No. 5 St. Joseph Regional dominates St. Peter's Prep on the road

It's no longer premature to wonder where No. 5-ranked St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.) stacks up with the state's best all-time teams.

For the second game in a row St. Joseph Regional had a running clock against a top in-state opponent, as the Green Knights blasted previously-unbeaten St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, N.J.), 56-28, on Friday.

The game comes on the heels of St. Joseph's 49-6 victory over Bergen Catholic and a 35-0 win over Wayne Hills.

Mark Fossati and Sherman Alston each scored three touchdowns to lead St. Joseph to its fifth victory of the season.

At the start of the game, it seemed like it could be the first close game that St. Joseph would endure.

Jonathan Hilliman broke free for a 70-yard touchdown to give St. Peter's Prep an early 7-0 lead.

Then St. Joseph proved it could score in a flurry.

Fossati hauled in a 27-yard touchdown from quarterback Spencer Aukamp to knot the score at 7-7.

Following a blocked punt that set up St. Joseph inside the 10-yard line, Alston scored for the first time on the night. Early in the second quarter, Dominic Carfagno hauled in a pass from three yards out to give St. Joseph a 21-7 lead.

At that point the game was still in doubt for St. Joseph, as a long kickoff return from Minkah Fitzpatrick paved the way for Hilliman's second touchdown to bring St. Peter's within seven, 21-14.

That was as close as the Marauders would get, however. On the team's next drive, Alston scored again and, just minutes later, Aukamp and Fossati hooked up once more.

Just like that, St. Joseph led 35-14 and the rout was on.

To start the second half, it took St. Joseph less than two minutes to strike again. This time Aukamp connected with Ronald Edwards on a 35-yard score to make it 42-14.

After St. Peter's Prep fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Fosatti ripped off a 45-yard touchdown on a screen pass, making it 49-14. Alston added his third score, and St. Peter's Prep scored twice with the game out of reach to bring the score to 56-28.

The victory sets up a highly-anticipated matchup with Paramus Catholic, the only New Jersey squad to defeat St. Joseph Regional last year.

Paramus Catholic prevailed over St. Joseph in that game, 44-35. So far this year, no team has come within 30 points of St. Joseph.

St. Peter's Prep will attempt to rebound next weekend against Bayonne.