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead just :41 into the game and they went on to defeat Pope John XXIII of Sparta 51-7 at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field in West Orange.
On the Lions’ next drive, senior linebacker Jackson Dowd intercepted a pass on the Pope John 20 and returned it to the 6-yard line. Two plays later, Craig hit junior wide receiver Brody Davis with a 4-yard pass to give the Pirates a 14-0 lead. With just 1:51 left in the first quarter, Craig ran off left tackle down the sideline for a 59-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead for Seton Hall after one quarter. In the second quarter, Craig found junior Mason Mac for a 64-yard scoring pass. Burton returned a kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown after the Pirates recorded a safety. Craig scored on a 6-yard run later in the quarter and the Pirates led 44-0 at the half.
With 1:10 left in the third quarter, senior running back Jalil Bowen scored the final Pirate points on a 42-yard run and sophomore kicker Jack Catchpole Jr. added the extra point for a 51-0 Pirate lead after three quarters. Pope John scored their sole touchdown with 1:27 left in the game.
Following the game, Craig said, “This is the start of our journey and it will only be up from here.”
“We have been waiting for this a long time as we have been working very hard in the weight room and summer practices,” Burton added.
“This is a culmination, at least for this game, of all the hard work we did in the weight room and all the time we spent together in the film room and summer workouts,” fourth-year head coach Bill Fitzgerald said. “We have a senior quarterback and a lot of senior skill players that have played together, so that makes it a lot easier.”
Stats and notes: Craig was 7-11, 207 yards, three TDs and ran for two TDs; Bowen had 65 yards and one TD; Dunneman had three catches for 73 yards and one TD; Mac had one catch for 64 yards and one TD; Dowd had eight tackles and one interception; and junior linebacker Kelvin Williams had nine tackles.
With the victory, Seton Hall has tied the career series with Pope John at 3-3, winning the last three games. On Friday, the Pirates will travel to Piscataway to take on Union City at SHI Stadium on the campus of Rutgers University at 2 p.m.
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