Johnson Football Loses Season Opener to Cranford

The Records: 0 vs. 0. The Arthur L. Johnson Crusaders varsity football team faced off against the Cranford Cougars on Friday night in Cranford for both teams' season opener. Cranford beat Johnson when the two teams met last season.

The pressure was on for Johnson's Mancino took over the reigns after the Johnson was also missing seven players, including several starters, who were benched for disciplinary reasons. Interestingly, head coach for Cranford, Erik Rosenmeier, is Clark native and a 1983 Arthur L. Johnson alum.

The Final Score: 21-6, Cranford. Cranford took the lead midway through the first quarter with an 18-yard touchdown run. Johnson attempted to rally after an interception from senior safety Jeff Siessel, but the score remained 7-0 going into the second. 

The second quarter was all about Cranford's first-year quarterback, junior Reggie Green. Green ran for 32-yards in the Cougars first possession and continued to move the ball down the field, eventually running in Cranford's second touchdown. Johnson received the ball at the 28-yard line and after two unsuccessful downs Coach Mancino called a time-out to regroup. The Crusaders returned to the field with not much time on the clock and got the first with an 11-yard run by John Caliguire. They managed to move the ball to midfield, but ran out of time – the score was 14-0 at the half. 

In the first 30 seconds of the third quarter, Cranford returned the kickoff all the way to the 50-yard line, followed by a personal foul on the Crusaders that pushed the ball to the 35-yard line. Green was the hero again with a 36-yard touchdown run on Cranford's first attempt, making the score 21-0. Johnson looked to be gaining momentum when senior Nick Mullery returned the kickoff to the 40-yard line. On the first down of this drive, Joe Francisco fell to the ground and remained there for several minutes, eventually leaving the game with a pinched nerve. After the injury timeout, Johnson quarterback Lance Pecina's pass was intercepted by Cranford's Reggie Green. The Cougars slowly drove the ball downfield but were eventually stopped and forced to punt. 

With 4:50 left in the third-quarter, Johnson received the ball on the 27-yard line. The Crusaders kept the ball for the remainder of the quarter, with an impressive drive that took them all the way to the 11-yard line before time ran out.

The score remained 21-0 going into the final quarter, and on the first play Pecina finally gave the Johnson fans a thrill with an 11-yard touchdown run. Unfortunately, Johnson missed the extra point, giving Cranford the ball with the score at 21-6. 

11:15 remained on the clock and the Crusader's defense had to go to work in order to give them a shot at a win. That's exactly what they did stopping Cranford and forcing them to punt with 7:14 left for coach Mancino's offense. The Crusaders received the punt at their own 27-yard line and began to drive down the field. On the team's second set of downs, Pecina fumbled the ball but it was fortunatley recovered by Jeff Siessel gaining 14-yards for the offense. The drive was stopped after an impressive backfield tackle from Cranford, resulting in a loss of down's and seamingly sealing Johnsons fate. With 4:25 left on the clock, Cranford and quarterback Reggie Green took control of the ball, eventually winding down the clock and giving the team their first win of the season.

Key Players: Cranford's newly-minted quarterback Reggie Green couldn't have made a better first impression. For Johnson, seniors John Caliguire and Nick Mullery gave a great effort.

The Quote:"They played better than us," said Coach Mancino. "When a team plays better, you lose, pretty simple. They were a little more physical and they had a nice game plan to stop our offense, but no disgrace to our guys, our kids played hard.

Mancino on His First Game as Head Coach: "Taking the loss out of it, it was great," said Mancino. "I've been doing it for 19 years and it's a little bit different when you're the head guy. I love my team. I enjoyed it right up until the final whistle."

What's Next: Johnson (0-1) will travel to Somerville (1-0) with a full team on Friday at 7 p.m. for their second game of the season. Somerville is coming off a 41-12 win against Hillside in their season opener.