If it wanted to, South Brunswick High School could have ran the ball up the gut all night on Oct. 19.
The Vikings were getting whatever they wanted in a home football victory, 41-13, over John.P. Stevens High School.
Running behind offensive linemen Jalen John, Darrin Seavers and Sameer Sharma, senior Thomas Joe-Kamara sparked a quick-strike attack, running for touchdowns of 37, 37 and 38 yards. He racked up 176 yards on 12 carries, an average of 14.6 yards per rush. For good measure, Joe-Kamara also caught a 38-yard touchdown.
Only two of South Brunswick’s six touchdown drives lasted longer than three plays. Most of the second half was played with a running clock because the Vikings led by 35 points.
“I have to give it to my line. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have scored any of those touchdowns,” Joe-Kamara said. “They were able to open holes for me. Jalen (Johns) opened up a big hole for me in the middle. He basically pushed their nose (tackle) out.”
South Brunswick mixed in a healthy dose of outside runs, too. But the inside linemen were itching for those inside runs, so they could really hit some dudes.
“We just had great effort throughout,” Johns said. “And we stuck together and got the job done. I was ready to ball out.”
“We fired off, and all it takes is that fire off,” Sharma said. “We blew off the ball. I just wanted to hit today.”
“We just played hard and finished,” added Seavers.
Joe-Kamara, at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, is built more like a receiver. But he runs like a bull, bursting through the line and shedding tacklers at the second and third levels.
The linemen opened the holes against the visitor from Edison on Oct. 19. Joe-Kamara made the most of them.
“You just got to find a hole and make a big play,” Joe-Kamara said.
The senior was not the only Vikings’ runner to make a big play on Oct. 19.
Another senior back, Katibu Martin, took a pitch on the right side and raced 35 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. In the third quarter, quarterback Gage Katzenell-Hall faked a handoff up the middle, kept the ball and scampered over the right edge for a five-yard score.
South Brunswick also owned the line of scrimmage on defense. The Vikings’ starters held J.P. Stevens to 20 rushing yards on 15 carries. Linebacker Sean Goldsmith had two sacks that led to three-and-outs.
On eight J.P. Stevens possessions, South Brunswick’s starting defense forced six punts, including four three-and-outs, and an interception.
“They came to play. South Brunswick came out and attacked us,” said J.P. Stevens coach Joe Riggi. “That’s a game of them wanting it more and controlling the line of scrimmage.”
The Vikings improved to 5-3 with this victory, bouncing back from a 21-0 loss to Saint Joseph High School of Metuchen on Oct. 12.
“We just changed our mindset and came back strong,” Joe-Kamara said. “This (J.P. Stevens) game was basically a playoff game. It basically solidified our spot in the (NJSIAA South, Group 5 sectional) playoffs. After this, we’re in.”
South Brunswick has one regular season game left, at Sayreville War Memorial High School, on Oct. 26. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The Bombers are 6-1 and ahead of South Brunswick in the South, Group 5 power points rankings.
South Brunswick is the defending Central Jersey, Group 5 state sectional champion.
“Sayreville baby!” Johns said. “The energy we had today was ridiculous, from the jump. If we do the same thing, with the same confidence, we’ll get the win. We want to win out, make it to the ‘ship.”
