Peppers, Paladins Bowled Over by Don Bosco

Walking into Granatell Stadium in Ramsey on Friday night, the Paramus Catholic Paladins held their heads high with an undefeated record led by former Don Bosco  star Jabrill Peppers and teammate Keyon Washington. But the team would leave Ramsey, still with their heads high, in their first loss of the season, 31-8, after being plagued by turnovers and poor possessions.

“This was huge for a lot of reasons,” said Don Bosco coach Greg Toal to MSGvarsity. “Some I don’t have to talk about. I’ll leave it to your imagination.”

The Ironmen's defense nailed Peppers' fast footwork to the turf field, limiting the allstar cornerback to  17 yards on seven carries and one reception for six yards.

From the beginning, Don Bosco dominated their home turf as Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries, beginning with a 1-yard touchdown late in the first quarter after breaking a tackle.

"We know (the distractions) are going to be there, but we just stayed focused," Ibitokun-Hanks said to nj.com. "The coaches were definitely on us about staying focused. We stayed focused for them."

Ibitokun-Hanks tacked on two more touchdowns, a 29-yard run and 18-yard run, to give Bosco a 24-0 by the third quarter. Two of his touchdowns came after forced turnovers, which was a consistent theme to ruin the Paladins high hopes.

“They played a tremendous game,” said Peppers to northjersey.com. “You can’t turn the ball over against Bosco, that’s just how they are coached, they make you pay for turnovers. Coach [Greg] Toal has a program over here. He has his kids mentally tough and they showed that tonight.”

Cameron Baels hit a 36-yard field goal prior to halftime for the Ironmen while Dalton Friend scampered in a 7-yard run to cap off the win.

Paramus Catholic was able to avoid a complete and total blowout when Steve Shanley connected a 30-yard pass to Dejon Harrison and a two-point coversion to Peppers.

Next week the 4-1 Paladins will have another big test ahead of them as they host the St. Joseph Knights of Montvale (3-1), Saturday, 1pm.