NJ Football: Don Bosco falls short in quarterfinal loss to Delbarton
MORRIS TWP. – Don Bosco’s defense scored nine points. Delbarton’s defense scored seven. Delbarton’s offense scored seven.
It added up to heartbreak for the Ironmen, who fell to the second-seeded Green Wave 14-9 Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Non-Public A playoffs.
Throw out Delbarton’s first play of the game – a 64-yard run by star Philip Folmar – and the Green Wave had 88 yards of total offense and just four other first downs.
“I feel like we had a lot of good football left and that’s what hurts even more and I know our kids did too, our seniors gave us everything they had,” said Don Bosco coach Dan Sabella. “We were planning on preparing for another game next week. We got nobody to blame but ourselves.”
What it means
Don Bosco finished the 2023 season 5-6. Sabella now has a career record of 31-22 and had guided the Ironmen to the state finals three times in the last four years (there were no playoffs in 2020).
After stops at Bogota, Paramus and Paramus Catholic, Sabella is still the subject of rumors whenever the season ends, but he affirmed his commitment to Don Bosco after the game.
“I don’t want to be anywhere else,” Sabella said.
Delbarton improved to 9-1 this season and will host Seton Hall Prep in the Non-Public A semifinals next weekend.
The turning point
There was a clean and obvious turning point just before halftime.
Don Bosco had its best offensive drive of the game, starting at its own 37 and marching down to the Green Wave four. On second-and-goal, Don Bosco put star Lamont Lester in the Wildcat and he bulled his way to inside the one.
On the next play, Bosco set up to do the same thing, except the ball got loose and was picked up by Kyle Checchio who went 95 yards the other way for a Delbarton touchdown.
Instead of going into halftime up 14-7, Don Bosco trailed 14-7 and it was too much for its offense to overcome.
“14-point swing,” said Sabella. “14-point swing.”
The D for Don Bosco
Delbarton took a 7-0 lead on a one-yard run by Ryan Trafford, but the Ironmen tied it on a nifty pick-six by senior defensive lineman Andrew Lynch, who grabbed a screen pass and rumbled 25 yards for a score early in the second quarter.
The Ironmen defense also contributed a safety, when Lamont hit a Delbarton ball carrier in the end zone with 6:46 left to make it 14-9.
Don Bosco started the next drive after the free kick inside Green Wave territory, but a holding penalty and a sack forced them to punt.
Don Bosco had one last chance, getting the ball with no timeouts left and 1:50 to play, but turned it over on downs after an incomplete pass.
“Defense was lights out across the board,” said Sabella. “We got nobody to blame but ourselves. They got us so many stops, especially in the second half. We get the safety and get good field position and we just weren’t able to do anything with it. It was on us.”
Stat book
Folmar accounted for 112 of Delbarton’s 148 yards in the game. He ran the ball seven times for 107 yards and caught four passes for five yards.
Don Bosco quarterback Deven Sisler was 18-29 for 133 yards. Bobby Mays had five catches for 59 yards for the Ironmen.
The game took less than two hours to complete.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Don Bosco falls short in quarterfinal loss to Delbarton
