In the end, it came down to the little things. It always does.
Third-seeded Bernards had three takeaways – two fumble recoveries and an interception – and came up with a monster defensive stand late in the fourth quarter to emerge with a 21-20 win over visiting sixth-seed Hanover Park Friday night at Olcott Field, in a game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
And that sets up a date for the Mountaineers (7-2) next Friday at second-seed Hoboken (9-1), which beat seven-seed Ramsey in its opening round game, 49-14.
After a scoreless first half which went at a blistering pace with the Hornets controlling the time of possession, defensive back Zach Favreau came up with a goal line interception to end a long Hanover Park drive.
Bernards escaped a safety on the possession, and went three and out, but the punt only put the visitors on the Bernards 39, and 26 seconds into the second quarter, QB Vin Fusella hit Garrett Walters for a 15-yard touchdown pass to put his team up 6-0, after their two-point run failed.
But just three minutes later, Bernards answered with a Luke Bubnowski five-yard run that put the Mountaineers up 7-6 with the PAT, and that would be all the scoring in the first half, which also saw Sean Arcelay leave with an injury; he didn’t return.
Midway through the third, Bernards extended the lead to 14-6 on a 31-yard touchdown run by Bubnowski, but less than four minutes later, Jake Cosentino capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a one-yard run, and a Rocco Zirpoli two-point run tied the score at 14.
Into the fourth, Bubnowski scored his third touchdown of the game, on a three-yard run with 8:56 left. The PAT turned out to be critical, putting Bernards up 21-14.
That would be short-lived, as it took Hanover Park just 1:23 to go 50 yards on six plays, scoring on another Fusella-Walters connection, this time from 30 yards out, to cut the deficit to one. But the two-point run was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage by Bernards, allowing them to maintain a one-point lead.
The Mountaineers went three-and-out, and Hanover Park got the ball back, but came up with a huge defensive stand, with Bubnowski sacking Fusella at the 35 yard line with under three minutes to go.
All Bernards had to do was get one first down – even with Hanover Park holding on to two time outs – and they did, eventually going into victory formation for the “W.”
Bubnowski finished the game with 14 carries for 92 yards and three TDs for Bernards.
Click below for postgame reaction from Bernards head coach Jon Simoneau and senior RB/SS Luke Bubnowski, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
