By Ross Vocaturo ’25
MORRISTOWN, NJ – DBP Varsity Football’s late-season resurgence saw itself come to an end on Saturday, November 11th in Morristown, at the hands of the 10-2 Delbarton Green Wave. The 14-9 final score put Bosco’s hopes of a Cinderella story to bed. And while the score may lead you to believe that the game was a dud, the scoring plays were certainly interesting. Let’s take a look at how this Quarter Finals matchup unfolded:
First Quarter
Bosco started the game off with the ball as a result of Delbarton deferring the coin toss. Nine minutes went by in the first before we saw our first points on the day, a 1 yard walk-in from Delbarton Senior running back Ryan Trafford. The rushing touchdown was just one of two plays in the drive, the other being a 64-yard catch by Junior wideout for the Green Wave. The score would stay at 7-0 as the first 15 minutes of play came to an end, with Bosco in possession of the ball.
Second Quarter
Bosco’s drive did not last long in the 2nd quarter, as an unsuccessful rushing attempt on 4th and 2 gave Delbarton the ball back at its own 35. However, Bosco answered back on the defensive side of things, when Senior DL Andrew Lynch picked off Delbarton QB Christian Zebrowski for a 25-yard pick-six, getting Bosco on the board and tying the game at 7. Yet, just as Bosco was closing in on a go-ahead scoring opportunity to end the 1st half, disaster struck on the one-yard line, and a botched handoff attempt led to Delbarton’s defense running the entire length of the field on a 96-yard “scoop and score.” Delbarton not only took the lead late in the 1st half, but was also getting the ball back on the other side of the break.
Third Quarter
Almost twenty minutes removed from a first half that saw not one, but two defensive touchdowns, Delbarton was looking to add some insurance to its 14-7 lead. That was short lived, however, as a 3-and-out gave the ball right back to the Ironmen. Sooner rather than later, the third quarter wound up being nothing but a punt-off, with a missed 51-yard field goal attempt by Delbarton sprinkled into the mix. With 15 minutes still to go in the contest, neither offense had much to show for; so much so that the 3rd quarter saw a total of 2 first downs.
Fourth Quarter
History was repeating itself once again to open the 4th; the Ironmen and the Green Wave exchanged punts over the course of the first 8 minutes of the final frame. It wasn’t until around 6:37 on the scoreboard where we saw another score, when a safety from Bosco DL Lamont Lester pulled the Ironmen to within 5. As the stat sheet currently stood, 14 of the 23 total points in the game came from the defense, including all 9 of Bosco’s points. The score would stay at 14-9 as the clock hit triple zeroes, and Delbarton’s low-scoring victory would send the Ironmen home packing.
With Delbarton’s victory, the Green Wave punched a ticket to a Semi Finals matchup with the Pirates of Seton Hall Prep, which they went on to win 35-28 en route to a 24-14 loss in the State Championship game at MetLife Stadium versus Bergen Catholic, now three-peat Champions of the NJSIAA’s Non Public A division. Meanwhile, the Ironmen will be looking at ways to reshape their roster for next fall, as many key players on the team head off for college: DL Jordan Thomas, RB Logan Bush, LB Jayden Brown, DL Lamont Lester, and WR Bobby Mays, just to name a few. But, with Bosco already making up for key vacancies this past summer, things are still looking bright for the future of the Ironmen program.