Adversity is often littered along the path towards becoming the best football team amongst all of New Jersey’s public high schools.
It was no secret that being No. 1 was the goal all along for third-year head coach DJ Catalano, whose squad won a postseason game for the first time in seven years last fall during his second year in command.
Although they seemed ecstatic to make it that far at the time, that team’s season ultimately concluded on a sour note: a 51-point defeat at eventual state finalist Union City High School on the rooftop of its high school at Roosevelt Stadium in Hudson County.
After all, being the best not only requires beating the best.
It requires consistently playing your best, whether in practice, on gameday, during the regular season, or in the state playoffs.
Even after exploding for five first-half touchdowns in a rout of eighth-seeded Linden High School at home in the opening round of the state playoffs last week, the Panthers knew they left some opportunities on the board even as their bracket’s No. 1 seed and heavy favorite over the Tigers. After failing to score again out of the locker room, they seemed to learn valuable lessons in proving you belong and not getting complacent during a win-or-go-home contest, regardless of what the scoreboard may indicate.
“Getting them to execute is on them,” assessed Coach Catalano of his team’s result one week earlier against Linden, which set up a rematch with two-time reigning sectional champion Union City. “One of the things we talked about after the Linden game was that I was not pleased with how we came out in the second half. I felt like I was telling them what to do and trying to motivate them, but at the end of the day, it was kind of falling on deaf ears.”
“This week, we were going to go as far as our leaders go, which we define as going from point A to point B and bringing others along with you.”
On Friday night, November 7,against Union City, Bridgewater-Raritan’s players accepted the challenge from their coaching staff and their leaders.
In the end, the Panthers’ year-long wait for revenge was rewarded.
One year after surrendering nine touchdowns and 612 total yards from scrimmage to the Soaring Eagles in the state sectional playoff semifinals, top-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan (8-3) tallied the game’s first 10 points and never trailed against fourth-seeded Union City (6-4).
While a four-yard touchdown run by senior Mario Medina (14 rushes, 129 yards, one touchdown) got the Soaring Eagles to within three points just under halfway into the second quarter, the Panthers’ defense responded with a shutout over the game’s final 37 minutes of regulation.
Behind a memorable performance from Bridgewater-Raritan’s offensive line under the direction of senior quarterback Declan Kurdyla (13 rushes, 93 yards), running backs Jahmier Black (21 rushes, 148 yards, one touchdown) and Denzel Amoafo (12 rushes, 63 yards, one touchdown) punished Union City’s defensive line to help the Panthers eclipse 300 total rushing yards.
Most notably, Bridgewater-Raritan allowed just 212 total yards of offense and dethroned Union City with a statement 22-7 victory in the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 5, playoff semifinals at John Basilone Memorial Field in Bridgewater.
That victory sent Bridgewater-Raritan to the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state sectionalplayoff final. This will be Bridgewater-Raritan's first appearance in the state sectional playoff title game since 2017 when it fell to Westfield High School in the championship matchup.
“All of our run game is props to our O-line,” praised about his blockers after the game by Kurdyla, whose squad improved to a perfect 8-0 at home and will now serve as host to the state sectional finals for the first time ever. “Justin Simpson, Stephen Pikulin, and [center] Matt Pizzelanti are the seniors on our O-line and are the ones making our O-line move. [Junior] Neil Luis: our right tackle, really stepped up, and [sophomore] Jojo Day is also a baller. All five of them are like a big unit and a big family.”
“They are the reason we won this game.”
While the Panthers piled on 308 of their 339 total yards of offense on the ground, one of Kurdyla’s biggest plays came via his arm on Bridgewater-Raritan’s opening drive with Union City’s defense on the field to begin the game. On his second play from scrimmage, his long escape bid in the pocket was thwarted by the Soaring Eagles’ defense to the tune of a sack for a 14-yard loss, which set up third down and 22 yards to go deep in the Panthers’ territory.
Kurdyla responded with a 25-yard pass to senior Mikey Bratus, who jetted around Union City’s secondary along the Panthers’ sideline before being pushed out of bounds right at the first-down sticks.
That key play changed the tone of the game immediately.
After getting into Soaring Eagles territory, Kurdyla ran through a gaping hole and 18-yard keeper on his left side to set up a 20-yard touchdown run by Amoafo with 8:27 left in the first quarter.
Senior Joe Squicciarini, who booted both of his field-goal attempts and both of his extra-point attempts, then gave Bridgewater-Raritan a 7-0 lead it never relinquished.
