Piscataway looks to fix mistakes, but keep the big plays when Somerville comes to town for first tussle in nearly 40 years

Very few high school football teams play a perfect game in Week Zero, but somebody has to win. 

Usually.

Neither Piscataway nor East Orange were perfect Saturday afternoon at Robeson Stadium in Essex County, but the Chiefs came up with the bigger plays at key times en route to a 26-20 win.

So, for head coach Dan Higgins, he takes the win and hopes his team both cleans up the mistakes this week, but still makes the big plays, all of which No. 3 Piscataway will need when the Chiefs host No. 5 Somerville (1-0) Friday night at Kenny Armwood Stadium.

That’s the Bellamy & Son Paving Big Central Game of the Week on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with kickoff set for 6 pm and pregame at 5:40.  Mike Pavlichko and Nick Hart will call all the action.  Click here to listen.

A couple of the mistakes:  Piscataway had a bad snap on a punt that sailed 40 yards back toward their own end zone, and gave up a long touchdown pass for a score and another big play that set up first and goal with under a minute to play.  They also couldn’t corral a bad bounce on an onside kick in the final few minutes.

But they also recovered with some big-time plays.

On the punt, kicker Patrick Novak was able to recover it inside the five and somehow boot it away to keep the Jaguars from recovering mere yards from the goal line. 

And after East Orange recovered their onside kick and got down to the two, defensive lineman Donald Young was instrumental in the first stop at the one, and in the second by helping drive the ball carrier into the backfield.  With no timeouts, the Jags ran out of time to get to the line, spike it, and run one more play.

And the Chiefs escaped.

Oh, and there were other big plays, too, that stood on their own, like the 23-yard pick-six Cody Hardy had in the first half when East Orange was pinned back inside their own five.  A safety was a real possibility, but Piscataway came away with seven points instead of two.

One of the biggest challenges prepping for Somerville will be the Pioneers’ speed, but not just of their individual players.  They run tempo, often go no huddle, and keep defenses on their heels.

But Piscataway should have an offense to counter.  Senior Landon Pernell became the school’s all-time leading passer during the East Orange game – now at 3,736 yards – taking over the top spot from Chet Trechok, whose record has stood for 43 years.  And Zaire Young is a bruising back, who’s not easy to bring down.

Click below to hear veteran Piscataway head coach Dan Higgins talk about the Chiefs and their Week One matchup against Somerville with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: