This story has been updated with more information.
COLONIA — Plainfield coach Al Majid Hutchins challenged his team to play more physically against Colonia on Friday night; to control the lines on both sides the ball.
The Cardinals got the message and responded accordingly with a 35-6 triumph that doesn’t adequately reflect what transpired on the field.
The rushing statistics do. Plainfield (4-2 and ranked 11th in the mycentraljersey.com BCC ratings ) amassed 297 yards on 33 carries while limiting the 14th-ranked Patriots (4-3) to a mere 15 yards on 25 tries. EJ Brown powered the Cardinal ground assault with 177 yards on 18 carries, without crossing the goal line.
“I felt like we haven’t been playing physical football,” Hutchins explained. “We have a big, physical, offensive line and the challenge this week to our offensive linemen and our entire team was to just play physical football, dominant football. They took it personally tonight.”
Quarterbacks Ala-Meen Watkins and Kamai Lowery each delivered two touchdowns for Plainfield, which got its fifth score on a 5-yard run by Sincere Williams in the contest’s final minute.
Watkins touched the ball twice on offense in the first half, each producing a score. He ran four yards for Plainfield’s first score, which put it on top to stay eight minutes into the affair. His second extended the halftime lead to 14-6 after a 9-yard pass to Jareel Calhoun.
“(Lowery) came in as a freshman when I was a sophomore and I saw potential in him,” said Watkins, who contributed a third-down sack to quell one Colonia threat and helped stop another by pressuring Patriots’ quarterback Dylan Chiera. “I’m glad that he’s able to go out here and be confident and play the position.”
Lowery, Plainfield’s second-leading rusher with 64 yards on seven carries, ran for a 5-yard score on the final play of the third quarter and scampered 30 yards for a second score five minutes later.
The Cardinals should have enjoyed a much bigger advantage but five major first-half gaffes kept the contest tauter than it should have been. The first came when Colonia went three-and-out on the game’s first possession, but regained the ball when the ensuing punt touched a Plainfield player. The Patriots resumed control at the Plainfield 13 and Yisrael Custodio’s 4-yard run would prove to be Colonia’s lone visit to the end zone, as the Cardinals denied each of their final nine possessions.
Plainfield also coughed up an interception, lost valuable yardage when a punt landed on a Cardinal helmet, had an 80-yard touchdown nullified by offsetting flags and dropped a likely pick-six, all before intermission. The Cardinals offset that with four tackles for loss and four plays that produced no gain in the opening half.
“I knew our kids were going to respond and just get back to the basics, being disciplined,” Hutchins offered. “They came out and responded and I look forward for our guys to continue to stay in the moment and continue to play good football.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Plainfield football's physical play clears way for dominant win at Colonia
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