Ibn McDaniels of Elizabeth scored on offense and defense in a 28-26 win over Union at home on October 6, 2023. (Source: @ibnmcdaniels1 on Twitter)
Coming into Friday night’s home game against 10th-ranked Union with an 0-6 record, the Minutemen simply ignored that fact.
After all, all six losses had come by a combined 26 points, and none by more than one score.
And by the time all was said and done, Elizabeth had pulled off a 28-26 upset win to pick up its first win of the season.
And it was a hard-fought one at that. No one led by more than nine points, as the teams traded scored the entire game, and a failed PAT and 2-point conversion came back to haunt the Farmers.
Ibn McDaniels scored twice, the first of which opened the scoring to make it 6-0 after a blocked PAT. Union got the equalizer and missed their kick to make it 6-6.
The teams traded two more touchdowns, a one-yard run by Jalais Mendoza for Elizabeth and a 69-yard pick six by Kasie McDowll for Union made it 13-13 after 12 minutes.
But it was Elizabeth that went into the home locker room with the lead after freshman QB Arique Fleming hit Amad Canty for a 21-yard score in the second quarter.
Union got within two on a third quarter TD pass from Omalley King to McDowell, but failed on a critical two-point pass try and the score held 21-19.
McDaniels picked off King and ran it back 17-yards for the score, putting Elizabeth up nine at the end of three.
And they survived Kordal Hinton’s two-yard TD run in the forth quarter to hold on for the win, which puts Elizabeth at 1-6 and keeps their playoff hopes alive, gaining major OSI points, with two games remaining at Bridgewater-Raritan next week, then home to Watchung Hills on Cutoff Weekend.
Union drops to 4-3.
Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Elizabeth head coach John Fiore about their win over Union: