Chatham Cougar Football Falls Just Short to Roxbury in Tough Defeat

After Chatham High School (N.J.) and Roxbury High School went toe-for-toe in their football matchup, the Cougars went for the two-point conversion.

But the Gaels (4-2) stopped Chatham senior running back Shep Boyd just a half yard from the goal line, securing the 28-27 victory Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field.

Chatham (3-2) head coach Evan Picariello said he took his chance and went for the win, something he would do every time, as he said he put the pigskin in the hands of his top player.

“I believe in the call 100 percent,” Picariello said with conviction regarding the two-point play. “I told the guys that, obviously. I take responsibility for it; it falls on me. But we had the momentum, chance to end it in regulation. Put the ball in our best player’s hands and give ourselves a shot. We had three yards to go. I think I make that decision every time.”

The Cougars got on the scoreboard first after junior receiver Nick Lagunowich–who went to the hospital for an x-ray on his clavicle, Picariello noted–took a pitch from junior quarterback Ryan Hogan and rounded the corner for a 28-yard touchdown run with 4:53 to go in the first period.

However, Roxbury sophomore signal caller Frankie Falco hit paydirt on a 6-yard TD rush to knot the score at 7-7 with 1:03 remaining in the first quarter.

With second and goal and at the Gaels’ four-yard line, Hogan threw an interception to Roxbury’s Ryan Valentine that ended Chatham’s threat midway through the second period.

After the Gaels drove down the field on the ensuing possession, the Cougars’ Caden Gabriele stepped up and kept them from scoring to end the first half tied.

But things did not start off well for Chatham, as Hogan coughed up the ball, and Roxbury recovered at the Cougars’ 28.

The Gaels did not take advantage of the favorable field position, though, as Falco threw an ill-advised lollipop pass, which Chatham sophomore Yuki Steveson picked off at the 20-yard line.

After Boyd bolted for a long rush to Roxbury’s 14, a few plays later, Hogan made good on a four-yard touchdown run to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead with 4:43 left in the third period.

With the Chatham’s defense struggling to stymie the Gaels’ running attack, Roxbury scored again, this time on a 35-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at 14-14 with 2:58 to go in the third quarter.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, a fumble hurt them again, with the Gaels recovering the ball at their own 40.

A few plays later, Flaco connected with DJ Benfatti on a 14-yard TD pass to surge ahead, 21-14, with 11:33 remaining in the fourth period.

Refusing to lay down, Hogan hit senior Sonny Arden for 32-yard passing score to re-tie the tilt at 21-21 with 7:20 left in the fourth.

But it would not stay that way for long, as Benfatti found the end zone on 28-yard touchdown to make it 28-27 with a little more than two minutes left in the game.

With their back against the wall, Hogan threw a few completed passes before hitting senior Michael MacAniff on a long reception that brought Chatham down to the 13-yard line.

On the next play, MacAniff came up big again, corralling the ball inside the five, and dragging a defender into the end zone to bring the contest to within a point (see video below).

(Video by Micheal “Droner” Neuner).

But the Cougars failed to pullout the victory in the end.

While Picariello gave credit to Chatham for its mettle, fixing the turnover situation, and finding ways to stop the oppositions’ running attack are top priorities for his team going forward.

“Our guys are going to fight; that’s the kind of culture that we have,” he said. “But bottom line, we lost the turnover battle, 3-1, and our tackling was poor. This is three weeks in a row now that we’re not defending the run. So, I need to do a better job as a coach, and we need to do a better job of stopping the run.”

The Cougars travel to Mendham on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. game.

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— Jerry Del Priore