Don Bosco Prep football team blasts St. Edward

BRONX, N.Y. – Before this season, before Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) began its current march toward capturing another mythical national championship, nearly everyone outside of the Ironmen's ranks knew of Jabrill Peppers only as a future blue-chip cornerback.

But with each passing game in this increasingly memorable campaign, opponents and college coaches from coast to coast are fully cognizant of his versatility. Peppers displayed it in the final minute of the first half Saturday night, when top-ranked Don Bosco Prep easily dispatched of No. 9 St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio), 38-7, before 4,000 at Fordham University's Jack Coffey Field.

With the Eagles (6-1) threatening to slice a 21-7 deficit in half, Peppers picked off a pass, weaved through traffic and was tackled at the St. Edward 2. Two plays later, he rumbled across the goal line for the second of his three 1-yard touchdown runs, making the second half of this long-anticipated contest anticlimactic.

"Jabrill was playing at a different level," Ironmen head coach Greg Toal said. "He just made some great, great plays. He loves the big-game atmosphere, that's for sure."

After forcing St. Edward to go three-and-out for starters, Peppers displayed even more of his versatility on the Ironmen's first play when Toal called for an option pass. Although the sophomore somehow overshot the speedy, Rutgers-bound Leonte Carroo (eight catches, 73 yards) up the left sideline, two plays later he bounced off a tackler behind the line of scrimmage to convert a key third-down that kept alive a 12-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in Peppers scoring from a yard out to make it 7-0 just 5:12 into the game.

Although St. Edward scuffled offensively on its first few drives, Anthony Young ripped off 32 of the Eagles' 38 first-quarter yards on a fake punt that temporarily helped the visitors keep possession before Razohnn Gross recorded the first of his two sacks, forcing the opposition into a fourth-and-long punting situation.

When the Ironmen got the ball back, Mike Yankovich helped Don Bosco drive 70 yards in just 81 seconds. Even Toal was surprised when the Ironmen seized a 14-0 lead on Elijah Shumate's 9-yard scoring scamper with 2:02 left in the opening quarter, admitting afterward, "I never thought we'd jump on them the way we did."

Often maligned for his spotty play through Don Bosco's first four games, Yankovich was mostly brilliant under the Saturday night lights while connecting on his first eight throws. Only a few drops kept him from coming closer to perfection, but as it was, he finished 15-for-20 for 165 yards in what stands as easily the best performance of his first season as a varsity starter.

"A lot of people feel like I'm the weak link," Yankovich said. "I'm a gamebreaker. I'm going to do what I have to do."

Said Toal: "Yank was as good as it gets."

Finally, St. Edward appeared to gain its footing offensively. Using a short, quick passing attack, the Eagles approached midfield before Gross broke through the left side and stripped Ryan Fallon (12-for-21, 115 yards). The ball bounced into the waiting hands of Boston College-bound Michael Strizak, who raced 40 yards into the end zone to make it 21-0 just 10:05 before halftime.

St. Edward inserted some drama back into this contest on its ensuing drive, concluding an 87-yard march when Fallon found Quincy Jones on a 6-yard scoring strike. And after two consecutive defensive stands, the Eagles got the ball back with 46 seconds before intermission with hopes of pulling within 21-14.

However, Peppers collected a throw that deflected off a St. Edward receiver, eluding several would-be tacklers before being downed at the 2. Two plays later, the versatile sophomore charged across the goal line with the second of his three touchdowns.

"When we punched it in," Peppers said, "that definitely broke them."

Having already defeated Mission Viejo (Calif.), Manatee (Fla.), perennial rival Bergen Catholic (N.J.) and now St. Edward, the obvious question is how the Ironmen will maintain their focus while playing mostly local, public-school competition before New Jersey's Non-Public Group 4 playoffs begin next month.

With an all-knowing chuckle, Toal assured reporters, "We'll figure it out."

Meanwhile, the Ironmen are all counting on Toal and his staff to intensify practices that are already local legend for their intensity.

"We've got to go about this mature," senior defensive tackle Darius Hamilton said. "We have a target on our backs."