He then kicked for a touchback on a night his leg all but erased Union City’s special teams, and the Panthers’ defense quickly got off the field courtesy of a three-and-out with 6:29 left in the first quarter. Even though the Soaring Eagles’ kept the Panthers out of the end zone on their resulting six-plus minute drive, Squicciarini’s 29-yard field goal with 12 seconds left in the opening period extended his team’s lead to 10-0 after one quarter.
Union City quickly responded with an impressive 27-yard pass by senior quarterback Xavien Rodriguez to senior Khalil Sutton, whose single-coverage catch of the high-arcing ball at his sideline extended the Soaring Eagles’ lone scoring drive of the night. Medina then broke free for a 23-yard run to set up first and goal at the Panthers’ 10-yard line, and his aforementioned four-yard score plus senior Jayden Chaviano’s extra point with 7:03 left in the second quarter cut Bridgewater-Raritan’s lead to 10-7.
It was all Bridgewater-Raritan from there.
Although it came up empty at Union City’s 36-yard line, Squicciarini’s next punt pinned the Soaring Eagles at their own one-yard line with 3:31 left in the first half. A fumble in the end zone recovered by Union City for a safety then extended Bridgewater-Raritan’s lead to 12-7, and most importantly, gave the Panthers the ball to close out the first half.
Even though the Soaring Eagles ended the second quarter with another stop inside of their own 10-yard line, Squicciarini’s 25-yard field goal as time expired in the first half sent Bridgewater-Raritan into the locker room with a 15-7 lead.
Union City answered with a momentum-swinging 52-yard run by Leonidas Williams during its opening drive of the third quarter. Three plays later, senior Connor O’Hare’s sack for Bridgewater-Raritan limited the Soaring Eagles to fourth down and 13 yards to go from the Panthers’ 27-yard line.
Senior Miles Tofte then recovered a fumble on the ensuing play with 8:15 left in the third quarter, and Union City’s offense left the field the same way it continued to leave the rest of the night.
Empty-handed.
“It’s all about our preparation,” Tofte reflected after the game of the Panthers’ yearlong road from losing 61-10 at Union City in the same postseason round last year to shutting down the Soaring Eagles at home in their postseason rematch. “We all come to work every day in practice, in the weight room, and watching film. Our scout team gets our guys ready, and we’re always ready to bring the heat.”
“It all adds up in the end.”
On the Panthers’ resulting drive, Amoafo ran past midfield on fourth down to extend his team’s final scoring drive of the night. A 17-yard scramble out of bounds by Kurdyla set Bridgewater-Raritan up deep in Soaring Eagles territory, and with 3:01 left in the third quarter, Black’s seven-yard touchdown run ballooned the Panthers’ advantage to 22-7.
As Union City burned two timeouts early in the second half, the clock proved to be on Bridgewater-Raritan’s side in the fourth quarter, when the Panthers’ ground game continued to move the sticks to stall out the Soaring Eagles. A facemask penalty against Union City with 1:48 to go for the game’s final first down proved to be the clincher for Bridgewater-Raritan, which is now one victory away from hoisting the state sectional championship trophy on its newly-renovated home turf.
“The support we have is crazy,” Coach Catalano praised of the Bridgewater-Raritan administration and stakeholders. “We’re 8-0 at this brand-new field that could not have been done without our superintendent Bob Beers, and I have the best administration in the world. They have done nothing but support us, and it’s really special. I come to work every day and love what I do.”
“I definitely want to make this place my home.”
Now, his team is one victory away from raising the program’s first trophy.
In what could be its final game of the year at John Basilone Memorial Field regardless of the result, Bridgewater-Raritan will serve as host to the state sectional finals against either second-seeded Piscataway High School (8-2) or sixth-seeded Bayonne High School (7-3), which will be this weekend’s other state sectional semifinals matchup taking place at 1 p.m. Saturday, November 1, in Piscataway.
Kickoff for the Panthers against the winner of the above game will be 6 p.m. Friday, November 14, at John Basilone Memorial Field in Bridgewater.
“It means everything and it’s an amazing opportunity,” concluded Tofte of Bridgewater-Raritan’s chance to win a state sectional championship at home for the first time in school history.
The winner of next Friday’s NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 5, Tournament finals will advance to the Group 5 semifinals against the champion of the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 1, Group 5, Tournament: either top-seeded West Orange High School (9-2), or second-seeded Passaic County Technical Institute (8-3).
West Orange is the lone North Group 5 team ranked above the Panthers.
Should West Orange therefore be crowned state sectional champion over Passaic Tech, it would serve as host to the state semifinals Friday, November 21, against either Bridgewater-Raritan, Piscataway, or Bayonne.
On a date to be determined between November 28 and December 3, the winners of each state semifinals matchup would then square off in the NJSIAA Group 5 Tournament finals at either MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford or SHI Stadium at Rutgers University in Piscataway.
