Football Preview: St. Joseph Regional Green Knights vs. Bergen Catholic Crusaders
After two games on the road, St. Joseph Regional is heading back home. They will host the Bergen Catholic Crusaders at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
St. Joseph Regional is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Jersey's top teams: Pope John XXIII, who was ranked 21st in their home state at the time (St. Joseph Regional was ranked sixth). St. Joseph Regional blew past Pope John XXIII 41-14 on the road on Saturday. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 28-7.
Nathan Bailey continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 117 yards and three touchdowns on only seven carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Mason Geis, who threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns while completing 72.7% of his passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, St. Joseph Regional was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 274 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
St. Joseph Regional didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Isa Abdus-Salaam and Jahmir Joseph. Abdus-Salaam also made four total tackles, which is notable because St. Joseph Regional is undefeated when he posts at least four total tackles, but 1-2 otherwise.
Meanwhile, Bergen Catholic entered their tilt with Delbarton on Saturday with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Green Wave 42-13 on the road. The score was close at the half, but the Crusaders pulled away in the second half with 35 points.
Najee Calhoun was his usual excellent self, rushing for 97 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries. Dominic Campanile was another key player, throwing for 242 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.5 yards per attempt.
St. Joseph Regional's victory bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Bergen Catholic, their win was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-1.
Saturday's game might be decided in the on the ground. St. Joseph Regional has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 180.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Bergen Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 160.4. It's looking like Saturday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
St. Joseph Regional came up short against Bergen Catholic in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, falling 28-23. Will St. Joseph Regional have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
