Saint John Vianney Holds Off Middletown South With Late Game Goal Line Stand

Photos above courtesy of Tom Smith: Chris Chukwuneke with huge third down stop of Samson Dube, Chukwneke running the ball and quarterback Haaziq Daniels about to let one fly.

MIDDLETOWN – Middletown South senior Max Imsho returned a Saint John Vianney interception 41 yards to the Lancers 4-yard line with 2:51 left in the game setting up a first-and-goal at the four trailing 23-20.

With the crowd roaring at “The Swamp” the situation looked grim for the unbeaten Lancers (8-0) and their 27-game winning streak against Shore Conference competition appeared to be dire straits.

“When I walked up to the defensive huddle during the timeout I saw fire in their eyes and I said ‘Men this is the time to get excited,’” said Saint John Vianney head coach Derek Sininsky. “I go ‘This is what we always preach about. We always preach we’re the best defense around, not only in the Shore, but in the state’.”

Sininsky added more fuel to the fire as the already charged up Lancers defense were not to be denied.

After a 3-yard run on first down by Imsho moved the ball to the 1-yard line, defensive end Nick Densieski and linebacker Johnny Buchanan stuffed Imsho for a 1-yard loss on second down setting up a third-and-goal from the 2-yard line.

Densieski then hit running back Samson Dube behind the line of scrimmage bouncing him outside and senior safety Chris Chukwuneke came from the backside to haul Dube down for another 1-yard loss pushing the ball back to the 3-yard line.

Facing fourth-and-goal from the three with the heart of the Lancers defense now breathing fire out of their nostrils, the Eagles (5-2) elected to play it safe and go for a game-tying, 20-yard field goal to send the game into overtime, but the kick was wide right handing Saint John Vianney their 28th straight victory against Shore Conference competition.

“They had two out wide but I wasn’t concerned about them, I knew they were going to run the ball,” said Chukwuneke of his big stop. “Nick (Densieski) hit number one in the backfield and I just cleaned it up.

“When you have a head coach who thinks you can do something like that, you’ve just got to believe in him and fall in line.”

“After that interception, we knew we were faced with a challenge,” said Rutgers commit Micah Clark, who was playing with a heavy heart with his mother – who is one of the Lancers biggest supporters - in the hospital undergoing her fourth back surgery. I just kept the mentality in my head that I have to blow the center up. If I can blow him back, that’s the game.”

The goal-line stand was the second consecutive huge defensive stop for the Lancers fired-up defense late in the game after the offense gave up good field position on quarterback Haaziq Daniels second interception of the night.

On second-and-9 from the Eagles 48-yard line, Imsho tipped a Daniels pass that Dube grabbed and was immediately downed at the 38. Imsho then took a screen pass 20 yards before three straight runs netted eight yards bringing up a fourth-and-2 from the Lancers 32-yard line. Buchanan then stuck Dube hard dropping him after a 1-yard pickup and turning the ball back over to the Lancers.

“We knew we had the defense to stop them,” Chukwuneke said. “With Micah (Clark) at the nose and Jamaal playing up there and the rest of our defensive line and Johnny Buchanan at middle linebacker, we knew we had the stuff to stop them.”

Included in that defensive line was 6-foot-3, 245-pounder, Dominick Spano, who was a huge factor all-night long on both sides of the ball for the Lancers.

“He played both ways and didn’t come off the football field,” Sininsky said of Spano. “He’s another one of our underclassman and was outstanding.”

The Saint John Vianney defense only yielded one sustained Middletown South drive all night but that drive resulted in a touchdown that tied the score at 20-20 with 2:43 remaining in the third quarter.

After going three-and-out the Lancers were forced to punt from their own goal line with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter. The Eagles then took over in prime field position at the 50-yard line and twelve plays later Imsho ran it in from the one to tie the score at 20. Quarterback Aneesh Agrawal hit Jeremy Joyce with an 11-yard pass and a 14-yard run by Dube to the 3-yard line were the big gainers on the drive.

On the Lancers ensuing possession, after starting at their own 31-yard line, they drove all the way to the South 4-yard line in nine plays but the drive stalled there and they had to settle for a Will Forman 21-yard field goal that put them up 23-20 with 10:27 left in the game.

On that go-ahead drive, Daniels hit a wide open Samuel East, who fully extended himself making a sensational diving catch, at the 6-yard line to put the Lancers in scoring position. A communication mix up by South on the play left East wide open down the right side line with no defender in sight but the pass was slightly overthrown or it would’ve game for an easy touchdown.

On the Lancers second possession of the game they started in excellent field at the South 46 and drove to the Eagles 13-yard line in eight plays. A 12-yard Daniels to East pass completion gave the Lancers a first down at the 13 before Daniels was sacked by Kevin Higgins and fumbled with the Eagles Will Gullick recovering at the 25.

Six plays later, Joyce – who had 4 catches for 99 yards in the loss - snared a pass by Agrawal that was tipped by A.J. Calabro then made a nice move before racing 56 yards for the touchdown that gave the Eagles their only lead of the game 7-0.

After exchanging punts, the Lancers were facing a third-and-23 at their own 24-yard line after an illegal block in the back penalty had pushed them back. But Daniels then found Chukwuneke alone over the middle on third down at around the 40 and after making a defender miss the Villanova University commit took it outside and bolted 76 yards to tie the game 7-7.

The Lancers forced a three-and-out on South’s next possession before going 60 yards in 10 plays for the go ahead score. A Daniels to Chukwuneke 22-yard completion on third-and-25 set up a fourth-and-3 at the Eagles 33 before Daniels found East for a first down on a 6-yard sideline out pattern that worked for the Lancers all night. Four plays later, Chuckwuneke took it in from the one for a 14-7 lead.

Dube then returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown going virtually untouched up the middle before breaking outside and outracing the nearest pursuer. The extra point was no good and the Lancers held on to the slim lead 14-13.

The Eagles then rolled the dice and squibbed an onside kick with Imsho recovering at the Lancers 36 with 1:21 left in the half. An Agrawal 12-yard pass to Joyce gave them a first down at the 19 but two running plays netted zero yards and two incomplete passes ended the threat and the half.

South received the second half kickoff but the Lancers defense came up big again when Calabro stepped in front of a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage by defensive lineman J.P. Tarantino and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown on just the second play of the third quarter. The extra point was no good, keeping the Lancers lead at 20-13 under a minute into the second half.

“I can’t remember one, with me, better than that,” Sininsky said of his teams game-clinching goal-line stand. “It shows you the type of kids that they are, but we expect that. I always preach you have to practice perfect to get this thing done so I expect them to make that stand; we won the game on defense.”

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