PISCATAWAY — Things weren't perfect, and Piscataway knows it has a lot of tweaking and fine-tuning to do. But Friday’s opening 21-11 win over Manalapan showed the Chiefs are going to be a deep team with a swarming defense and exciting players — not a bad recipe for football success.
Piscataway, ranked No. 9 in the MyCentralJersey Big Central Top 15 , got the quality win over Manalapan, a tough senior-led Shore Conference squad.
“It was just getting in the flow,” senior Jahai Johnson said. “In the beginning there were a couple wrinkles but after we came out at halftime, I think we were stronger. We knew what we had to do.”
The Braves controlled play in the first quarter and Piscataway’s offense couldn’t get going early on until James Bodley broke for runs.
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The Chiefs defense kept them in the game with big plays and created a scoring opportunity.
Johnson jumped to intercept a pass around the 30-yard line and bolted ahead but fumbled near the 10. Sean Love recovered it at the 9 with 1:29 left in the first half.
Sophomore quarterback Landon Pernell then connected with Josh Stephens, who fumbled before scoring and Bryce Payne jumped on the loose ball in the end zone for the score as Piscataway took a 7-3 lead into halftime.
Johnson scored twice in the second half after taking the direct snap on runs of 5 and 55 yards, and he also recovered a fumble.
“We were resilient and we stuck together and we overcame some injuries,” Piscataway coach Dan Higgins said. “They’re (Manalapan) a tough team. I want to give them a lot of credit. They had a lot of schemes that were very effective against us. Our kids fought through it and kept responding to adversity and that’s how you know what kind of team you’re going to have.”
Other players getting sacks and key tackles included King Rios, Horace Thompson, David Moore, Stephens and Kevin Shourt.
Love’s interception with 35 seconds left sealed the victory. Salomon Ealey also had some nice catches to boost Piscataway’s offense.
“They’re a tough, gritty team,” Higgins said. “They care about each other. They play for one another and they’re going to have each other’s backs."
Johnson second that and noted they're like a family. That cohesiveness – and talent – helps.
“We have a whole bunch of playmakers,” Johnson said. “Everybody on our team can make plays. It’s just a matter of when your number’s called, you got to make that play.”
Now, they’ll keep fine-tuning as BCC play approaches.
“It was definitely a good win but we’re back to work tomorrow,” Johnson said. “We’re right back to work.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Piscataway football uses swarming defense, playmakers to overcome Manalapan
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