The overall mood was a little glum on the Dunellen sideline after Belvidere breezed downfield in eight plays to grab the lead on the game’s opening drive.
But then Jacob Manna tossed the football to running back Chiekezie Ogbuewu and all that was wrong became right again in one big, fast, 80-yard swipe.
Dunellen answered that first punch by Belvidere with a long touchdown run by Ogbuewu, and the Destroyers continued to answer until it was more like a deafening echo with the end result of each drive being repeated again and again.
None of Dunellen’s subsequent possessions was as swiftly executed as that first, though the next six were just as successful as the Destroyers rolled up 356 rushing yards on their way to a 51-13 victory over the County Seaters in a Big Central-Freedom Silver Division battle Friday night at Brian O’Neill Sr. Memorial Field in Dunellen.
“When they got that first touchdown, it was kind of sad and depressing,” Ogbuewu said. “But we came here to win; we didn’t come here to lose. We were working hard all week for this.”
That hard work made things look relatively easy at times for Ogbuewu and some of Dunellen’s other seven runners. The junior wingback in Dunellen’s double-wing offense finished with 144 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries, and junior fullback Aiden Sangiray also rushed twice for scores to help the Destroyers (2-1) to their second consecutive win.
That matches Dunellen’s victory total of the previous two seasons, when it struggled because of youth and also multiple injuries throughout those seasons. Destroyer head coach Dave DeNapoli had just 20 players available against Belvidere, and one of the starters, senior Vincent Brito, left after the first half with an injury.
But not before he’d come down with two interceptions that led to scoring drives.
“No matter what, we’re still gonna push through until the last guy is down,” Ogbuewu said.
Most of the hard pushing was done by linemen Luke Pettersen, Jason Scott, Danny Watts, DeAndrew Ramirez, Luke Shealy and tight end Eric Greene, followed by a corps of wide-eyed backs with big gaps to fill, including Manna, a junior quarterback who rushed five times for 78 yards. Amor Johnson, also a junior, ran four times for 61 yards and a TD, and senior Anthony Hatz carried six times for 59 yards and a score.
“Our big boys (linemen) were laying their lives on the line,” Sangiray said. “A few kids had to come out for a few plays, but then they’re right back in. They have a lot of heart.
“We just dominated on the offensive side tonight,” he said. “I’ve never seen a score that high. But we are an older team; we’re more experienced.”
Sangiray would have been an eighth-grader when Dunellen topped Roselle Park, 55-26, in the last game of the 2019 season, and that game was on the road.
Almost as impressive as Dunellen’s ground-churning offense was a defense that recovered from that initial Belvidere series - 75 yards in eight plays, capped by senior Gavin Chamberlain on a 2-yard run - to handcuff the County Seaters for the better part of the game.
Belvidere passed for 117 yards, 44 of which came on a touchdown pass from wide receiver Mason Chamberlain to quarterback Patrick Depew on a flea-flicker successfully executed as time expired in the second quarter to pul the Seaters to within 31-13.
Gavin Chamberlain led the running game for Belvidere with 84 yards on 15 attempts, but the rest of the squad managed just 20 yards on the ground against a defense anchored by linemen Diaz, Scott and Pettersen and linebackers Sangiray, Shealy and Ogbuewu.
“We learned from the first game (a 14-8 loss to Dayton Sept. 2) that we should be focused up on every play. We thought we were focused up, but were lacking on some plays. We learned from our mistakes.”
Not too many of those to count on Friday save for the initial possession by Belvidere. And that efficient move was more to the County Seaters’ credit than Dunellen’s blame.
But little else can steal the sunshine of a profitable scoring drive the way a big home-run play like Ogbuewu’s can mere seconds after you’ve scored. The Destroyers then added further pain by grabbing an 8-7 lead on Ogbuewu’s conversion run.
“It felt nice,” he said of his long TD run. “I saw grass and my coach always says if you see grass, you’ve got to go for it no matter what.”
Brito recorded his first interception on Belvidere’s next series, returning it from his 38-yard line to the Belvidere 23. Five plays later, Sangiray scored on a 1-yard run, then added the conversion run for a 16-7 lead.
The Destroyers took over at their 20 following a punt that ended Belvidere’s third possession and used nine plays to seize a 24-7 advantage with 5:45 left in the half.
Brito reeled in his second pick and returned it 27 yards to the Belvidere 43 with 2:50 to go. Sangiray capped that six-play move with a 5-yard run, and female kicker Alexa Castro, a senior, then kicked the first of her three PAT for a 31-7 lead.
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Mike Kinney can be reached at mkinney@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikeKinneyHS.
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