No. 10 Sayreville celebrates a 24-16 win at Piscataway on October 13, 2023. (Photo: Marcus Borden)
Sayreville senior runningback Zaimer Wright carried the ball 28 times for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Exactly the way head coach Don Sofilkanich would have drawn it up.
Except the first quarter went anything but the way he would have drawn it up.
Quarterback Nick Nunez threw interceptions to end the 10th-ranked Bombers’ first two possessions at rival Piscataway Friday night – in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, and as they were about to get the ball back for a third time, Zaimer Wright fumbled a punt, giving the Chiefs the ball back at the eight yard line.
Yet, after all three turnovers, the Chiefs only led 3-0. They missed a field goal their first time with the ball, punted on the second, and finally converted a 26-yard field goal via the foot of Vincent Novak.
But Sayreville got a 33-yard TD run from Wright with 5:07 to go in the half, and added an Aaron Losada 24 yard field goal with three seconds left to go into the locker room with a 10-3 lead.
The defense bailed out the Bombers in the first half, limiting Piscataway to fewer than ten yards of offense through the first 24 minutes of play, and no first downs.
In the second half, the Chief offense started to wake up. They got a 31-yard touchdown catch from Jahai Johnson to knot the game at ten with the extra point. Wright put the Bombers ahead 17-10 with a two-yard touchdown run, but again Piscataway got what looked to be the equalizer, on a 20-yard pass play to DeShaun Stephens. But on a bad snap, the Chiefs missed the PAT, and trailed by one with exactly four minutes to go.
That’s when Wright scored for the third time on the night, from 66-yards out, capping a five-play, 80-yard drive, to go up by eight.
And it still wasn’t over. The Chiefs marched down the field, spiking the ball on first downs since they were out of time outs. They got a pass interference call on a toss into the end zone – yes, it was on Wright, but it may have saved the game – and were given the ball at the 14, but after a first down play went for a loss of four, an incomplete pass into the end zone as time expired ended the game.
The loss is a hit to the playoff chances of Piscataway (4-4), which was in 15th place in the North Group 5 supersection coming into the night. Sayreville – 12th in South Group 4 – may move up with the win, now 6-2 on the season, with a chance to move up even further if they can win their regular season finale at home against Woodbridge next week.
Click below for postgame interviews from Marcus Borden presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: