FOOTBALL: Notre Dame Survives Miraculous Fourth-Quarter BRHS Rally, 40-38

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Bridgewater-Raritan High School football team launched its 2024 campaign with one of the greatest comeback bids you will ever see.

Although they ultimately came out on the losing end at Notre Dame High School, the Panthers hope to ride the momentum of what ended up being a massive fourth-quarter surge the rest of the way in 2024.

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Behind five total touchdowns by senior quarterback Julian Matera, Notre Dame (1-0) took a 24-point lead into the fourth quarter against visiting Bridgewater-Raritan (0-1), which then saw junior quarterback Declan Kurdyla immediately toss his first of four final-period touchdown passes: three of them in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter alone after the Panthers then recovered back-to-back onside kicks. Leading by just three points, the Irish then made it a two-possession game with a 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by junior Aldric Crawford, but Kurdyla’s final touchdown pass with 6:36 to go got the Panthers to within two points to conclude the game’s scoring.

Bridgewater-Raritan then was set up with a go-ahead 40-yard field goal attempt in the final minute of regulation, but Notre Dame senior Will Renda blocked the ensuing kick to seal a wild 40-38 win for the Irish Friday, August 30, in Lawrenceville.

“As educators, we’re so culture oriented and we talk about it and preach it, but you really never know if it’s actually sinking in with them until they’re faced with some adversity and you see how they handle it,” said after the game by second-year Panthers head coach DJ Catalano, who teaches physical education at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. “We say ‘E + R = O’ [short for Event + Response = Outcome], talk about it, try to emulate it in practice, but you still never really know. I think we now know that we have the culture. So now, the foundation is built, and we’re so young. There’s only one way to go and it’s only going to get better. I’m excited for them, and there’s a long season to go. I now know that we have the right guys in the building and in our locker room to get it done.”

And the Panthers almost got it done in arguably an early nominee for New Jersey’s game of the year in Week 0, which took place five days before the first day of classes for the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District.

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Even the 34-10 deficit Bridgewater-Raritan faced before its massive rally was not reflective of the early opportunities the Panthers had on the road against Notre Dame, which went 10-1 last season and had come into opening night red hot as a program with wins in 14 of its previous 15 regular-season games against in-state opponents going back to 2022.

In fact, Kurdyla took off for a 22-yard run for a first down on his second play as the Panthers’ starting quarterback before another second-down rush of 17 yards by Kurdyla quickly put Bridgewater-Raritan deep into Irish territory. Back-to-back holding penalties assessed against the Panthers then wiped away a pair of big plays, particularly what would have been a 30-yard touchdown reception by junior Joey Confalone in the corner of the end zone. On 4th and 25 from the Irish 30, Kurdyla then threw another great deep ball to senior Jordan Johnson, who made a running catch in traffic in the middle of the end zone before the ball was swatted out of his arms by Crawford to force a turnover on downs by the Irish with 7:03 left in the first quarter.

Matera then responded with a 70-yard scoring drive capped off by a 13-yard catch by senior Wyatt Moore on Notre Dame’s opening possession, and the Irish took a 7-0 lead with 2:25 left in the first quarter after junior Sebastian Swiatek’s successful extra point try.

Bridgewater-Raritan then took over at its own 41 on its ensuing drive, and Jordan Johnson hauled in a 39-yard pass from Kurdyla to set up first and goal at the Irish 9 with 1:15 left in the first quarter. While the score remained 7-0 after one period and the Panthers faced third and goal from this spot, junior Mikey Bratus scored on a nine-yard run on the first play of the second quarter, and classmate Joe Squicciarini booted the extra point to even the score at 7-7 just six seconds into the period.

Despite the Irish then facing 1st and 20 at their own 20 due to a holding penalty, Notre Dame then went 80 yards down the field courtesy of receptions of 35 yards and 25 yards by senior Tyler Stefanisko and Renda, respectively. After Moore converted a 4th and 2 with a seven-yard catch, Matera then barreled into the end zone on an eight-yard keeper to give the Irish a 14-7 lead with 8:08 left in the second quarter.

Bridgewater-Raritan then went for it on 4th and 1 from its own 22 and was stuffed at the line of scrimmage to force a turnover on downs, and although Matera’s ensuing 22-yard pass for Notre Dame appeared to be bobbled on the ground in good single coverage, the play was ruled a catch to help the Irish extend its lead to 21-7 with 6:20 left in the second quarter. Senior Anthony Kelly then almost intercepted a pass that, at minimum, would have resulted in possession for Notre Dame in Panthers territory had it not been taken the house. Instead, the Irish took over at their own 26 with 4:33 left in the first half but came up empty on its ensuing drive.

The ensuing Notre Dame punt then was muffed, but the ball took a Bridgewater-Raritan bounce forward towards senior Dylan Tierney, who dove on the ball to give the Panthers good field position at its own 46 with 3:26 left in the first half. On 3rd and 9, Confalone then caught a 34-yard pass from Kurdyla at the Irish 11, and although Renda got a sack for a five-yard loss on the Panthers’ next third-down attempt, Squicciarini kicked a 33-yard field goal with 0:38 left in the first half to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 21-10.

Senior Jayden Davis then returned the ensuing kickoff deep into Panthers territory for Notre Dame, but the play was erased due to a hold on the Irish, and the score remained 21-10 at the break.

After receiving the opening kickoff of the second half, Notre Dame found itself in Panthers territory not even a minute into the third quarter thanks to a big 25-yard run by Matera, who shook off two big tackles before being tackled out of bounds. He then flicked a 36-yard strike to Moore, who was tackled at the goal line, but Notre Dame was called for a holding penalty to erase that big gain. Bridgewater-Raritan then forced a punt after senior Ja’Sante Johnson collected a sack on third and long, and a fumble on the resulting punt then set the Panthers up at the Irish 32.

