Hunterdon Central football team romps past North Hunterdon 37-0

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

It happened in a blink of an eye.

While many fans were still parking their cars and walking to the stadium or waiting in line for food, the Hunterdon Central Regional High School football team quickly jumped out to a three-score lead on rival North Hunterdon and never looked back.

The Red Devils continued their dominance over their Route 31 rivals with a 37-0 Mid-State 39 Conference Delaware Division victory at Clifford Singley Field on Thursday night.

"It happened so fast," Lions senior receiver Terry Popa said. "We dug a hole too far that we couldn't get out of. It hurts."

North Hunterdon (2-3 overall, 1-3 division) fumbled the opening kickoff, had a snap go over its punter's head for a safety and fumbled to begin another drive. By the 5:04 mark of the first quarter, Hunterdon Central (4-1, 3-0) led 23-0.

After senior Derek Jenkins fumbled the kickoff, the Red Devils took a 7-0 advantage on a 2-yard run by sophomore running back Jason Cabinda.

The Lions went three-and-out on their first offensive possession, but a high snap over the punter's head on fourth down was covered in the end zone by Jenkins for a 9-0 deficit.

Central needed four plays to capitalize on the ensuing drive which started at North's 41. Cabinda ran 18 yards for a touchdown and 16-0 lead with 5:38 left in the quarter.

It was upped by another TD -- a 5-yard Cabinda sweep left -- after the Red Devils recovered T.J. Marron's fumble at the Lions 35.

"You can't make that many mistakes in the first five minutes of the game and have any chance of winning," North Hunterdon coach John Mattes said. "It's not just against Central, it's against anyone we play in this league.

"We have to work on it. We have to spend all week on protecting the football. You can't put it on the ground; you can't make those mistakes early in the game. The hole was so deep, we couldn't see the top anymore. It's too much to overcome."

North Hunterdon finally put a drive together behind the bruising running of junior Eddie Delia. Delia, who later exited the game with what Mattes speculated to be a broken arm, ran the ball on six of the Lions' first seven plays of the drive.

Unfortunately, it went for naught as Matt Fogel pushed a 34-yard field goal try wide early in the second quarter.

Central, again capitalizing on a miscue, scored four plays later.

Quarterback Blake Searfoss found receiver Vinnie DiTrolio up the seam for a 57-yard touchdown and 30-0 lead with 10:23 left until halftime.

In the third quarter, Hunterdon Central invoked the mercy rule's running clock after Searfoss' 35-yard TD pass to Michael Bujnowski with 8:22 left.

Neither team did much after that as time quickly wound down and North fell to Central for the fifth straight season.

"It's probably the hardest thing I've ever had to go through," Popa said. "I've wanted to beat them ever since we were playing Junior Lions. It's always a big rivalry. It hurts, it really does."

The Lions have a lot of work to do during their bye week, according to Mattes.

"That's way too sloppy halfway through the season," he said. "You can't play like that this late in the year. We have a bye week, thank goodness, because we have a lot of things we have to work on."

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/10/hunterdon_central_football_tea.html