Winners From Week 8 Friday Action

Friday night’s Week 8 action cleared up a lot of questions. With a number of top teams going against each other, there was one last chance to make an imprint on the 2020 season for many players and teams. Let’s take a look at the winners form Friday night’s Week 8 action. <strong>Ben Hutchins, Raritan: </strong>Hutchins threw only four passes, but three of those went for 198 yards and three scores. Hutchins fired touchdown passes of 55, 69 and 74 yards for Raritan in its 42-20 victory over Brick Memorial. <strong>Becton: </strong>Becton gave up just 12 points all season, all to Waldwick on Friday night despite a comfortable 41-12 win. Becton won the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference championship behind a quick start. The Wildcats scored three touchdowns in the first six minutes Friday night in East Rutherford. Becton quarterback Joe Crifasi threw a 63-yard touchdown to Marcus Duran on the first play of the game. It was a sign of what was to come with Cencir Bacote returning a punt 72 yards for six points, Ryan Reid making an 18-yard reception from Crifasi and Crifasi scoring on an 8-yard run. Becton allowed its first points of the season when Waldwick’s Rashawn Markman scored from six yards out in the third quarter. Crifasi was tremendous all night, completing 10-of-14 throws for 223 yards and three touchdowns, also scoring twice on the ground. Duran was the spark on defense with two picks. <strong>Ian Ver Steeg, Shawnee: </strong>Ver Steeg made 10 receptions for 196 yards and three touchdowns in Shawnee’s 44-25 victory over Sparta on Friday night. Shawnee, picking up its first victory of the season after traveling over 100 miles to play Sparta in Sussex County, had a balanced attack. Junior wide receiver Ver Steeg had a night to remember with 10 catches for 196 yards and three touchdowns. He was the main target for Shawnee quarterback Matt Welsey, who finished 18-of-23 for 302 yards. Avery Cohen made seven receptions for 93 yards for Shawnee, and Dean Bialous did the work on the ground with 17 carries for 128 yards and a TD. <strong>Newton: </strong>Newton finished with a 6-0 record after storming past Mountain Lakes, 42-7, on Friday night. The Braves were essentially perfect in the victory. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="28002" first="Jack" last="Young"] was 8-for-8 for 235 yards and two touchdowns while adding 85 yards rushing, Peyton Nolan carried 25 times for 212 yarsd and found pay dirt on runs of 18, 22, 32 and 35 yards and Aaron Fantasia had six catches for 187 yards and was a deep threat with TD scores on 51 and 74 yards. Defensively, Newton was stout. Dylan Bailey and Melkart Abdou-Jodbe had sacks, Peyton Nolan had 10 tackles and Fantasia, Ryan Pappas and Heath Letsz had interceptions to ignite the defense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="27903" first="Patrick" last="Smith"], Holy Spirit: </strong>Holy Spirit, the sixth-ranked team in New Jersey, made its case for the top team in South Jersey following Friday’s 21-7 win over Lenape, the No. 2 team in the state. Smith, one of the top running threats in the state and a Colorado State commit, had a 232-yard performance on 34 carries, scoring on runs of 10 and 79 yards. Holy Spirit relied on Smith and its defense, which had four sacks on the night, two coming from Jahmir Smith, and interceptions from CJ Egrie and Devin Lee. The defense forced three turnovers overall. <strong>Mount Olive: </strong>The Marauders handed Randolph its first loss of the season on Friday night, downing the Rams 21-7 and creating a three-way tie for first place in the Super Football Conference-Freedom Blue division. Mount Olive defeated Randolph for the second straight season after forcing a pair of first-half turnovers. Quarterback Gavin Lockwood went 13-for-18 for 175 yards and threw three touchdowns for Mount Olive, finishing with a 6-1 record. He took advantage of running opportunities when available, going for 57 yards on eight carries. AJ McKay had eight receptions for 101 yards and caught two TDs, and Justin Schmidt had an interception and recovered a fumble. Cory Campbell had a sack and nine tackles, and Hunter Perez and Anthony Moscatello each had double-digit tackles. <strong>Steinert: </strong>Steinert improved to .500 at 3-3 after posting a 17-0 shutout of Bordentown. The Steinert defense had two interceptions, and quarterback Cody Young exploded for 203 yards on 23 carries, scoring on a pair of runs, including one of 50 yards. <strong>Adrian Cuervo, Linden: </strong>Cuervo ran for 75 yards on 13 carries and a TD and found the end zone on a 24-yard fumble return to lead Linden past North Plainfield Friday night. It was Linden’s first win of the season. North Plainfield suffered its lone loss of the season. Cuervo’s fumble return came at a major moment, as it gave Linden a 10-0 lead very early in the second half. <strong>Dan Merkel, Allentown: </strong>Merkel ended a record-breaking career at Allentown with a 290-yard, four-touchdown performance in Allentown’s 54-48 victory over Hopewell Valley. Merkel was efficient in the red zone and out, scoring on runs of 2, 16, 29 and 53 yards. Allentown finished with 420 rushing yards in total on Friday night. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="27896" first="Andrew" last="Butler"], DePaul: </strong>Butler was tremendous for DePaul in its 49-22 victory over Ocean City in a battle of top-20 teams. The veteran quarterback went 17 of 25 for 237 yards and four touchdowns, also scoring twice on the ground in short-yard situations. DePaul had four sacks and two interceptions on defense, and A’Khoury Lyde hauled in half of the team’s passing TDs. <strong>Other Notable Performances:</strong> Giancarlo Farro, West Essex, 201 yards, 14 carries, 4 TDs Morris Hills’ victory over Ramsey Brendan Amico two FGs in Williamstown 6-0 shutout of St. Augustine Rumson-Fair Haven over Freehold Borough St. Joseph (Hamm.) shuts out rival Hammonton West Morris over Ridgewood Wall beats Donovan Catholic for Shore Conference dominance Jayden Robertson accounts for four TDs in Hackensack win over Bloomfield