QB Isaiah Blanks Leads Hoboken Football to Resounding Victory Over Becton

After trailing 7-0 on Becton Regional’s first offensive possession, Hoboken High School (N.J.) football did not hang it collective heads low, and answered with a touchdown of its own, never looking back from there.

The Redwings (1-0) rolled off 34 unanswered points that helped them fly by the Wildcats (0-1), 34-7, in their season opener Thursday night at home before a packed house at Louis M. Taglieri, Jr. Field.

While the referees’ calls went against Hoboken early in the game, head coach Joe Borkowski said he was not going to let it knock it off the Redwings’ game plan.

“We were focused on controlling what we can control, and we didn’t let outside factors impact our effort, energy, or execution,” Borkowski explained.

Senior quarterback Isaiah Blanks and junior running back Devin McMillan enjoyed a fantastic game, with Borkowski singing their praises.

“Those guys are two of our captains with high expectations,” he said. “And they know that. They have a lot of experience, and they set the standard for themselves. I couldn’t be happier with them and the way they played tonight.”

Blanks, who completed 14 of 18 passes for 225 yards and four scores, connected on a 22-yard touchdown throw to junior wide receiver Jae’on Walker to even up the affair with 3:31 left in the first quarter.

Although behind early, Blanks said he rallied his troops to set the stage for an unpresented offensive onslaught, something he said should propel the team forward in the future.

“I trusted in my guys to just go and make a play,” Blanks said of falling behind by a touchdown early. “I just talked to my young guys to bring up their spirits. I’ll just do anything to win. We set the standard, and now everyone knows what we can do.”

Next, Blanks completed another TD pass, this time a 36-yarder to junior receiver Nick Benway, for a Hoboken 14-7 advantage with 9:28 remaining in the first half.

The Redwings’ defense got its opportunity this time, as sophomore Algelis Reyes had a 41-yd pick-six to extend it lead to 21-7 late in the second period.

Walker corralled a 41-yard touchdown pass from Blanks to swell the Redwings’ advantage to 20 points with 8:12 to go in the third quarter.  

Hoboken capped its scoring on a Banks-to-Walker 22-yard TD completion with ten seconds left in the third period.

McMillan enjoyed a solid tilt, racking up a total 93 yards in its ground attack, a team-best, while Walker paced the Redwings’ offense with 116 receiving yards.

McMillan led the Hoboken defense with six tackles, and Blanks and Reyes had an interception apiece, while Benway recorded sack.

Sophomore running back Gus Frias rushed for 33 yards on seven touches.

The Redwings will travel to West Side High School on Saturday, September 6th for a 1:00 pm. game.

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— Jerry Del Priore