Chatham Cougars Football Rallies for 24-14 Victory Over Lancers

Chatham High School’s (N.J.) football game against Livingston was a tale of two halves.

While the Cougars (3-1) failed to establish any type of real momentum on both sides of the ball in the first half, they came alive in the second for the come-from-behind 24-14 win over the Lancers Saturday night at Livingston High School.

Desperately needing a change, Chatham head coach Evan Picariello made the necessary second half defensive adjustments. It worked, as it slowed down Livingston’s potent running attack, and forced the opposition into obvious passing situations, in which the Cougars were able to thwart.

Plus, Picariello tweaked the Cougars’ offense, while lighting a fire underneath his players, which sparked them to perform better and score 21 points.

“They (the Lancers/2-3) had a game plan of loading the box and just running the football at us, and we were struggling to stop it,” Picariello explained. “And, at the same time, complementary football-wise, the offense wasn’t getting it done and sustaining drives. So that was kind of the first half story.”

But Picariello said there was a crucial special teams play that helped ignite the team toward victory.

“The fake punt was a huge momentum swing for us–Shep (Boyd) taking it to the house,” he said. “From there, it kind of woke us up, gave us a little energy, and we fed off of it. Defense started to get stops, and the offense started to put drives together, which is the name of the game.”

Chatham’s first points came on a successful sophomore Milo Semioli 21-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. But Livingston scored 14 unanswered points to surge ahead 14-3 with 7:54 remaining in the third quarter.

Then came the big 65-yard touchdown from Boyd that sliced the deficit to 14-10 with 6:46 to go in the third period.

With fourth and long and in their red zone, senior Michael MacAniff broke up a Lancer pass near the goal line to force a turnover on downs.

After moving the ball down the gridiron, junior quarterback Ryan Hogan capped the offense drive on a one-yard touchdown keeper for a three-point lead with 10:28 remaining in the fourth period.

The Cougars’ defense came up big again when senior Michael Freeman ball-hawked a Will Atkinson pass and made the interception in their own territory. Freeman talked about Chatham’s resolve and ability to stay the course and finish the job.

“We dug in when we needed to,” Freeman said. “Second half, we needed to keep our cool, come out, and make great plays.”

With a short field, Chatham cashed in again when luck was on its side after a tipped pass popped up in the air in the end zone and found an eagerly anticipating Boyd for the five-yard touchdown and a ten-point advantage.

The rest was academic for the Cougars, as defense stood tall again.

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— Jerry Del Priore