By Jim Hintelmann
RED BANK – No longer will Red Bank Catholic’s football team have to hear that it can’t beat the top Non-Public North Jersey powers.
The Caseys put that to rest in stunning fashion last Friday night when it shocked three-time defending Non-Public 3 champion St. Joseph of Montvale, 44-14, in a semifinal New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) game.
If there was any disappointment, it will be because RBC will not play rival St. John Vianney in the title game as the previously unbeaten Lancers were beaten 36-28 by top-seeded Delbarton Saturday in the other semifinal game.
RBC will now meet Delbarton at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford. The two teams played each other in a semifinal game in 2011 with Delbarton winning in a double overtime thriller. RBC last won a parochial title in 1976 when it beat Notre Dame of Lawrenceville.
“This was a great win for us,” RBC coach Jim Portela said, “but the main goal is still to win a state championship. This was a big step forward for us, however.”
–SEAN SIMMONS
St. Joseph’s had ousted RBC from the playoffs the previous two years by a combined 70-14 score and was coming off a stunning 27-0 win two weeks ago over the consensus No. 1 team in the state, Paramus Catholic.
“Our game plan was to keep the game close for a while and see if we could put some pressure on them,” Portela said. “We just wanted to run the football and we did that.”
RBC running back Tommy Spernal and quarterback Eddie Hahn provided most of the offense for the Caseys (10-1), which tied a school record for wins.
Spernal rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns while Hahn used his arms, legs and feet in a solid all-around performance, including throwing a pair of touchdown passes.
“This is great,” Spernal said. “The offensive line opened up some big holes and all I had to do was run through them. I give them all the credit. The support that we got from our fans was great, and now I’m looking forward to playing in Met Life Stadium in two weeks.
“We don’t play a Thanksgiving Day game this year, and I think the two-week rest will help us,” Spernal said.
For a few minutes, it appeared as if it would be another St. Joseph’s victory as the Green Knights went 60 yards in seven plays on its second series and scored on quarterback Jack Walsh’s 6-yard run.
Unlike its previous two losses to St. Joseph’s, RBC came right back following the kickoff and scored after a five-play 43-yard drive with Spernal scoring on a 15-yard run. Vinnie Gallo kicked the first of six extra points to tie the game at 7-7.
The Green Knights had one more offensive thrust as Walsh threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to John Giles-Harris for a 14-7 lead. The rest of the game, however, was all RBC with the Caseys scoring the final 37 points of the game.
Hahn led an RBC drive following the kickoff and threw a 30-yard game-tying touchdown pass to Trevor Cowley after setting it up with a 15-yard broken-field run on the previous play to keep the drive going.
“When they went up 7-0, we knew that we had to strike back and that is what we did for the whole game,” Hahn said. “We had to make plays and execute them. This feels great and I wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s a great feeling going to a state championship game.”
It was all RBC in the second half with Nick Cella getting the action started with a 54-yard run for a 21-14 lead. RBC moved 54 yards in seven plays on its following series with Hahn throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Nick Lubischer to make it 28-14.
Hahn set up an RBC safety on the next series when he punted dead on the St. Joseph’s 2-yard line. RBC held for downs and a bad snap on a Green Knight punt attempt went out of the end zone for a 30-14 lead.
RBC closed out the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown run by Michael Cordova and a 4-yard scoring run by Spernal.
