The Bergen Catholic Crusaders won their seventh straight game in a hard-fought 28-17 victory over the St. Joseph Regional(Montvale) Green Knights(5-3) at Robert Dinallo Stadium/Tony Karcich Field(St. Joseph Regional High School) in Montvale, New Jersey.
Bergen Catholic was backed up deep in their territory at the eight-yard line in the first quarter, but quarterback Dominic Campanile completed a 31-yard pass to wide receiver Quincy Porter.
Campanile then flung a shovel pass to running back Dante Kain. Kain darted down the middle of the field and cut back to the left for the huge 42-yard gain that pushed the ball down to St. Joe’s 18-yard line.
The Crusaders faced a third and 13 at the Green Knights 24-yard line. However, Campanile fired a pass down the middle of the seam to Quincy Porter, who absorbed a vicious hit but held onto the ball for the 21-yard reception.
On second and goal at the one-yard line, Dominic Campanile took the snap and barreled into the end zone for the touchdown with 1:35 left.
In the second quarter, St. Joe’s evened up the score at 7-7 on a seven-yard touchdown run by running back Nathan Bailey with seven minutes remaining.
Bergen Catholic responded immediately, as Dominic Campanile completed three consecutive passes to move the ball near midfield.Facing a third-down and 11 at midfield, Campanile slung a pass to wide receiver Austin Busso, who scampered down to the Green Knights’ 25-yard line.
On first down, running back Najee Calhoun took the handoff, then burst straight ahead and into the clear, rumbling to the end zone for the 25-yard touchdown as the Crusaders reclaimed the lead 14-10 with less than four minutes to go.
With time winding down in the first half, St. Joe’s had excellent starting field position at the Bergen Catholic 30-yard line, but a critical sack by the tandem of Delaney Fludd and CJ Edwards forced a long field goal attempt that proved to be no issue at all for Green Knights kicker Salvatore Salafia as he booted through a 47-yard field goal with three seconds on the clock.
The Crusaders received the second-half kickoff in the third quarter and quickly advanced the ball into St. Joe’s territory. Still, the drive fizzled out due to a spectacular interception by Green Knights defensive back Jahmir Joseph in the end zone.
Joseph was not done wreaking havoc in the secondary. He picked off his second pass of the game and again in the end zone, wiping out another impressive Bergen Catholic offensive possession.
In the fourth quarter, the Crusaders’ offense switched to a pound-and-ground attack, running the ball continuously and handing it off to Najee Calhoun, who ripped off a stellar 31-yard run.
The drive’s highlight was when Calhoun ran the ball from St. Joe’s 16-yard line. The offensive line pushed the pile and Calhoun down to the one-yard line. Calhoun finished the drive in style, plowing across the end zone for the score that extended the Bergen Catholic lead to 21-10.
The Green Knights attempted to right the ship on their ensuing offensive possession but went sideways. A tipped pass led to Crusaders defensive back Xavier Jackson intercepting the ball and returning it to the house for the exhilarating 55-yard score that widened the margin to 28-10 with two and a half minutes left.
St. Joe’s managed to tally a late touchdown on a sensational 55-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mason Geis to wide receiver Mekhi Rossignol. That would be the game’s last points as Bergen Catholic emerged victorious.