‘These guys paved the way’: Old Bridge football season ends with return to sectional final

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WASHINGTON TWP. –  As the Washington Township football players celebrated following their 38-7 win in the NJSIAA Central Group 5 final, the Old Bridge side met in an unhappy huddle in the far end zone on Friday, Nov. 14.

Knights head coach Matt Donaghue beckoned the 20 or so seniors to stand up at the front of the semicircle.

“You know what these guys did for the program,” he said, scanning the whole team and coaches. “These guys paved the way.”

He had everyone give a round of applause.

It was a fitting salute as the Knights reached a football sectional final for just the third time in program history to go along with their 2001 and 2015 appearances.

As the big underdogs against a juggernaut, Old Bridge likely needed some breaks, fortunate bounces and some intangible karma to go its way.

The third-seeded Knights (10-2) showed life at times – and made it interesting – but Washington Township (12-0) proved too much to repeat as sectional champions.

Top-seeded Washington Township (12-0) will play in next week’s Group 5 semifinals against Kingsway, which beat Atlantic City 38-21 in the South Group final.

Old Bridge trailed 17-7 with under two minutes left in the third quarter and seemed to have some momentum but a Washington Township blitz broke it open. The Minutemen scored three touchdowns in the final 1:49 of the third to open a 38-7 advantage.

It went: Andrew Osbron 5-yard touchdown run. Isaac Parra 40-yard interception return for a score. A Parker Reese interception off a tip from his own teammate followed by Colin Beeler spurting up the middle for a 42-yard run into the end zone on the final play of the quarter.

Just like that, any rally dreams died for the Old Bridge fans.

Osborn added touchdown runs of 5 and 29 yards for the powerhouse Gloucester County school. Washington Township has a program record of 469 points this season and won every game by double digits save for a 39-36 win over Kingsway.

Old Bridge, too, had a memorial campaign. The Knights advanced with two thrillers, a 38-31 win over sixth-seeded Freehold Township in the quarterfinals and a 28-27 semifinal win over second-seeded Sayreville.

Down 17-0 at halftime, Old Bridge scored on a 23-yard pass from Brody Nugent to Michael Chiarella, who made a nice catch in the end zone. Michael Firetto’s extra point cut it to 17-7 with 4:10 left in the third quarter

The Knights just couldn’t break through despite quality play. Old Bridge got two turnovers, Zach Florio came up with a sack to force a Kingsway punt and the offense twice drove to Washington’s 12-yard line but was stopped on downs.

 In the end, it was Washington Township that celebrated with a trophy presentation with its fans.

As Donaghue ended his brief post-game remarks, he proclaimed, “Hold your heads up. Family.”