Jeff Farina scored twice to help St. Joseph Regional shock Bergen Catholic.
Photo by Daniel Coppola
A missed extra point in overtime gave
St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.) a thrilling 38-37 victory today over
Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.), the nation's sixth-ranked team.
It was the first win for St. Joseph over Bergen Catholic since 2008 and comes a week after Bergen recorded one of its biggest wins in school history, a 42-35 victory at then 10th-ranked Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas).
Bergen Catholic coach Nunzio Campanile warned after the Gorman victory that his team couldn't enjoy it too much because St. Joseph is such an outstanding team. Bergen found immediately that Campanile wasn't just being polite.
St. Joseph Regional jumped all over the Crusaders, racing to a 21-0 lead shortly before halftime thanks in large part to two touchdowns by senior
Jeff Farina and a 25-yard touchdown pass from
Spencer Aukamp to
Ricky Jeune.
Bergen Catholic finally got on the board with under five minutes remaining in the half when
Jonathan Germano connected with
John Feaster on a 46-yard score to make it 21-7 heading into halftime.
The comeback continued in the third, as the Crusaders scored twice and converted a two-point conversion after the second score to take a 22-21 lead.
Receiver Patrick Mensah makes catch
in front of a Bergen Catholic defender.
Photo by Daniel Coppola
Most probably figured St. Joseph might crumble after squandering the lead. Instead it responded with a 29-yard field goal by
Mark Fossati to regain the lead, 24-22.
The Bergen Catholic offense continued to move the ball well before a Germano interception near the goal line thwarted a scoring drive.
However, the Bergen Catholic defense came up big, tallying a safety shortly after to even the score at 24.
It was the St. Joseph defense which would come up big next, as
Mark Fossati stripped Germano and raced 75 yards for a score to give his team a 31-24 lead.
Once again, Bergen Catholic answered, this time in the from of a Germano 10-yard touchdown pass to
J.J. Kulcsar with a minute to play to force overtime.
In the extra time, St. Joseph Regional quarterback
Aukamp hit
Quai Jefferson for a 25-yard score to go up 38-31.
Germano answered yet again, hitting
Kyle Queiro for a touchdown to make it 38-37. After a penalty pushed the kick back, Bergen Catholic missed the PAT.
The rivalry between the two teams has seen its share of exciting games. In 2004, current Texans linebacker
Brian Cushing powered Bergen Catholic to a
56-42 victory by scoring five touchdowns, compiling 230 yards of offense and making 14 tackles.
Bergen Catholic (2-1) will attempt to rebound over Passaic County Tech while St. Joseph Regional (2-1) will prepare to take on Wayne Hills.
