A learning experience for the boys of BR. Under the Friday Night Lights high above Stewart Field in Flemington. And that included a big 'ol bright full moon too. Home of the Red Devils Football team at Hunterdon Central High School.
A team, it should be noted, ranked #15 in the state and by all accounts the team to beat in the Delaware Division. Bridgewater Raritan's team, fresh off it's upset of Union was ready to do battle and wished to ignore the hype.
The stadium was packed. Senior Night for the HC team and band members to be celebrated at halftime. No seats to be found on the home side and the BR visitors side. Standing room only. The BR Band was back and they opened the night in fine fashion, receiving a rousing applause from the crowd on both sides. BR's cheer squad was ready too, clearly happy to have warmer temps back. The girls looked, performed and sounded great. One footnote - the white hair bows were a cool touch. Well done.
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The crowd on our visitors side was excited. Optimistic even. The feeing was that the boys were up for tonight's test. Early on the game was evenly played. Hard fought in the trenches with each team trading tough hits. Tough hits are now routinely delivered by Jack Fanning, who seems to play with the kind of edge that makes opposing players want to go the other way when they see number 42. The BR defense is also led by the other linebackers, John Capra, Dan Renna and maybe the most pleasant surprise so far this year Hanks Flanagan. HC's star running back Jason Cabinda was getting nowhere and was held to minimal gains for the entire first quarter. Punts were traded.
The HC defense bent at times allowing for BR first downs, but it didn't break. Some early BR success revolved around the accurate arm of QB Michael Fair, the soft hands of receiver Nate Melewski and the 3 yards and a big cloud of dust inside running of Matthew Eichhorn. HC finally broke through and scored late in the first quarter on a very nice pass play for 28 yards.
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BR's defensive line of Chris Carter (double teamed most of the night), Nate Muniz, Billy Barber, Chris Deluca and the man who's motor knows one speed, Ryan Moran played outstanding through most of the night. Pressure in the backfield was constant and running lanes were few. But, a counter rush by Cabinda to the weak side caught them by surprise in the 2nd quarter and the Syracuse commit ran 20 yards to make it a 14-0 game at the half.
The 2nd half saw more of the same. Highlights for BR included the play of the defensive secondary led by Fair, Alessandro Castellani and Steven LeMorte. Castellani also showed skills on the offensive side, making a couple of nice catches from the forever improvising and scrambling Michael Fair (who is clearly the real deal). BR would move a bit, but mostly they'd stall, setting up a war of field position, which they lost bad. The Red Devils went up 24-0 by the end of the 3rd.
Meanwhile, the 2nd half saw a shower, (of biblical proportions) of yellow penalty flags. Each team playing sloppy, hurting themselves as the refs marched and marched and marched off the infractions.
The game ended 24-0 and there wasn't a single fan walking out who didn't feel that the boys of BR could have easily been in it against the highly ranked and regarded Red Devils. Kudos to them on a solid victory for sure. But, if by chance, BR sees them again later this year (November), don't be surprised if the boys welcome the opportunity for revenge.
Kudos to the BR offensive line, who are led by captain Kyle Keirnen. The guys up front do all the dirty work and once BR fell behind, HC threw everything and everyone at them. Not an easy task. Thoughts also go out to lineman Andrew DeMaio for a speedy recovery (leg).
There is no such thing as a good loss. A loss is just that. Not good. The boys will now focus their minds on the mission of making the necessary adjustments, while strengthening the very many positives this team possesses.
However, the painful sting of defeat will stay fresh. Until this Friday. In Hillsborough versus the Raiders at 7 pm, under the lights. Another road trip, except this one will be powered now...by learned experience.
