December 2, 2011

Senior DT Nick Garcia (right) makes one of his 25 tackles for loss from this season. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

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NORTH BERGEN – Cornerback Denzell Leitch and the rest of his Bruin defense understand the challenge that lays ahead of them. They've seen the mind-numbing point totals Montclair has put in its first 11 games of the season. But Montclair's sparkling resume has not intimidated North Bergen in the least.

"I don't think Montclair's seen a defense like our defense all year," said Leitch with a soft-spoken confidence, acknowledging that they represent the biggest challenge his team has faced all season. "It's going to be a big game. They've been running on everyone all year, no one's been able to stop them, but I think we're going to be able to show them something."

Leitch and the rest of the Bruins have had plenty of reason to be confident in the play of their defense as of late. North Bergen has allowed 15 or fewer points on nine occasions this season, including seven times in the past eight games.

It's a defense which has elevated its game to a higher level in the playoffs, only allowing 21 points and just two defensive touchdowns in overtime wins against Passaic County Tech and Union City.

North Bergen has had a flair for the dramatic in overtime sessions. Anthony Calabrese delivered a crucial third down sack to stop Passaic County Tech in the first round. One week later the Bruins would punch their ticket to MetLife Stadium when Calabrese and Alex Rodriguez teamed up for a third down sack and Nick Garcia followed with a sack of his own to end the game.

"There's always someone coming up with a big play," head coach Vincent Ascolese said. "That's because they run to the ball and do their assignments."

"We take a lot of pride in that. Our defense is a strong defense," said Calabrese. "We've come up big and made big plays against Union City and Passaic County Tech. We rely on our defense a lot to win games. Defense wins championships."

Calabrese (90 tackles, five sacks), a three-year starter, is one-fourth of a linebacker group that is one of the best in the region. Outside linebacker Vin Ascolese, the HCIAL Red Division's Defensive Player of the Year, has 127 tackles, 9.5 sacks and six forced fumbles is a four-year starter and a terror from the edge.  They are joined by seniors Eric McMullen and Sergio Rodriguez.

Garcia (seven sacks) anchors the defensive line at tackle and the secondary is led by Leitch (50 tackles) at corner and Debray Tavarez  at safety.

To leave MetLife Stadium with a championship, North Bergen will need its fine defense to have its best performance of the season. Montclair has averaged more than 44 points per game this season and has scored 35 or more points in every contest.

Temple-bound RB Stephaun Marshall has rushed for 955 yards and 12 touchdowns on 101 carries and Rutgers-bound Julian Pinnix-Odrick anchors a veteran offensive line. But its quarterback Khalif Herbin who is the star of the show. The 5-foot-7 senior has 42 total  touchdowns (two shy of tying the state record) on the season. On just 122 carries, Herbin has 1,824 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Regardless of what the stat line may indicate, the Bruins are not ready to simply concede to Herbin and the heavily-favored Mountines of Montclair.

"Khalif Herbin is a great quarterback, but he bleeds just like we do," the younger Ascolese said. "He breathes air just like we do. He's not a super human, he can be stopped and I believe our defense is good enough to stop him and he hasn't seen a defense like ours this year. I think he can be stopped or contained."

"We're excited for that," Rodriguez said. "We want to play them. We wouldn't want to play anybody else. To be the best we got to beat the best and we know we got to do it as a team."

Senior linebacker Anthony Calabrese has 90 tackles and five sacks this season for the Bruins. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

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