MONTVALE—You realized you weren’t attending a usual high school football game when there was a helicopter flyover carrying the American flag and the St. Joseph Regional High School Green Knights flag during the national anthem.
This was an NJSIAA Non-Public Group A quarterfinal match-up, Saturday, between the No. 4 seed St. Joseph Regional Green Knights and the No. 5 seed St. Peter’s Prep Marauders. This was their second meeting this season, with the Green Knights defeating the Marauders 38-14 on Sept. 28, also in Montvale. St. Joe’s had won two straight and three of the last five games vs. St. Peter’s coming into this game.
The Marauders won the coin toss but chose to defer and kicked off to the Green Knights. St. Joseph Regional took advantage and scored first on a 1-yard run by junior Nathan Bailey for a 7-0 lead.
In the second quarter, junior CB Travon Chardonet intercepted St. Peter’s junior QB Tyler Bell’s pass along the St. Joe’s sideline. The St. Joe’s defense kept pressure on Bell the entire game, continually running him out of the pocket. Senior PK Salvatore Salafia eventually kicked a 30-yard field goal to give the Green Knights a 10-0 lead, which they would take into halftime.
In the third quarter, St. Joseph Regional junior QB Mason Geis hit senior WR Mekhi Rossignol along the St. Peter’s Prep sideline for a 34-yard touchdown strike and a 17-0 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Salafia kicked another field goal, this time from 39 yards, giving them a 20-0 lead. The Marauders finally got on the board with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Bell to junior WR Hunter Watson, cutting the score to 20-7.
St. Peter’s tried again to score on a deep, downfield throw from Bell to Watson, but senior CB Jahmir Joseph batted it away. The Green Knights got the ball back and ran out the clock.
Geis finished 10-of-17 for 108 yards and a TD. Nathan Bailey ran for 120 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury. Mekhi Rossignol had two receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown.
After the game, St. Joe’s head coach Augie Hoffmann told us, “The goal in the playoffs is to get to the next week, and we did enough to accomplish it. They answered the bell.”
Next week is a trip to Oradell to play the No. 1 Bergen Catholic High School Crusaders in the semifinal round, a 1 p.m. start. Bergen felled the No. 8 Seton Hall Prep Pirates 41-10 to reach the semis. The Crusaders have won the last five meetings vs. the Green Knights.
Hoffmann said, “Any time St. Joe’s plays Bergen Catholic, you’re always in the game. I’m just happy we get to see them again. If you want to win the state championship, you have to go through them.”
