Bergen Catholic earns special win over Pope John by Greg Mattura of The Record
ORADELL – From Johnny Langan’s right arm, to Dylan Classi’s hands, to Michael Kearney’s right foot, every point produced by Bergen Catholic was precious.
In a playoff-type atmosphere, the Crusaders’ fought off Pope John, 20-19, on Saturday in a NJSFC crossover, thanks to an opportunistic offense, top-notch tackling and stellar special teams.
“I thought that was really like a bow-your-back, championship-type game,” Bergen Catholic coach Nunzio Campanile said, “and I thought our kids played pretty tough.”
Langan threw touchdown passes of 15 and 10 yards to Classi. Langan’s first TD pass came with five seconds left in the first quarter and pulled the Crusaders even, 7-7. Langan’s second TD pass to his fellow senior came with seven seconds left in the second quarter to provide a 17-13 halftime lead.
The Crusaders’ defense did an outstanding job of slowing Pope John and limiting big plays. The Lions’ only long gain came on an 86-yard TD run by Berrell Neal that provided a 19-17 lead with 11:48 left in the third.
Kearney kicked field goals of 31 and 36 yards. His 31-yarder came with 40 seconds left in the second quarter to cut the Crusaders’ deficit to 13-10. His 36-yarder came midway through the third to provide the 20-19 margin.
Crusaders’ kicking: Kearney producing eight points – he also converted both extra points – became even more significant considering Pope John missed two extra points and two field goals. The Lions had one extra point blocked, another one missed, and they missed field goals of 34 and 50 yards, with the latter coming on the final play of the game.
“Coach Nunz says all the time, ‘You’ve got to step in and do your job,’” Kearney said. “When it comes down to it, you’ve got to be able to put the ball in and get three points.”
Time management: Bergen Catholic scored with seven seconds left in the second quarter to take a 17-13 after utilizing all three timeouts in the final 30 seconds to force a Pope John punt. The Lions took possession at their 28-yard line with 34 seconds left in the half. Earlier, the Crusaders had partially blocked a punt, and a bad punt snap by the Lions here gave BC a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line with 13 seconds left. Langan than hit Classi in the right corner of the end zone.
“They took a knee on first down and it was way too much time,” Campanile said. “And we knew that we had already blocked a punt, and we thought we had a chance to block one, so we wanted to make them punt it. When they wasted the down, it was a no-brainer to take the timeout.”
“All that [credit] goes to coach Nunz,” Langan said, “and how he managed the game at the end of the half.”
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Every Crusader deserves a little bit of credit for it. Because if one of them had, for instance, lined up incorrectly and forced Campanile to burn a timeout in the first half, he wouldn’t have had three at his disposal in the final 30 seconds of the second quarter.
What it means: Bergen Catholic (5-2) arrived No. 1 in power points in Non-Public Group 4 and a win here over the Non-Public Group 3 leader bolsters the team’s hold on the top spot and home-field advantage.
Quotable: “We knew that this was going to be a fundamental football game, because they are a tough, physical team and they play hard and try to run the ball and they have two great backs,” Campanile said, commenting on his defense. “So we knew it was going to be very much about trying to put them on the ground, and we did a good job with it.”