November 21, 2009
D leads Patriots to title game
DT/LB Betim Bujari and the Patriots defense combined for five sacks in the victory.
Click Here for more photos from Becton at Secaucus.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
SECAUCUS – Any time the Patriots needed to be reminded of what their goal was this season, all they had to do was look to the right of the home bleachers and see Giants Stadium looming less than five miles away.
In two weeks, top-seeded Secaucus will be there playing for a title as they held off Becton 16-6 in the NJSIAA North 2, Group I semifinals.
“Every day during practice our coach (Charlie Voorhees) points over there (towards Giants Stadium), and says ‘that’s where we’re going,’ since the beginning of the season,” lineman Nick Gjoni said.
“I’ve been dreaming of this since recreation,” said WR/DB Matt Traynor. “The coaches have been talking about all of us being there. We’re a whole family and we’ve been dying to get there.”
While it wasn’t always pretty for a Secaucus team that suffered four turnovers and also lost an onside kick, the defense held their ground when a big stop was needed. Four times in the second quarter, Becton (7-3) started with the ball in Patriot (10-0) territory, but came away with just six points.
One Wildcat drive stalled at the Secaucus 13, another one was short-circuited when Traynor intercepted a halfback pass on the 16-yard line. Later, a fake punt by Becton was snuffed out by the Patriots’ Matt Pagnano.
As pivotal as those first half stops were, the biggest defensive stand came in the third quarter when a host of Secaucus defenders stuffed Becton’s Greg Barbo on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
“A lot of times during the year we’ve had the goal-line stands,” Traynor said. “We just showed heart. We wanted it more. We hit the weight room every day and we got that push and that’s all that we need.”
The Wildcats went for it on six fourth down opportunities and each time, the Patriots turned them away short of the first down marker.
Angelo Abdellatif intercepted a pass for a Secaucus defense that also sacked Becton QB Zach Trause five times. Three of those sacks came from Gjoni.
“Nick Gjoni played great,” Voorhees said. “He’s a real good football player. I think they complement each other real well, you can’t pick one out or the other (will hurt you).”
It’d be hard to blame Trause for having nightmares of the Patriots’ No. 54, Gjoni had four sacks in the regular season meeting between the two teams, a 20-15 Secaucus victory.
Gjoni and the defense made sure that the Patriots’ 16 points in the opening quarter would hold up.
After a fourth down stop at the Patriot 32, Sean Egan connected with an open Traynor for a 68-yard touchdown with 4:44 left in the opening quarter. Secaucus would strike again with another big play four-and-a-half minutes later when Joe Impreveduto went off right tackle and raced 68 yards for another touchdown.
Impreveduto’s score was one of eight runs the senior took for 10 or more yards. He finished with a staggering 225 yards on 19 carries and a pair of two-point conversions.
Egan, completed 3-of-5 passes for 83 yards and Ed Delgado had 14 carries for 58 yards in the victory.
Trause led the Wildcats with 100 yards rushing on 15 carries, but a swarming Patriot secondary limited him to just 45 yards on 11-of-19 passing. Barbo added 60 yards on the ground in defeat.
Last year, Secaucus’ dream of a trip to Giants Stadium fell one game short when they lost 14-0 to Hoboken in the semifinals. Now the Patriots are heading to the title game against Cedar Grove on the weekend of December 4-6. For Voorhees and Secaucus, it’s a final berth that been more than three decades in the making.
“This is the sum of 35 years of hard-nosed football here played by some really great people,” Voorhees said. “I’m proud to be one of those guys that played here. I just hope that anybody who watches us play realizes that this is about the entire tradition of this program and we’re finally in the position to do something great.”
Matt Traynor had a 68-yard touchdown catch and an interception for Secaucus.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Becton (7-3) | 0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Secaucus (10-0) | 16 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
| Sec: Matt Traynor, 68 pass from Sean Egan (Joe Impreveduto run) | |||||
| Sec: Impreveduto, 68 run (Impreveduto run) | |||||
| Bec: Zach Trause, 25 run (run failed) | |||||