The South Brunswick High School football team doesn't throw too many passes. When it does put the ball in the air, however, it's usually a thing of beauty.
South Brunswick scored twice on long passes against Old Bridge on Friday night. Add in a punt return for a touchdown, the usual steady rushing attack and a dependable defense and South Brunswick came away with a 45-14 win.
"We made some big plays tonight," South Brunswick Coach Rick Mantz said.
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Mantz wasn't kidding. South Brunswick's first four touchdowns all came on plays of at least 40 yards.
The first big play came in the middle of the second quarter when Darrell Harper broke free for a 40-yard touchdown run.
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Harper was also responsible for the second big play, returning a punt 77 yards for a touchdown with 3:17 to play in the half.
Harper had a big play called back in the first quarter, when he lost his touchdown on a punt return because of a holding call. Fortunately, South Brunswick was able to come away with something on the possession, with Dylan Olsson providing the first points of the game on a 28-yard field goal.
"There was great blocking and the lanes were there on the punt returns," Harper noted.
"That second one felt great, especially after the first one was called back. You just can't let penalties get to you. You're never going to be mad at a teammate. I said we would get another one and we did."
Having proven it could strike on the ground and on special teams in the first half, South Brunswick came out throwing in the third quarter.
TJ Taylor caught a pair of touchown passes in the third quarter. He grabbed in a 63-yard pass from TJ Perkowski. Taylor then pulled in a 69-yard touchdown from Dan Gorzynski.
"Every time I hear a pass play called, I get excited," Taylor noted. "We run the ball so much, the defense starts cheating in a little. The defense bites on the run. So when you hear that pass play called, you know it has a chance to be a big play."
They were.
"Both quarterbacks just threw beautiful passes," Taylor said.
South Brunswick only attempted eight passes, completing six for 202 yards. This was the rare game when South Brunswick picked up more yards in the air than on the ground. South Brunswick ran the ball 34 times for 188 yards.
Taylor's second touchdown left South Brunswick up 32-0 with six minutes left in the third quarter.
Dante Strickland finished out South Brunswick's scoring with touchdown runs of 1 and 6 yards.
South Brunswick, now 6-0, will play at JP Stevens on Friday at 7 p.m. South Brunswick will be home to host East Brunswick on Nov. 4. The following week, South Brunswick should be starting its playoff run.
"It's been a fun year," Taylor noted. "We're all looking forward to keeping it going and finishing the season strong."