With Bridgewater-Raritan then facing 4th and 2 at the Irish 10, Notre Dame forced an incomplete screen pass with 6:52 left in the third quarter: a potential two-score swing in favor of the Irish.

Junior running back Musa Kamera then propelled Notre Dame on what ended up being a 90-yard scoring drive with three big first-down runs, including a 38-yard tightrope along Bridgewater-Raritan’s sideline that set the Irish up at the Panthers 27. Despite a loss in yardage and Matera then having to navigate around heavy traffic in the pocket, he then took off for an impressive 35-yard touchdown run with 4:55 to go in the third quarter to extend Notre Dame’s lead to 28-10.

Notre Dame then appeared to be in position to pull away after junior Alexander Virarelle came up with an interception for the Irish on Bridgewater-Raritan’s ensuing drive at the Panthers 42 with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter. Kamera then produced a 16-yard run before Matera delivered his fifth and final touchdown on a 17-yard run with 1:34 left in the period. While the extra-point attempt failed, the Irish extended their lead to 34-10, but Kurdyla took off for a 15-yard, first-down keeper into the red zone as time expired in the third quarter.

And that was just the beginning for Bridgewater-Raritan’s miraculous comeback bid.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, junior Denzel Amoafo caught a wide-open, 19-yard touchdown pass from Kurdyla to get Bridgewater-Raritan to within 34-17, and the Panthers recovered the ensuing onside kick at the Irish 44. Senior Nick DiEsso then tallied a 34-yard catch-and-run from Kurdyla, who hurled a 10-yard touchdown pass to Bratus to pull Bridgewater-Raritan to within 34-24 just 41 seconds into the fourth quarter. Notre Dame then bobbled the resulting onside kick backwards towards the Panthers’ special teams, and Bridgewater-Raritan again successfully pounced on the ball to retain possession and stun the packed Notre Dame home crowd.

The Panthers then converted two fourth downs on their ensuing drive: one on a short 4th and 1 run, and the other on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Kurdyla to Ja’Sante Johnson to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 34-31 with 8:59 remaining in regulation and send the all of the Bridgewater-Raritan faithful who made the trip from Somerset County to Mercer County into a frenzy: one that could have probably be heard from the nearby US-1 highway.

Notre Dame then answered with Crawford’s aforementioned 76-yard kickoff return to the house, and while the extra-point attempt failed, the Irish extended their lead to 40-31 with 8:20 to go after the fourth quarter’s fourth touchdown not even four minutes in. Jordan Johnson then quickly caught a 30-yard pass from Kurdyla to put Bridgewater-Raritan into Irish territory, and with just under seven minutes to go, DiEsso caught a 14-yard pass for a first down at the Irish 11 before catching an 11-yard touchdown pass in the opposite corner of the end zone on a running throw from Kurdyla towards the Notre Dame sideline.

With 6:36 to go, Bridgewater-Raritan cut the Irish’s lead to 40-38. Despite the Panthers’ kickoff going out of bounds and Notre Dame starting at its own 40, Bridgewater-Raritan’s defense collected a tackle for a five-yard loss on 3rd and 1 and snuffed out what appeared to be a fake punt to help the Panthers take over at the Irish 28 with 5:19 to go.

Notre Dame’s offense could only watch from the sideline, along with its nervous home crowd, as Bridgewater-Raritan then called timeout facing 3rd and 11 from the Irish 29 with 3:12 remaining. Amoafo then moved the chains with an 11-yard run into the red zone, and the Panthers got as far as the Irish 16 with under two minutes remaining and continued to run out the clock. With 0:53 to go, Bridgewater-Raritan was then called for an illegal procedure penalty on a third-down run, and Kurdyla took off for a run before being tackled out of bounds at the Irish sideline on the Panthers’ third-down replay to set up a go-ahead 40-yard field goal attempt.

Renda then blocked the resulting kick to officially thwart the Panthers’ comeback bid, and while a 15-yard penalty was assessed to Notre Dame after the play, nobody in the Irish’s roaring home crowd seemed to mind as the home team was then set up to survive and kneel out the remainder of regulation with 0:40 remaining. That is exactly what happened, and Notre Dame extended its streak to 15 wins against its last 16 in-state opponents going back to 2022 while handing the Panthers a heartbreaking defeat to open up the new season.

“It’s just our offseason program,” praised Catalano of Bridgewater-Raritan’s reload after graduating 32 Class of 2023 seniors to end his first year leading the Panthers. “We talk about competitive excellence, meaning always being ready and when your opportunity comes, making the most of it. Those guys that were sitting the bench last year were watching and paying attention. You see [Panthers junior] Denzel Amoafo last year: every play and every single time, he’s getting mental reps and always finding ways to get better. That’s what they were doing, so when their opportunity came, they would be ready. And they did. They made some plays, but we also made some mistakes, and I know it is in them to make the corrections that we need.”

Bridgewater-Raritan (0-1) will try for its first win of 2024 next in a Big Central Football Conference crossover game at Piscataway High School (1-0) Friday, September 6, at 6 p.m. in Piscataway. Although the Panthers went a deceiving 3-7 last season, six of the Panthers’ seven losses amongst arguably one of New Jersey’s toughest public-school schedules were by 10 points or fewer, including five one-score games: two of them at Watchung Hills Regional High School, which eliminated Bridgewater-Raritan with a 33-26 result in the opening round of the 2023 playoffs.

Notre Dame (1-0) will travel to Timber Creek Regional High School (1-0) next in a West Jersey Football League crossover game Friday, September 6 at 6 p.m. in Sicklerville.

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