Franklin gets set to take the field at Sayreville on October 11, 2024. (Photo: Marcus Borden)
Week 6 had playoff implications for many teams even though some coaches prefer the media not not use the “p-word” when talking about the regular season. I understand completely, as we stress “Let’s go 1-0 each week,” while emphasizing winning the division title first and a post-season selection as a bonus.
Thursday’s game at Basilone Field in Bridgewater saw the host Panthers furiously try to rally from 17 points down to Hillsborough entering the fourth quarter. Their athletic signal caller Declan Kurdyla got his team to within three by scoring on an 11-yard run with 3:22 remaining in the game.
The Raiders quarterback Ryan Seamon had other thoughts as he surprised the defense by keeping the ball on the zone read for 37 yards which set up an Ozokopor 5-yard TD run an making a 37-27 deficit with less than 2 minutes a difficult task. Both teams should advance to the post-season.
Friday evening the Franklin Warriors traveled to National Silver Division foe Sayreville’s War Memorial Stadium as the Bombers honored senior band members, cheerleaders and football players.
The host team found themselves trailing 14-6 at halftime as they turned the ball over giving the visitors a short field on several occasions. Nevertheless, Sayreville wasted little time closing the gap to 14-12 in the early minutes of the 3rd quarter and took the lead 20-14 with a Shaun Jackson 20-yard TD run and subsequent 2-point conversion at 10.7 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The drama would unfold as Sayreville looked to stop Franklin’s attempt to rally with an interception around the 14-yard but the ball was jarred loose and recovered by the Warriors. They would eventually get to the Bombers’ 9-yard line facing a 4th down and 7.
With multiple timeouts by both teams, Franklin’s Troy Hyman took a handoff from running back Dubem Kawah on a reverse scoring with 58.5 seconds in the game. An unsportsmanlike penalty forced Franklin to go for 2 from the 18 which they converted on a pass from Jah’naad Cody to Alhaji Kallon.
The Bombers would get to the 30-yard line of Franklin but were stopped on 4th down. The Warriors would end their 3-game losing streak and improve to 4-3 making their post season chance a real possibility.
My final Week 6 stop was to see Spotswood play their 1st game on their new turf field which also has lights which might be ready for this Friday’s game versus South Hunterdon.
The Chargers improved to 6-1 by defeating Jonathon Dayton by a score of 34-7 scoring on the ground, in the air, and by superb special teams play which included two Gavin Pereira field goals, a blocked punt and touchdown by Jayson Tejada as well as outstanding positional kicking which caused turnovers.
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