SP-F Beats Cranford in Season Opener

When the lights went out with 5:44 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the announcer kept saying to everyone in attendance, “remain calm, remain calm.”

That’s exactly what Scotch Plains-Fanwood High senior Gary Binkiewicz did when it came time to make the biggest play of the game in Saturday night’s season-opening gridiron clash at Cranford.

When it appeared that Cranford junior running back Sean Trotter was about to score the go-ahead touchdown after running with a catch he made at midfield, Binkiewicz not only caught up to him, but managed to strip the ball away from Trotter before he brought him down.

Quinton Blackwell was there to recover the fumble for Scotch Plains at the Cranford 10-yard line, with just 1:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.

With Cranford out of timeouts, all Scotch Plains had to do was take a couple of knees and that was it.

Scotch Plains held on for a thrilling 26-24 triumph at Memorial Field on a night that featured a misty-to-heavy rain for the most part, until the lights came back on at 10 p.m. and then it finally stopped raining.

Like Scotch Plains last year, Cranford lost its first game on its new FieldTurf surface.

It turned out that the best offensive player of the game for Scotch Plains—Binkiewicz—just happened to make the best defensive play of the game.

Here’s what Binkiewicz said after the game about the big play: “I saw him catch it, I saw the ball in the air and then I saw he was my guy and I cursed,” Binkiewicz said. “Then I turned on the jets.”

Binkiewiecz ran for scores of one and 48 yards in the first half and then threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Mike Marsan in the third quarter that gave the Raiders the lead for good at 20-18.

“I had so much adrenalin and was never thinking about stopping,” Binkiewicz continued about the huge defensive stop that saved the game. “First I wanted to make sure that he knew I had him, and then I went for the strip. I got a good piece of it.”

A 24-yard touchdown run by Blackwell with 8:09 left in the fourth quarter made it 26-18 Scotch Plains.

Cranford pulled to within 26-24 when junior quarterback Joe Papandrea scored on a 16-yard run with 3:51 left. That concluded the same drive that started when the lights went out.

Scotch Plains fans vehemently protested that the weather had nothing to do with the lights going out.

It was proven by Cranford officials that lightning caused a transformer to go out and—yes—it was the bad weather that caused the delay in the game.

Put it this way, if it was a beautiful weather night, the lights don’t go out.

Cranford had the ball for one last time on its own 14 with just 1:53 left in the fourth quarter. The Cougars had no timeouts left.

Cranford senior quarterback Chris Keim completed a 16-yard pass to senior end Will Green to get the ball to the Cranford 30.

Then Kleim, showing great poise, hit Trotter over the middle, with the fastest Cranford player sprinting past everyone and running through a huge hole in the middle of the field.

That was until Binkiewicz caught up with him and made the play of the game to win it for Scotch Plains.

“I felt really good moving around,” said Binkiewicz, who got out of the pocket on offense and made things happen and then was knocked out of the game briefly in the second half before he went back in.

Binkiewicz rushed for 43 yards on seven carries in the first half and completed three of seven passes for 45 yards.

Cranford went right down the field and scored on its first drive and then Scotch Plains came back and did the same thing, which was huge.

“We had a lot of confidence,” Binkiewicz said. “In the pre-season we went up against some tough competition, playing teams like Union, Elizabeth, East Orange and Bishop Ahr. We just came out today and played a good game.”

Scotch Plains head coach Steve Ciccotelli has had many elite athletes play for him over the years, going back to his first season at the helm of the Raiders in 1991. Binkiewicz ranks right up there with the best.

“I thought they had us beat and Gary just never gave up on the play,” Ciccotelli said about the biggest play of the game. “It just proves that if you keep playing and play hard, good things could happen. We strip the ball and recover it. The other guy (Blackwell) was there to recover it too.”

Binkiewicz willed Scotch Plains back in the game by leading his team’s varied offense and made changes himself at the line of scrimmage after he saw what defenses Cranford designed in front of him.

“He’s a winner and he has the ability to do something that will make a difference,” Ciccotelli said.

With the brutal schedule that Scotch Plains has this year as a member of the Watchung Division of the newly-formed Mid-State 39 Conference, this was a much-needed win to start the season.

The Raiders are now preparing for another tough game at Linden Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Cooper Field. Linden opened with a 21-12 home win over Rahway Friday night.

“None of these matchups are easy,” Ciccotelli said. “We’ll savor this victory a bit and then get ready for Linden.”   

NOTES: The game was almost tied at 26-26 when Trotter caught a two-point pass attempt after Cranford’s final touchdown. However, he caught it before the goal line and was downed. The ball was in front of the goal line with the official ruling that it was a catch, but one that was short of the goal line, thus Cranford did not receive the tying two points.

Papandrea rushed nine times for 63 yards in the first half and completed two-of-four passes for 31. Green caught both passes for the Cougars.

Moussa Channaoui, Sean Coloney and Marsan caught passes for Scotch Plains in the first half.

 Cranford will next play Hillside at home Thursday night at 7 p.m. Hillside opened with a 42-0 loss at Summit Saturday.

SCOTCH PLAINS (1-0)                             6        8       6      6 - 26 

CRANFORD (0-1)                                      7       11      0      6 - 24         

FIRST QUARTER:

CRANFORD – Joe Papandrea 3 run, Robert Gaeta kick (C 7-0)

10 plays, 62 yards, 4:32 used

SCOTCH PLAINS – Gary Binkiewicz 1 run, kick failed (C 7-6)

12 plays, 68 yards, 6;10 used

SECOND QUARTER:

SCOTCH PLAINS – Gary Binkiewicz 48 run, Gary Binkiewicz run (SP 14-7)

2 plays, 48 yards, :34 used

CRANFORD – Joe Papandrea 2 run, Will Green pass from Robert Gaeta (C 15-14)

7 plays, 49 yards, 3:12 used 

THIRD QUARTER:

CRANFORD – FG Robert Gaeta 29 (C 18-14) 4 plays, from the Scotch Plains 19 to the Scotch Plains 13, :21.6 used

SCOTCH PLAINS – Mike Marsan 14 pass from Gary Binkiewicz, kick failed (SP 20-18) 

FOUTH QUARTER:

SCOTCH PLAINS – Quintin Blackwell 29 run, pass failed (SP 26-18)

CRANFORD – Joe Papandrea 16 run, pass failed (SP 26-24)