Don Bosco football overtakes state No. 2 St. Joseph for marquee win

Posted by Admin October 12, 2024 Football

RAMSEY − Don Bosco executed a nearly flawless game plan Friday night.

The result was five touchdowns on the Ironmen’s first six drives. Their final possession ended with two kneel-downs at the 1-yard line to seal a 35-28 Super Football Conference victory over St. Joseph at Granatell Stadium.

Don Bosco (3-3) drove 79 yards on 10 plays to open the game, and Dante DeLuca’s 2-yard touchdown run gave the Ironmen a lead they never relinquished.

St. Joseph (4-2), No. 2 in the New Jersey Super 25 rankings, got within 21-14 at the half and received the third-quarter kickoff, but the Ironman defense forced a three-and-out. Eleven plays later, the home team was back up by two scores.

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“Our defense and offense are so close right now,” DeLuca said. “We got so close over the summer, and now we’re finally working together as a team.”

What it means

Don Bosco had dropped its last two games by a combined five points, including a 21-20 heartbreaker to DePaul in which DeLuca missed due to injury. Friday’s victory clouded the SFC United Red standings a bit, as it left both the Ironmen and Green Knights at 1-1 in the division.

League leader Bergen Catholic defeated Don Bosco, 24-20, on Sept. 28 and will face St. Joseph on Oct. 26.

“Our guys, coming off two really gut-wrenching losses, stayed the course,” Ironman coach Dan Sabella said. “They kept believing in each other, and those three or four plays that we hadn’t made in those last two games, we made those plays [Friday night].”

Key plays

The Don Bosco drive to make it 28-14 featured a Deven Sisler 34-yard pass to Isaiah Alvarez (6 catches, 126 yards) one play after a holding penalty. Sisler capped the possession with a 4-yard TD run.

St. Joseph converted three third downs on its next drive, including Lamar Best’s 36-yard scoring strike to Nathan Bailey on third-and-18.

Once again, the Ironmen responded calmly. A holding penalty wiped out a fourth-down conversion with 8:02 remaining, but on the next play, Sisler found Zakai Murphy (8 catches, 79 yards, 2 TD) for a 32-yard score.

Game balls

► DeLuca carried 24 times for 125 yards and a TD, and his final 25-yard run ended at the 1-yard line to help the Ironmen run out the clock.

► Sisler completed 22-of-30 passes for 252 yards and three scores.

► Bailey made big plays virtually every time he touched the ball: 9 catches for 157 yards and two TDs, plus two carries for 40 yards.

► Green Knights senior CB Jahmir Joseph (8 tackles, blocked FG) and Ironman junior Jack DeMenna (7 tackles) both stood out defensively.

They said it

“It was a tough two weeks, and we kept telling the kids, football can change real quick. Sometimes for the good, sometimes for the not-so-good… but you’ve got to stay together, keep believing in each other, and we’re just going to start building more and more momentum now.” —Sabella

“We just lean on each other… we keep fighting for each other, and we’ve got each other’s backs, and it showed.” —DeLuca