Nutley Regains Mayor's Trophy As Mohrbutter, Vonroth, Defense Lift Raiders To 20-7 Victory Over Bloomfield

The Mayor's Trophy is back in Nutley. Senior quarterback Clark Mohrbutter rushed for two touchdowns - both in the first half - and the Raiders defense took care of the rest to pace Nutley to its first victory of the season - a 20-7 decision over its neighboring rival Bloomfield - on Friday night at Foley Field in Bloomfield. "I think losing this game last year (20-10) really resonated with us," said Nutley head coach Christian Helm. "The kids realized they didn't like that feeling of losing the trophy. We were a lot more sound in between each snap then we were a week ago." Nutley (1-1) opened its season with a 42-7 loss to River Dell on August 29. Bloomfield fell to 0-2 this season after bowing to Newark Central, 27-15, on Aug. 29. Mohrbutter, who completed 8-of-13 passes for 111 yards, opened the scoring against Bloomfield with a 40-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter. Bloomfield knotted the score, 7-7, after a three-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Tejada. Mohrbutter put Nutley ahead for good with a 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as the Raiders headed to intermission with a 14-7 edge. Mohrbutter finished with a team-high 75 yards rushing on nine carries. He found Jeremiah Tirado four times for a team-high 57 receiving yards. "Clark is a special player," began Helm. "He took on the role and really stepped up. He has a rocket of an arm and can also run really well." Nutley increased its lead to 20-7 when Tyler Vonroth ran for a seven-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The Nutley defense was impressive and was led by Sander Boissard (six tackles, fumble recovery), Jamil Lewis (two tackles, interception), Aidan Rotbaum (seven tackles), Andrew Santangelo (six tackles), Vonroth (six tackles), Damiano Faro (five tackles), Jaylyn Caraballo (five tackles), Tirado (four tackles), Jordan Small (four tackles, interception), Max Forcer (four tackles) and Santino Cundiff (three tackles). With the victory, Nutley has now won four of the last five meetings against Bloomfield and increased its overall series lead to 35-32-5. "Its always fun to play a rival like Bloomfield and Belleville," said Helm. "Whether its high school or college, those type of rivalries are what make the sport so great. There was a big crowd for the game and our fans showed up and were very supportive." The Raiders will remain on the road and travel to take on Wayne Hills (1-1) on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. "Wayne Hills is consistently one of the most dominant programs in the state," said Helm. “And they'll be a tough task for sure but we're excited and I'm sure it will be a great atmosphere.”

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