After a tight first half, Metuchen got the only touchdown it needed Saturday afternoon against Highland Park late in the second quarter, enough for a 29-0 shutout of the Owls in the 88th meeting between the two arch-rivals.
Jason Woods scored from two yards out with 4:38 to go in the second, then Justus Leitner caught a screen pass from Ryan Toth and ran it in 42-yards for a score with 33 seconds to go in the half.
But it was the Bulldogs’ defense that was impressive. They not only shut out the Owls, but held them to 98 total yards of offense in the game.
And then there was Metuchen’s front line. They protected Ryan Toth all day long, leaving him plenty of time to throw, or to hand off to whoever he wanted to get it to.
Evan Toth – Ryan’s brother – ran for 129 yards in the game, his third 100-yard rushing game this season. He came out of the game with a lower leg injury in the third quarter, but by that time, the game was generally in hand.
Highland Park still leads the all-time series 61-26-1. The Owls drop to 3-2, and have lost three straight. They visit Roselle Park next week.
Metuchen snapped a two-game skid and improves to 4-2 with a visit to JP Stevens next Thursday night.
Click below for postgame reaction presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen with head coach Jordan Leitner, and brothers Evan and Ryan Toth:
