Chatham Football Falls to Mendham in Lopsided Game

Mendham High School’s (N.J.) potent rushing attack ran roughshod over Chatham’s defense, while its own defense stymied the Cougar’s offense, as it rode its way to a 28-7 commanding victory Friday afternoon at Cougar Field.

The Minutemen, who extended their winning streak to five games, complied 366 yards of offense on the ground with four touchdowns.

Chatham head coach Evan Picariello chalked up the defeat to the Cougars (4-2) falling short on both sides of the gridiron, as he said a talented Minutemen (6-1) team outplayed them throughout the tilt.

“We didn’t capitalize on any of our offensive possession, except for one. Versus a team like this, you know it’s going to be a shorten game, in terms of possessions,” Picariello said. “And we didn’t make the most of ours offensively, and defensively, we didn’t create stops. We had one stop, which was a fumble (recovery). That was it. We didn’t produce offensively, and defensively, we didn’t get stops. That’s the bottom of line. I don’t think this was our best effort, by any means.”

Mendham scored first on senior Cole Capuzzi‘s four-yard touchdown run to give the team a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

Next, senior Kevin King ripped off a 35-yard TD rush to extend the Minutemen’s advantage to 14-0 with 11:47 remaining in the second period.

King hit paydirt again on a seven-yard plunge to make it 21-0 with 5:35 to go in the third quarter.

But Chatham finally got on the scoreboard after senior quarterback Will Allen cashed in on a one-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 21-7 with 0.55 left in the third period.

But Mendham senior Jordan Lieberwirth put the nail in the Cougars’ coffin on 66-yard rushing score to push the lead to 28-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Allen passed for 191 yards on 19 of 35 attempts, while senior Alex McWilliams ran for 65 yards on 11 carries. Sophomore Nick Lagunowich grabbed five receptions for 47 yards.

Defensively, Chatham two-way junior standout lineman Jase Catullo forced a fumble and recovered the ball on the same play.

King led all running backs with 135 yards and two touchdowns. Lieberwirth ran for 122 yards on 11 touches with a score, while Capuzzi picked up 98 yards and a TD on 15 attempts.

Defensively, Nicholas Bruno made a game-high 13 tackles for the Minutemen.

Junior Michael Freeman led the Cougars’ defense with 10 tackles, while Catullo, and juniors Charlie Murray and Hunter Bigham made eight stops apiece. Caden Gabriele, another junior, contributed seven tackles in the defeat.

Chatham travels to Warren Hills Friday at 7:00 p.m. Mendham hosts Montville Friday at 7:00 p.m.

— Jerry Del Priore