Langan ignites Bergen Catholic attack in season-opening win by Greg Mattura of The Record
ORADELL – Johnny Langan enjoyed throwing five touchdown passes, but his favorite score may have been the one where he was on the receiving end.
“Probably the one I caught,” said Bergen Catholic’s senior quarterback, “because I had a good run there at the end.”
Langan triggered Bergen Catholic’s explosive, season-opening 48-27 victory over DePaul on Saturday afternoon with five TD passes and a 55-yard catch for a score in this North Jersey Super Football Conference United crossover game.
Enjoying excellent protection, Langan threw TD passes of 22, 23 and 22 yards to senior receiver Dylan Classi, who repaid him by throwing to him for a fourth-quarter score. Langan also tossed a 22-yard TD pass to senior receiver Michael Feaster and a 28-yard score to senior receiver Isaiah Givens.
“We pretty much controlled the game on offense the whole way,” said Langan, who also ran for a two-point conversion in the third quarter to provide a 27-13 lead. “We just knew, any time we had the ball in our hands, we’re going to score.”
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“We did some good things,” said Bergen Catholic coach Nunzio Campanile, flanked on the sideline by arguably the most renowned cast of assistants in New Jersey football history: former Don Bosco coach Greg Toal, former Bergen Catholic coach Fred Stengel, and his father, Mike, the former Paramus Catholic coach. “Obviously, Johnny had a great day. Dylan had a great day, Michael Feaster, Isaiah Givens, we really did a great job throwing the ball. Our line protected great.”
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Bergen Catholic needed plenty of points via the passing game, because DePaul’s balanced attack was almost as successful. The Spartans totaled more than 400 yards, with junior quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson tossing first-half TD passes of 12 and 13 yards to keep them within 19-13 at intermission.
“We have some things we have to clean up on defense. We have some things we have to clean up in the run game,” Campanile said. “But I thought for a first game against a great team like that, I thought we played really well.”
Key stat … Langan was 15-for-23 for 311 yards, five TDs and no interceptions. Again, his pass protection was outstanding. “We said all week we would score 56 points,” Langan said. “We didn’t get there because the defense stayed on the field a long time, but we made the most of almost every drive.”
Key play … Classi’s 55-yard TD pass to Langan came on the first play of the possession and gave the Crusaders their 48-27 lead with 10:42 remaining in the fourth. Langan handed off to Classi going right, then the quarterback ran up the home left sideline, caught the pass about 20 yards upfield, and raced the rest of the way.
“Dylan has been telling me he was a great quarterback for Englewood in eighth grade since his freshman year,” Campanile said. “We thought we had a chance to end the game right there. We thought if we went for it, we had a chance to make a great play, and we did, and that was kind of the nail in the coffin.”
“Back in the day, before I came here, I was a longtime quarterback, and he knew that,” Classi said. “I’ve been coming here ever since third grade, playing quarterback at camps in the summer. So he put the play in, and we just executed it the way it was written up.”
Quotable: “This is the standard for myself. I’m just a lot better than I was last year, and I’ll admit that 100 percent. This is going to be the standard that I go by for the whole year,” Langan said.