Photo Credits:
Photo Credit Raquel Silva www.tapinto.net
New Providence offense comes out clicking against Boonton in N2G1 first round
Seven drive, seven scores.
The New Providence offense was in full effect and executing from every direction, as second-seeded New Providence took down seventh-seeded Boonton in the first round of the NJSIAA/Xfinity North 2, Group 1 playoffs in New Providence.
T.J. Munn was the star of the show, rushing 11 times for 205 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, while also hoisting two touchdown passes through the air for New Providence (8-2). While James Keneally led the defense with a team high 13 tackles.
Munn had his fingerprints all over this game, and led New Providence to seven scoring drives, except for a drive that fell short due to halftime.
While Munn ran for a 44 yard touchdown in the third quarter, that play was topped just a quarter later, when he ran for a 66-yard scamper down the left sideline to give New Providence a 42-24 lead.
“I just wanted to be tough. We had to match their [Boonton] energy which was extremely important coming into this game, and I feel like we did a great job of doing that, the blocking was also incredible all game long.”
Junior running back A.J. Whitehead made his impact felt in this matchup, rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
Whitehead and Munn combined for 314 yards on the ground, executing the ground and pound mindset to perfection, however, when New Providence decided to impact the game through the air, it converted in a big way.
New Providence only threw the ball two times, one of them coming in the third quarter when Munn found Mike Pestes for a 30-yard touchdown connection, Pestes went on to score two touchdowns on the day.
New Providence earned its first playoff win since 2021, and Munn expects this team to continue to battle moving forward in the playoffs.
“We need to keep doing what we’re doing right now, we are on the right track and if we keep our heads down and only focus on winning, that is a recipe for success.”
Boonton (6-4) came into the game with a traditional style of ground-and-pound mentality, and gave New Providence a fight until late in the third quarter when New Providence eventually pulled away.
Colin Bostrom contributed a six-yard touchdown run, followed by a Metin Ahmedi one-yard keeper.
Costly turnovers wound up being the achilles heel for Boonton, as two fumbles ruined potential promising drives, two which resulted in New Providence touchdowns on the other end.
Head coach Sean Norton spoke about Boonton’s promising season, winning the SFC-National Blue conference this season, and the fight his team showed all season long.
“This sport is special, and this loss hurts a lot. We lost to a very good team who I think is going to go very far here. We had some seniors, who should be very happy about what they accomplished here, we won our first conference title in a few years and had a winning season. It wasn’t how we wanted to end it, but we lost to a very good team.”
Second-seeded New Providence has its eyes set on third-seeded Hasbrouck Heights next week in the semifinal round, and New Providence is taking its momentum and effort back to the practice field this week in preparation.
