The 2017 season turned out to be a magical one for the football teams at Freehold Township High School and the North Brunswick Township High School.
For North Brunswick, the year proved to be fantastic in terms of growth and development, as the team earned the fifth seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 5 playofs under first-year head coach Michael Cipot after going 1-9 last year.
For the fourth-seeded Patriots, the high point thus far is earning the first postseason victory in program history with a 17-13 victory over North Brunswick on Nov. 10 in Freehold Township.
Freehold Township coach Cory Davies was proud of his team for committing itself to a goal it had all year.
“It feels great,” he said. “It’s something we talked about all year long. We have a hashtag, #takethenextstep, and the next step for us was to win a playoff game. We did squander some opportunities today, but it’s still an awesome feeling to say the least.”
Davies is looking forward to the next opponent, unbeaten and top-seeded Manalapan High School, in the semifinal on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in Manalapan. The Braves pitched a 42-0 shutout over eighth-seeded Perth Amboy High School in its playoff opener at home on Nov. 10.
Freehold Township (8-2) fell to Manalapan (10-0) in its regular-season finale on Nov. 3 by a score of 48-7.
“The biggest thing for next week is to get our guys as ready as we can to go out and play a great team like Manalapan.” Davies said. “Hey, Iowa [University] beat Ohio State [University] last week, so it’s possible.”
All joking aside, Davies wants his team to know that upsets can happen.
“I think the biggest thing is to get our guys to believe that they can beat them,” the coach said. “We have to get them to believe that they can knock them off and then go from there. We know we’re going to have to play the best game we’ve ever played to beat them.”
Against North Brunswick, senior wide receiver Patrick Laricy scored on a 23-yard catch from quarterback Nick Reardon for the Patriots’ for the first score of the game.
The Raiders answered back in the second quarter with a 12-yard touchdown run from tailback Myles Bailey.
Freehold Township running back Mike Cenname then ran in for a 1-yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 14-7 lead. Kicker Colin Taptich connected on a 29-yard field goal right before halftime to hand Freehold Township a 17-7 lead going into the break.
The Raiders scored in the fourth quarter on an 80-yard run by quarterback Christian Petrillo. A failed two-point conversion kept the Freehold Township lead at 17-13. The Raiders had the ball in the red zone with eight seconds left, but Bailey was tackled short at the 1-yard line as time ran out on North Brunswick (6-3).
Reardon threw for 213 yards in the game, while Laricy recorded 87 receiving yards and a touchdown. Cenname ended the game with 126 rushing yards and a touchdown.
For the Raiders, Bailey picked up 182 yards on the ground with a touchdown, while Petrillo passed for 70 yards along with his rushing touchdown.
“I’m kind of in a little bit of a shock right now,” Laricy said. “You don’t really know how it really feels until it actually happens. I’ve played in a playoff game all three years of varsity and have come up short. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Laricy is looking forward to the playoff game against the Braves.
“One of our motto’s is take the next step,” Laricy said. “We go week-by-week. Now we’re focused on Manalapan, and we’re going to give them everything we’ve got.”
Junior linebacker and running back Kwenah Dolo had a sack, nine tackles and an interception for the Raiders in the losing effort, and he was a leader in the locker room after the heartbreaking loss. Dolo loved how the team fought until the final second of the game.
“We fought to the end, and that’s all I can ask for from my boys,” Dolo said. “These guys are my brothers, and we’re going to be friends for life.”
Dolo believes the new culture at North Brunswick is built to last, and that if the team has the right mindset, it can be a very good team next year.
“This program can contend for a championship,” Dolo said. “I always tell these boys, ‘Don’t quit. Don’t ever give up. Keep fighting for each other.’ ”
Cipot hopes his team will learn from its first postseason experience.
“We have to build off of this,” he said. “It’s a life lesson. Sometimes, it comes down to the last play, and you either make it or you don’t. This game, we came out on the short end, and hopefully next year, we build off of it. It’s only positive stuff going forward. We have the program where we want it. The kids cared. The kids fought. That’s all we ask for.”
Cipot said he was extremely proud of how his team played this year.
“I’m extremely proud,” the coach said. “There’s not one negative thought or comment about these guys. They fought till the end. We’ve fought with .8 seconds left. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make the play. Hopefully, next year we do.”
