Rahway football to host Carteret next Saturday with trip to sectional final on the line

If the Rahway football team wants to reach its first sectional final in eight years, the Indians will have to beat Carteret at home next Saturday to do so. Rahway last reached a sectional final in 1999 when it lost to Morristown 36-0 at Giants Stadium in the North 2, Group 3 title game. Rahway last won a playoff championship in 1984 when it defeated Morris Hills 8-7 in that year's North 2, Group 3 final. Rahway's first two playoff titles were won in 1978 and 1979, the Indians beating Phillipsburg in the North 2, Group 3 final both of those seasons.

The second-seeded Indians (8-1) will host sixth-seeded Carteret (6-3) next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Veterans Field in one of two Central Jersey, Group 2 semifinals.

Carteret won at third-seeded Delaware Valley 13-7 Friday night in its quarterfinal.

Rahway reached the Central Jersey, Group 2 semifinals for the fourth straight season after dominating seventh-seeded Ewing 40-14 today at Veterans Field in its quarterfinal. Rahway lost at Raritan 48-0 in the 2004 semifinals, lost at home to Raritan 14-0 in the 2005 semifinals and then lost to Weequahic 14-12 at Shabazz Stadium in Newark in the 2006 semis.

"Carteret is our next step," fourth-year Rahway head coach Gary Mobley said. "We saw a very good team beat Delaware Valley last night, one that is well-balanced and well-coached."

"Everything has been starting from up front and we've been saying that from the beginning," said Rahway junior quarterback Troy Eastman, who threw three touchdown passes against Ewing. "Our offensive and defensive lines have been doing a great job of just getting in the backfield and keeping people off the skill players and letting us make plays."

EWING (5-5) 0 0 7 7 - 14
RAHWAY (8-1) 6 22 12 0 - 40

FIRST QUARTER:
Rahway - Demetrius Washington-Ellison 12 pass from Troy Eastman,
kick failed,(R 6-0)
1 play, 12 yards, 0:00 used, clock was at 10:40 and stayed at 10:40, really.

SECOND QUARTER:
Rahway - Corey Alfano 15 run, Alfano pass from Eastman, (R 14-0)
8 plays, 64 yards, 4:55 used
Rahway - Giovanni Smith 13 run, kick failed, (R 20-0)
5 plays, 34 yards, 2:13 used
Rahway - Donte Dennis 14 run, Eastman run, (R 28-0)
2 plays, 17 yards, :52 used

THIRD QUARTER:
Rahway - Washington-Ellison 25 pass from Eastman, kick failed, (R 34-0)
9 plays, 54 yards, 4:11 used
Ewing - Mat Musick 2 run, CJ Housman kick, (R 34-7)
7 plays, 57 yards, 2:14 used
Rahway - Bendar Sumter 21 pass from Eastman, kick failed, (R 40-7)

FOURTH QUARTER:
Ewing - Davay Lyman, 18 pass from Stephen Shimko, Housman kick, (R 40-14)
6 plays, 62 yards, 1:48 used)

FIRST DOWNS: Ewing 10, Rahway 10
RUSHES-YARDS: Ewing 23-46, Rahway 38-175
PASSES: Ewing 12-27-0, Rahway 6-13-1
PASSING YARDS: Ewing 153, Rahway 115
FUMBLES-LOST: Ewing 1-1, Rahway 1-1
PUNTS-AVG.: Ewing 4-33, Rahway 3-24
PENALTIES: Ewing 3-35, Rahway 7-75

RUSHING: Ewing – Matt Musick 5-33, one touchdown. Louis Thomas 6-20. Kyle McGuire 2-(-1). Stephen Shimko 7-0. Davay Lyman 3-(-6). Totals: 23-46, one touchdown. Rahway – Corey Alfano 7-65, one touchdown. Donte Dennis 13-47, one touchdown. Troy Eastman 6-35. Giovanni Smith 12-28, one touchdown. Totals: 38-175, three touchdowns.

PASSING: Ewing – Stephen Shimko 12-27-0, 153 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions. Rahway – Troy Eastman 6-13-1, 115 yards, three touchdowns, one interception.

RECEIVING: Ewing – Kyle McGuire 4-43. Davay Lyman 3-78, one touchdown. Irving Bruno 2-28. Louis Thomas 2-1. Jordan Lewis 1-3. Totals: 12-153, one touchdown.
Rahway – Demetrius Washington-Ellison 3-57, two touchdowns. Bendar Sumter 1-21, one touchdown. Corey Alfano 1-17. Donte Dennis 1-11. Erik McCloud 1-9. Totals: 6-115, three touchdowns.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Ewing – Anthony Willis. Rahway – Sherwood Wesley.

INTERCEPTIONS: Ewing – Dennie Norman. Rahway – None.

QUARTERBACK SACKS: Ewing – None. Rahway – Erik McCloud 2.5, Quentin Walker .5.

Saturday's Union County playoff scoreboard:

North 2, Group 4
Westfield 21, Bayonne 8 - at Westfield
North 2, Group 3
Scotch Plains 19, Colonia 13 - at Scotch Plains
Central Jersey, Group 2
Rahway 40, Ewing 14 - at Rahway
North 2, Group 1
New Providence 22, Secaucus 19 - at New Providence

Westfield, which won its first playoff game since beating Morristown 7-0 in the North 2, Group 4 quarerfinals in 2001, is the fourth seed and will play at top-seeded Piscataway next Saturday at 1 p.m. in its semifinal.

Scotch Plains, the fourth seed in its section and a playoff winner for the first time since 2004, will host eighth-seeded South Plainfield next Saturday at 1 p.m. in its North 2, Group 3 semifinal. South Plainfield pulled off the upset of the weekend around the state by winning at top-seeded and undefeated Irvington 18-12 in single overtime Saturday at Irvington's Matthew Field. Irvington was 8-0 for the first time in at least the playoff era going back to when it began in 1974. The Blue Knights also whipped South Plainfield 49-14 at home in last year's North 2, Group 3 semifinals. Irvington also lost at home as a No. 1 seed in 2003, falling to Piscataway 20-8 in a North 2, Group 4 quarterfinal. Irvington entered the playoffs that year with a 7-1 record and six-game winning streak.

Rahway, the second seed in Central Jersey, Group 2, will host sixth-seeded Carteret next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Veterans Field in their semifinal.

New Providence, the fourth seed in North 2, Group 1, will play at top-seeded Belvidere next Friday night at 7 in their semifinal.

Saturday's Union County consolation scoreboard:

Plainfield 34, J.P. Stevens 0
Somerville 12, Roselle 6
Barringer 35, Linden 28
Summit 42, Fort Lee 0
Lyndhurst 26, Dayton 12
Johnson 43, Red Bank 27

Plainfield (3-6) has won three in a row after a 0-6 start.

Roselle fell to 3-6 and Linden to 1-8.

Summit finished 3-7, a big improvement from last year.

Dayton finished 1-9, winning its first varsity game since 1999.

Johnson is now 6-3 and clinched a third straight winning season. The Crusaders will play at Rahway on Thanksgiving, with the Mountain Valley Conference-Mountain Division title on the line. Rahway is 4-0 vs. Mountain Division opponents and Johnson is 3-1, with its lone loss to Cranford. Governor Livingston and Cranford both finished 3-2.

So, if Rahway wins, the Indians will win the Mountain Division title outright for the second time in three years. If Johnson wins, then the defending champion Crusaders will share the crown with Rahway.

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