South Brunswick Football Takes 8-0 Mark into Playoffs

The members of the South Brunswick High School football team are expecting a big crowd for their next game. They are also expecting to give those in attendance a lot to cheer about.

South Brunswick defeated East Brunswick 45-20 on Friday evening. That gives SBHS a record of 8-0 as it gets ready to host a state playoff game on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

South Brunswick will know its opponent by the end of action this weekend.

"Whoever comes here, we'll be ready for them," noted South Brunswick quarterback TJ Perkowski. "The amount of school spirit here has been amazing. I think we'll have 5,000 people here for the first playoff game. This playoff run will be unbelievable."

As long as South Brunswick wins its first playoff game, it will be the host in the second round as well. The Central Jersey Group IV title game will be played at the neutral site of Rutgers University.

"I'm feeling really positive right now," South Brunswick Coach Rick Mantz said. "We have a nice team and are healthy. We'll be ready for the playoffs. It's pretty exciting."

In its last chance to get on the field in live action before the playoffs, South Brunswick overcame a few shaky series to take control against East Brunswick.

The first time South Brunswick had the ball, it had a penalty and two fumbles. That was followed by East Brunswick scoring on its first possession.

"That was a punch in the face," Perkowski noted. "That kind of woke us up. We didn't want that to happen again."

On South Brunswick's second possession, Perkoswki broke off runs of 40 and 11 yards to help set up Azim Blakey's 5-yard score.

Thanks to Darrell Harper, South Brunswick soon took the lead. Harper intercepted a pass, then on the first play from scrimmage, Harper ran 48 yards for a touchdown.

Before the half ended, South Brunswick would add three more touchdowns. Perkowski threw touchdowns of 30 and 48 yards to TJ Taylor. Dan Gorzynski also scored on a 14-yard run.

"We definitely responded (to East Brunswick's early score)," Perkowski said.

South Brunswick finished with 302 yards rushing and 90 passing. Perkowski accounted for 91 of the yards on the ground and 78 yards in the air with his two touchdown throws.

Darrell Harper finished with 62 yards on five carries. Dante Strickland had five carries for 44 yards. Blakey had six carries for 30 yards. Dan Gorzynski (2-19), Dion Hooper (4-21), David Flanders (1-13), Brian Lee (3-11), Jevon Tyree (2-10) and Andre Lee (1-1) also ran for positive yardage. Hooper even added a second-half touchdown.

South Brunswick's other score came on defense when Tyree picked up a fumble and returned the ball 26 yards for a score in the third quarter.

Jake Pietrefesa led South Brunswick with five tackles. Isnard Mir-Merced, Alex Bercuta and Dante Strickland had four tackles each.

After building a 45-7 lead, South Brunswick used a lot of subs. East Brunswick responded by scoring the last 13 points of the game.

Now, the focus shifts to the playoffs and finding out who the opponent will be for the state opener.

"I'm just so excited, I can't wait to play," Perkowski said. "We're looking forward to having that big crowd behind us. It's going to be unbelievable."