Owls football drops a heartbreaker

- HPHS Correspondent Sam Trub also contributed to this article.

On a rainy, cloudy, September 16th, Highland Park fans and pep band confronted the miserable weather to watch the home opener versus the Rams of South River HS. Though the Owls’ sectional championship appearance in 2009 left fans with high expectations, Nate Smith’s absence would undoubtedly affect the team.

After a tough drubbing by three-time sectional champion Asbury Park the previous week, Highland Park was looking to bounce back and come out with a big effort in the home opener against GMC rival South River.

South River struck first, on the opening drive of the game. Quarterback Nick Boyler threw a pass which went off the hands of H.P.'s Quawi Bachelor into the waiting arms of split end Garry Clemente for a 24-yard touchdown pass. The extra point gave the Rams an early 7-0 lead.

The Owls gained just 26 first half yards until 42 seconds remained before intermission, when a South River pass was tipped by lineman Casey Horne and picked off by senior safety Michael Long. A couple of plays later, sophomore quarterback Quatay Nesmith threw a slant pass to Bachelor from his own 30 and Bachelor (nine carries, 102 yards) exploded down the sideline on a 70-yard touchdown.

Unfortunately, the extra point failed when the kicker hit a line-drive into the offensive line instead of through the goalposts. Still, the TD gave second wind to both the players and the fans, as the Owls returned to the locker room down 7-6.

"We played a very sloppy first half," said H.P. head coach Rich McGlynn. "I felt that both teams could run at each other and if we mixed it up with the athletes on our side, we could do well," he added.

South River outgained the Owls 187-96 in yards, but the Owl defense recorded interceptions by Long and junior linebacker Tyler Rios to thwart two scoring threats in the first half.

Highland Park had two scoring chances right off the bat in the third quarter. On their second play from scrimmage, Bachelor ran 40 yards down to the visitors' 25, but fumbled on the play and the ball was recovered by South River. Recovering possession after a penalty, the Owls started from their own 11 and marched all the way back to the SR 25. But Rios (12 carries, 74 yards), fumbled and South River again recovered to squelch the drive.

"We shot ourselves in the foot tonight," said McGlynn.

Halfway into the third quarter South River scored another TD, putting the Owls behind 14-6. With 2:33 left in regulation, Nesmith ran for a 20 yard TD, and then topped it off with a two point conversion, tying the tally at 14-14 and sending the game into overtime. Nesmith rushed for 51 yards on 10 carries, completed 3-of-3 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown, and also added an interception on defense.

In the extra session, the Owls broke through with a 11 yard run, but were dragged back by a penalty making it 1st and goal. Bachelor scored on a two-yard run but the two-point conversion run failed, leaving the Owls with a 20-14 lead.

Minutes later, South River got the final word. Xavier Foster of South River ran five yards to the one-yard line but was hit hard and fumbled the ball into the end zone, where tackle Frank Miranda fell on the loose pigskin for the touchdown. The extra point by Jean Pierre Atehortua gave the Rams a 21-20 victory over a heartbroken Highland Park squad. As South River’s field goal sailed through the air, deflation in the stands was palpable.

The tough loss against South River, will hopefully, as head coach McGlynn stated, “turn us around.” Linebacker Manny McClain lamented, “We didn’t play as a team . . . if we plan on getting to the playoffs, we had better start acting like one both defensively and offensively.”

McGlynn reinforced this by saying, “What the boys need is the hunger from that loss. I believe that now that they’ve tasted victory and had it snatched from them, they’ll never let it go again.”

Indeed, in the coming six high-stakes games the Owls need to pull through. Their game against Metuchen on Saturday, September 25th, and coming match-ups against Dunellen, Shore Regional, and Spotswood are all huge in determining their prowess in the division.

"The ball bounced their way tonight. The law of averages suggests that things should go our way the next time," stated McGlynn.

"It was a emotional loss but I noticed two things from tonight's game," the coach said. "The team showed hunger and we never felt we would lose this game. Second, they came together and bonded as a team."

Foster was the offensive workhouse for South River (218 yards on 39 carries) because their other top rusher, junior tailback Taariq Phillips, took a vicious hit from Bachelor on their opening drive of the game. Phillips suffered a leg injury and did not return.

The Owls plan for their kicking game that fell apart during the South River match to come together after freshman Harry Landis gets his arm casts off. Winning will also take substantial leadership from seniors, such as tight end Michael Long and juniors Rios and McClain. Hopefully, as McGlynn said, “the team will pull together” in the coming games and keep a high intensity needed defeat opponents.