MONANGAI, BERGER COMBINE FOR 483 YARDS, 8 TD'S AS BOSCO STUNS NO. 1 DEPAUL

Don Bosco Prep, No. 11 in the NJ.com Top 20, used a motivated offensive line and stellar performances from its running backs to the tune of 544 yards rushing in a 59-28 shocker over No. 1 DePaul in Wayne. Coming into Friday night’s game, all the talk was about how the Spartans (6-2) were going to handle playing without their star receiver Ronnie Hickman, an Ohio State commit who suffered an undisclosed leg injury in last week’s win over Hudson Catholic. By the end of the night, the talk was all about Don Bosco's junior running backs Kyle Monangai and Jalen Berger. Manongai finished with 287 yards and five touchdowns on 19 carries. Berger finished with 196 and two scores on 21 carries as the two combined on 40 carries for 483 yards and eight touchdowns. The Ironmen finished with 615 total yards. “We’ve been in tough situations all year,” Don Bosco coach Mike Teel said. “You’ve gotta come prepared every week and Kyle, along with Jalen, gives us a dimension of a 1-2 punch in the backfield.” The Ironmen (4-4), who were coming off of back-to-back losses, opened the scoring on their first drive of the game on a 21-yard run by Berger and a quick 7-0 lead. On their next possession, Manongai took a pitch right and sprinted 71 yards for his first score of the night as the Ironmen led 14-0 after one quarter. Early in the second quarter, Don Bosco appeared set to get the ball back when Christian Dremel fumbled the ball and the Spartans recovered at the Don Bosco 30. On the next play, quarterback TaQuan Roberson found James Westry for a 30 yard touchdown and cut the deficit to 14-7. After a Guy Fava field goal put the Ironmen up 17-7, Roberson hit tight end Nuccio Listiano on a slant for a 17-yard score and DePaul trailed 17-14 at halftime. DePaul took the lead on their first possession of the third quarter on a 35-yard run by Sean Kelly. Down 21-17, and with all the momentum on DePaul’s side, it appeared that Don Bosco was on the verge of another tough loss. That 1-2 started swinging in the third quarter as Manongai scored from eight yards out, capping a 70-yard drive, out to put Don Bosco back up 24-21 with 4:40 to play in the quarter. After Roberson fumbled on the ensuing drive, Manongai struck again. He took a handoff right over the middle and scored untouched from 30 yards out to put the Ironmen up 31-21 after 3 quarters. The Spartans struck back early in the fourth when Roberson hit a wide open Westry for a 40-yard score to cut the deficit to 31-28. Then the floodgates opened up. Three plays later, Manongai broke two tackles and sprinted 74 yards for his fourth touchdown – and second 70-plus yard score – of the night to push the lead to 38-32. After forcing a 3-and-out, Manongai scored his fifth TD from 24 yards out and the rout was on. “The thing that all the colleges have been asking about is ‘can he run away from guys?’,” Teel said. “Put the film on. If he doesn’t get offered a scholarship ship, it would be a sin.” Berger added a pair of late TD runs, including a 54-yard run, to close out the scoring in victory that was as improbable as it was dominating. Don Bosco closed on a 28-0 run, and racked up 615 total yards - 544 yards on the ground. “This is a great example of what we can do every time,” Manongai said after the game. “Last couple of games, we had a couple of close losses, but tonight shows we can play with anyone in this league.” Teel praised his offensive line, as well as his entire team’s effort following the win. “In my two years I’ve been the head coach and the four year I’ve been at Don Bosco, this was our most competitive week,” Teel said. “Competition breeds the best out of players. When I was with the Seahawks and Pete Carroll, he always talked about competition. “They competed every single day,” he added. “And it showed.” Roberson struggled to get in a rhythm without Hickman but ended up finishing 15 for 39 for 268 yards and three touchdowns. Westry had four catches for 84 yards and the two touchdowns. Don Bosco heads to Paramus Catholic next week while DePaul hosts No. 3 Bergen Catholic.

MONANGAI, BERGER COMBINE FOR 483 YARDS, 8 TD'S AS BOSCO STUNS NO. 1 DEPAUL

Photo Credit: Andrew Mills