Saint John Vianney Takes Control of Class A Central After Dominating Rumson-Fair Haven

Photos above courtesy of Tom Smith: Chukwuneke, Sterling and Daniels getting it done

RUMSON – Saint John Vianney thoroughly dominated Rumson-Fair Haven from start-to-finish squashing the Bulldogs 28-3 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated.

The Lancers dominated in all phases of the game as they picked up their 26th straight win against Shore Conference opposition since the start of the 2014 season and clinched at least a tie for the division Friday night at Borden Stadium in Rumson.

“We came in here thinking we would dominate,” said Derek Sininsky, who is in his second season as Saint John Vianney head coach. “We just feel we’re a better team all-around. Our defense compliments out offense. Our kids hit; they love to hit. We were confident we could shut them out and leave here with a dominating victory.”

Receiving the opening kickoff, the Lancers (6-0, 5-0) immediately set the tone for the game going 73 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown drive that took 6:03 off the clock.

During the drive, 12 of their 13 plays came on the ground as they converted three third down plays and a fourth-and-2 from the Bulldogs 31-yard line as junior quarterback Haaziq Daniels executed a perfect fake to senior running back Chris Chukwuneke - that fooled the entire Rumson defense - then tucked it in and scampered 31-yards around right end for the score.

Chukwuneke accounted for 38 yards on the ground on seven carries on the drive and picked up all three first downs on three third-down runs. Chukwuneke, who missed last week’s game with an ankle injury, had 129 yards of his 137-yards rushing on the night in the first half alone.

“We came in here with the mindset that we had better athletes and we had the better line,” Chukwuneke said. “Our line doesn’t get enough credit. They work their tails off. They are really holding us together.”

The Lancers offensive line is led by 6-foot-5, 265 pound Rutgers commit Micah Clark, who had a dominating performance on both sides of the ball as the Lancers won the battle of the trenches where they were clearly the more physical team by a long margin.

“All week long Rumson said we couldn’t run the ball on them,” Clark said. “That drive showed we could.”

“The offensive line is outstanding,” Daniels said. “They had a great week in practice. They showed they’re one of the dominate lines in the Shore and they did their thing tonight.”

The Lancers defense forced a three-and-out on Rumson’s first possession and after a Thomas Chapin the Lancers took over at their own 25-yard line.

An encroachment penalty on Rumson (3-2, 3-1) and a Chukwuneke six-yard run set up a first down at the 36-yard line. On the next play, junior Zyaire Sterling took a swing pass from Daniels and bolted 64 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown that made it 14-0 with 3:13 left in the first quarter.

Between Chukwuneke, Sterling and Daniels the Lancers possess a trio of skill-players that are as dangerous a weapon as any three in the Shore.

After two Rumson possessions resulted in Chapin’s third punt of the night, Chukwuneke runs of 57 yards on first down from the 17-yard line and 13 yards from the 14 set up his one-yard touchdown plunge that pushed the lead to 21-0 with 6:53 left in the half after Will Forman’s extra-point kick.

Up to this point in the game the Saint John Vianney defense had limited Rumson to 28 total yards. Nick Denseiski (sack), Josiah Walker, Clark, Eddie Sheridan and Dominick Spano all chipped in with big stops.

Rumson had its only scoring drive of the game starting at their own 46 with 2:08 remaining in the half and that was aided by a pass interference call that gave them a first down at the Lancers 39. A 23-yard keeper by quarterback Michael O’Connor picked up a first down at the 16 but two incomplete passes and a one-yard stop by Walker resulted in a 32-yard Chapin field goal with 14.6 seconds left in the half.

A three-yard sack by linebacker Johnny Buchanan and a Clark, Dylan Stoppiello and Sheridan stop for no gain on third-and-2 forced Rumson to punt on their first possession of the second half.

Saint John Vianney took over at the their own 28 and Daniels immediately ripped off a 37-yard run as he again fooled Rumson on a fake handoff before taking off down the right sideline for a first down at the Rumson 35. However, the Bulldogs star linebacker Mike Ruane, who recorded double digit tackles with three tackles for a loss, stopped Buchanan for a five-yard loss forcing a punt.

With the punt rolling towards the end zone, Pedro Braga dove and actually batted the ball out of the end zone where it was downed at the one for a spectacular special teams play that put the Bulldogs in a deep hole.

After a stop for no gain by Buchanan on third-and-8 from the 3-yard line Rumson was forced to punt from deep in their end zone but Chapin got off a beauty that rolled to the Vianney 49.

A 22-yard bubble screen to Sterling on first down put the ball at Rumson 31, then two Daniels to Sterling completions set up Buchanan’s one-yard touchdown run that pushed the score to 28-3 with 1:03 left in the third quarter.

Braga intercepted O’Connor on Rumson’s ensuing possession at the Bulldog 39 and it looked as though Vianney was about to pad the score after a Daniels to Samuel East 53-yard completion set up a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. However, Chukwuneke fumbled the ball out of the end zone as he dove for the pylon resulting in a touchback with 8:34 remaining in the game.

Walker, who had a tremendous game and was all over the field, added a sack on Rumson’s final possession of the game just to add a little hurt to insult.

Chukwuneke finished with 137 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown while Daniels lit it up both with his arm and his legs passing for 183 yards and a touchdown completing 7-of-11 passes and rushing for an additional 62 yards and a touchdown on six touches. Sterling, the third member of the Lancers three-headed monster, caught six passes for 137 yards and a score.

The Lancers outgained Rumson in total yardage 404 to 167 and those numbers speak for themselves.

We just feel right now we’re at a point where the snowball is getting bigger and bigger,” Sininsky said. “We just want to keep getting better and better until we hit the playoffs. We want to be that hot team when the playoffs start; we don’t want to be great just yet.”

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