Piscataway NJ- The Piscataway Chiefs Football team beat the Plainfield Cardinals 29-14 in the Quarter Finals on Saturday, November 1st.
The Chiefs started on the defensive side of the ball as Plainfield took the entire first quarter on their first offensive possession. Here is what Piscataway Head Coach, Dan Higgins, had to say about what he told his defense after Plainfield held on to the ball for the full 12 minutes.
“Bend don’t break,” Higgins said, “We were practicing against the pass pretty much all week because that’s what we saw on tape. They ended up coming out and just trying to run the ball and we were kind of surprised. It did take a while for us to adjust to that.”
Piscataway had a lot of success on the ground scoring 2 rushing touchdowns, both by running back Mickye Simmons. Here is what Higgins had to say about the running game:
“We wanted to keep their offense off the field, you know. They’re dynamic, they have a lot of playmakers, so you know,” Higgins said. “In November football or in the playoffs you have got to be able to run the ball in Jersey and if you can’t, you’re gonna be in trouble.”
In general, Higgins is also very confident in their running game. Here is what he had to say about both running backs:
“[Mickye] and Zaire complimentary backs, like thunder and lightning. Zaire is the power back and Mickye has speed that he can break loose. [Mickye] had a great day and hopefully some more days to come,” Higgins said.
Piscataway Quarterback Landon Pernell is also very confident about Piscataway’s backfield. Here is what he had to say about Piscataway’s running backs:
“We have two of the best running backs in the state. Every time we give them the ball we have trust that they’re gonna make a big play or get the first down” Pernell said.
Piscataway comes away with a statement win having a dominant victory against Plainfield. The team has high morale going into next week. Here is how Higgins felt about the victory:
“I’m happy we got the win. I felt like we did a good job in the line play. They got some play on us towards the end of the game but overall, I thought it was a solid win,” Higgins said.
Pernell was also very happy about the win. Here is what he had to say:
“I feel great about our team’s performance,” Pernell said. “I don’t think [Plainfield] should have [put up] 14 on the board, but you know, we ended the score with 29. We got the win.”
The 2nd seeded Piscataway (8-2) plays the 6th seeded Bayonne (7-3) next week at home on Saturday, November 8th, at 1:00 p.m. Bayonne recently beat the 3rd seeded Elizabeth 44-14 on Halloween. Here is how Higgins feels about the matchup:
“If they’re in the second round of the playoffs, and they beat Elizabeth last night, that means they’re pretty good. So, I know that we’re gonna have to bring our best efforts to win. You don’t just get wins when it’s playoff time so we’re gonna have to continue to play our game and get better,” said Higgins.
Pernell is also very confident about their matchup against Bayonne. Here is what he had to say:
“Last year, we beat them 42-13 so we’re gonna see them again. We’re gonna have the same mentality from last year and try to do what we did last year,” said Pernell.
