Nick Paterno of Bernards High School intercepts a North Plainfield pass in Friday night’s game at Olcott Field.
Bernards High School players Aiden Brown, left, and Brady Walsh celebrate Walsh’s touchdown catch in the fourth quarter Friday night in Bernardsville. Bernards defeated North Plainfield, 52-14.
Tommy Hanratty of Bernards High School gets set to haul in a pass in Friday night’s 52-14 victory over North Plainfield at Olcott Field in Bernardsville.
Standout lineman John Perling of Bernards High School rushes the passer in Friday night’s victory over North Plainfield.
BERNARDSVILLE – On the surface, Bernards High School’s football team looked like a polished machine in its home opener Friday night with the Mountaineers displaying efficiency in all phases of the game.
Witness: four interceptions, 453 yards of total offense, a 31-yard field goal, three passing touchdowns and a ground game which saw senior Michael Leanza rush for 209 yards on 21 carries.
It all added up to a 52-14 laugher over North Plainfield (1-3) before a large home crowd at Olcott Field. Bernards won its third straight game after a season-opening loss to Penns Grove.
But head coach Jon Simoneau, in his 13th season at the helm at Bernards, saw room for improvement. He said the team needs to clean up some mental mistakes before it goes to Delaware Valley Friday night for a key division clash.
“We scored 52 points, and didn’t have a good night, which I guess means we are a good team,” Simoneau said.
Bernards had a couple of key penalties which would have made the score more lopsided than it was. A beautifully thrown pass from Connor Laverty connected with Brady Walsh for a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter but a penalty for having an illegal receiver down field negated the score. The two hooked up a few plays later for a TD that counted.
“It was nice to run our record versus Somerset County opponents to 20-1 over the last decade,” Simoneau said.
“It’s division championship week, and we are on the road against Delaware Valley, a very good team and a notoriously tough place to play,” he added. “Everyone is going to have to buckle down to get us going in the right direction.”
Delaware Valley is averaging 40.3 points per game. The team is giving up just 11.8 points per game.
On Friday night, the Mountaineers were nursing a 7-6 lead early in the first quarter and North Plainfield had the ball. But a key interception thwarted the Canucks and before anyone could blink, Bernards went on a tear scoring 21 straight points to take a 28-6 lead after just one quarter.
At the end of the day, quarterback Chris Dietrich had a touchdown pass, Laverty threw for two more with Walsh, Tommy Hanratty and Aidan Brown making the TD receptions and the Bernards defense picked off four North Plainfield passes.
Simon Bramwit drilled a 31-yard field goal for the Mountaineers and launched some deep kickoffs that went into the end zone for touchbacks.
So the Mountaineers face a big test Friday night at Delaware Valley. The teams have had some epic battles both in the regular season and playoffs in the past. The Mountaineers have won the last four games in the series. Two of those meetings came down to one score.
Delaware Valley won its fourth straight Friday night, defeating Governor Livingston of Berkeley Heights, 40-7. That followed victories over Middlesex (48-14), North Plainfield (35-6) and Voorhees (38-20).
Bernards’ defense has allowed an average of 17 points per game while the offense is averaging 32 points per game.
In addition to its win over North Plainfield, Bernards has posted victories over Hillside (14-7) and Governor Livingston (42-7).
Following the Delaware Valley game, Bernards will travel to face Brearley Regional of Kenilworth (3-0) on Friday, Oct. 8.
The Mountaineers will then have two home games back-to-back against Voorhees on Oct. 15 and South River on Oct. 22.
They close out the regular season at Middlesex on Oct. 29.
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