Trojans march to easy victory, raise record 2-1
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
On Friday night, the Bishop Ahr High School football team defined smash-mouth football when it amassed 430 total rushing yards on its way to a 48-7 thrashing of South River. With the win, the Trojans improved to 2-1 on the season.

SCOTT FRIEDMAN St. Joseph's Mike Sheehan gets "ahead" of East Brunswick's Mike Friedman at a game hosted by East Brunswick on Sept. 24. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

"Our offensive line had an outstanding game and really took control of things early," Bishop Ahr head coach Ron Hilliard said. "We have a pretty talented group of guys up front, and they dictated the game from start to finish."

The Trojans scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the game to deflate any hopes South River may have held for victory. Junior running back Stephen Dumchus struck first with a 57-yard scoring run on the team's first play from scrimmage. A couple of carries later, Dumchus ran for his second touchdown and later rumbled for a 67-yard score to put the Trojans on top 21-0. By the time the halftime whistle sounded, Bishop Ahr led 41-7.

Dumchus would finish the game with 153 yards and three touchdowns, and backfield mate Joe McAuley rushed for 132 yards on seven carries with one touchdown. Quarterback Robert Meade added 98 yards on six carries.

Perth Amboy's lone score would come on defense when a Bishop Ahr fumble led to a Matt Yost touchdown. Yost collected the loose ball and rambled 70 yards to put his team on the board.

For the second week in a row, the Trojan defense did not allow a score. The week prior, the Trojans blanked Kennedy in a 26-0 victory.

"Our defense has been fantastic," Hilliard said. "Perth Amboy only managed 11 rushing yards on 29 carries. When your defense can do that, you should be able to win football games. Our defense caused two turnovers, including a Mike Gallant interception. We couldn't ask for a better defensive performance."

The Trojans will look to stretch their current winning streak to three against an unbeaten Carteret team. Carteret heads into this week's match-up 3-0 after a 19- 6 win over Spotswood last weekend.

"Carteret is a perennial playoff team, and we'll have to be ready," Hilliard said. "This was the first week where we didn't hurt ourselves with turnovers and costly penalties. Hopefully we can continue to play smart. We're averaging 32 points per game, and if our defense is playing well, we are tough to beat."

Although Bishop Ahr got it done this week thanks to its potent ground attack, no one should mistake this team for a one-note wonder.

"We have a talented quarterback in Robert Meade and several weapons at our receiver positions," Hilliard said. "We can keep people off-balance, and we'll need to do that to succeed against the better teams in our league."