NJ football: Immaculata wins wild season opener over South Plainfield 39-32
Andy Mendlowitz
Courier News and Home News Tribune
SOMERVILLE – In an entertaining, back and forth season opener, Immaculata took advantage of a fumble recovery and scored with just over four minutes remaining and held on to defeat South Plainfield 39-32 Saturday night at Brooks Field.
Tied at 32, Immaculata's Andrew Currie snapped up a loose ball on a punt following a hit from Tommy McGuire near its own 40-yard line. Three minutes later, the Spartans' Pelton Esannason Jr. scooted in on a 3-yard quarterback keeper for the lead.
READ: Week 0 Media Blitz coverage of GMC and Mid-State action
The 6-foot Esannason Jr. threw for 139 yards (5 of 7) and two touchdowns – to John Mallory and Patrick Dwyer – and rushed for 78 yards on 14 carries and another score. Brandon Primus added a 92-yard kickoff return and Zachary Helleis drilled a 27-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter to tie the game 32-32.
For South Plainfield, Josiah Harvey rushed for two touchdowns, Kyshon Hopkins added a rushing score and quarterback Sammy Nieves rushed for a 15-yard touchdown and threw a 28-yard scoring pass to Austin Scott.
► Immaculata displayed multiple points of attack in Mike Columbo's single-wing offense. Esannason Jr. could do it all, but Ryan Enright and Tommy McGuire took pressure off of him on the ground. Patrick Dwyer and John Mallory emerged as the top receiving targets.
► South Plainfield, meanwhile, showed its offense is going to be just fine. The Tigers faced question marks after losing nearly 2,000 rushing yards from 2018 – Zach DelVecchio to graduation and Ashwin DeGroot to an offseason injury. But sophomore Kyshon Hopkins looked electric, especially on the opening drive when he unofficially rushed for 72 yards on 12 carries. He also reeled off a 46-yard run in the third quarter. Senior Josiah Harvey had several carries and showed he could be a force.
Key plays
► After South Plainfield's long opening drive for a touchdown, Brandon Primus got the home crowd back into it with a 92-yard kickoff return for a score. The junior took it up the middle and was gone. Helleis' extra point gave Immaculata the brief 7-6 lead.
► Immaculata came up with big defensive stops on South Plainfield's final drive. Paul Falzone and Alexander Sias combined for a sack on second down. On fourth-and-four from Immaculata's 48, Nieves fumbled, but picked it up. However, he had nowhere to go and was met by several Spartans for the loss of downs.
► Midway through the third quarter, South Plainfield faced a fourth-and-one from Immaculata's 6-yard line. Harvey plowed ahead for a 5-yard gain. He then scored from a yard out to give the Tigers a 32-29 lead with 6:02 left in the quarter. On the kickoff, South Plainfield recovered a fumble at the Spartans' 37-yard line, but was forced to punt despite the momentum.
► In the first quarter, South Plainfield had the ball for 11 minutes. That included a 19-play, 74-yard drive to open the game. The only times the Tigers didn't have it was on three kickoffs and after they scored with 45 seconds left in the quarter.
Game balls
► Immaculata's Pelton Esannason Jr. took over as Immaculata's starting quarterback this season and made quite a debut. Aside from the stats, he showed a calming presence running the single-wing, directing his teammates and flashing speed when needed.
► South Plainfield's Sammy Nieves. The dual-threat senior quarterback looks to be even better than last season, in which he rushed for 639 yards and threw for 507. Like his counterpart, the 5-foot-11, 185-pounder deftly ran the Tigers offense and had several shifty runs. He also had key tackles on defense from the secondary.
"They got out to a good first drive. That is true. But all the work we put in this summer, we knew we would come through. And we just kept fighting to the end. We knew we had them from the jump. Never gave up. That's the one thing – we kept fighting the whole game." – Immaculata's Pelton Esannason Jr.
► Immaculata hosts North Hunterdon on Friday
► South Plainfield travels to J.F. Kennedy on Friday