Vikings Gain Vengeance on Sayreville

None of the returning players on the South Brunswick High School football team forgot what happened last year against Sayreville. Going into the season opener on Sept. 9, South Brunswick was determined to give Sayreville something to remember.

Jevon Tyree scored on a 15-yard run with 2:37 to play. Tyree also came away with an interception on Sayreville's ensuing drive, clinching a 14-7 win for South Brunswick in the season opener for both teams. And, to make it even sweeter, the game was held at Sayreville.

"It was incredible watching him (Tyree) go in for that score," noted South Brunswick two-way tackle Bryan Stonkus, who was one of the players who made the touchdown possible. "Everyone was just so excited."

Almost as excited as they were a few minutes later.

"Being able to get into formation where you drop down to a knee to end it is just a great feeling," Stonkus said.

Making it even a better feeling was knowing the opponent South Brunswick was doing it against.

Sayreville defeated South Brunswick, 28-7, last season. Sayreville would go on to win the Central Jersey Group IV championship.

"We beat one of the top ranked teams in the state," Stonkus noted. "It was an incredible upset."

Of course, South Brunswick worked hard to be in this position.

"Sayreville has always been a good team," Stonkus said. "We knew what we were getting into. It's been 365 days that we have been looking forward to playing them again."

One of the main reasons SBHS won was because of conditioning. According to Stonkus, he could feel the battle being won at the line of scrimmage as the game progressed.

South Brunswick never trailed in the game, scoring first in the opening quarter on a 5-yard run by Dan Gorzynski.

Sayreville tied the game in the second quarter at 7-7 and it stayed that way until the score by Tyree.

South Brunswick had its chances to take the lead earlier, but missed on a field goal try and also fumbled deep in Sayreville territory.

Darrell Harper carried the ball 10 times for 138 yards. Dahrae Ford added 91 yards on 14 carries.

South Brunswick, who was 7-3 last year, will get a chance to avenge another of its 2010 losses when it plays Piscataway in the home opener on Friday at 7 p.m. South Brunswick was defeated by Piscataway, 28-13, last year.

"The difference between 0-1 and 1-0 is incredible," Stonkus noted. "We were probably the only 6-3 team not to make the state tournament last year. Now we have a win against Sayreville to start the season."

Of course, a win against Piscataway and a 2-0 start -- as opposed to the 0-2 start of 2010 -- would be a heck of a turnaround.

"Beating the two top teams in the Red Division to start the season would really be something," Stonkus said. "We'll be ready for them."