The future of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School football program looks to be very bright.
Under the guidance of coaches Kyle Murphy and Nicolas Costanzo, the Bridgewater-Raritan freshman football team posted an 8-2 record this fall.
Bridgewater-Raritan capped off the freshman season when the young Panthers defeated Old Bridge High School, 28-8, in late October.
Bridgewater-Raritan struck fast against Old Bridge when the Panthers scored on a 32-yard touchdown pass from QB Evan Woodring to receiver James Locrotondo, which was followed by a successful 2-point conversion by back Jonathan Okolo.
As the second quarter wound down, the Panthers stood their ground and went into the half leading 8-0.
Midway through the third quarter, linebacker Jack Madsen picked off a pass and raced 28 yards to the end zone to extend the Bridgewater-Raritan lead to 14-0.
Old Bridge found themselves inside its own 5-yard line on the following possession. And after two straight bad snaps that pushed Old Bridge back to the 1, the Panthers capitalized when tackle Andrew Arndt fell on the third-straight bad snap fin the end zone for a touchdown.
Old Bridge did cut the Bridgewater-Raritan lead to 22-8 after a 42-yard TD pass and a successful 2-point conversion.
But Bridgewater-Raritan put the finishing touches with a a run to the end zone from four yards by WR/RB Nick Crovelli.
Bridgewater-Raritan sealed the game with 1:36 left when Old Bridge fumbled on it own 35 yard line, where linebacker Nick Spirra recovered for the Panthers.
The team’s only setbacks on the season came against Ridge High School and Elizabeth High School.
The team started the season on July 10t when over three quarters of the team came out for Organized Team Activities that were held over four weeks before mandatory practice was set to begin in early August. After two weeks, the team took a two-week leave, when the varsity squad took a trip to Stevenson University in Maryland for minicamp. The team returned on August 5, and began practicing with full pads on August 7.
The frosh Panthers traveled to North Hunterdon for a scrimmage the following week, and got the first look at their new offense, ran by coaches Murphy and Costanzo and implemented by the new varsity head coach D.J. Catalano.
The freshman team for Bridgewater-Raritan started the season out hot, going 5-0 with victories against Edison High School, Union High School, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Hillsborough High School and Watchung Hills Regional High School.
After a tough loss to Ridge, the frosh Panthers made a statement with their 12-0 victory at Phillipsburg. The team then traveled up to Elizabeth, where it lost in a rainy dogfight, 2-0, with the only score coming within the last two minutes on a safety.
Coach Costanzo had some powerful words for his players after the victory against Old Bridge.
“Once you’re on my team, you’re on my team for life,” he claimed.
A few players from the varsity team stopped by to catch the game,, along with Coach Catalano. Additionally, he invited more than half of the team to practice with JV the following Monday.
The freshmen will begin next season as members of the JV team, as a part of their high school football journey.
