BUTLER- One mark of a championship-caliber team is being able to win when not playing your best.
On a brisk Friday evening at Butler High School’s Memorial Field, the Cedar Grove Panthers proved their championship mettle.
Having to rally from three 7-point deficits, the Panthers found themselves with the ball at their 37 with 27 seconds left and the score tied 21-21. Senior QB Pierce Asfalg was able to move the Panthers to the Butler 31 with 2 seconds left. Sebastian Kovacs came in and calmly booted a 48-yard field goal on the game’s final play to lift Cedar Grove over the host Bulldogs 24-21, in a rematch of last year’s North Group 1 regional final.
The Panthers will again face Glassboro in a rematch of last year’s Group 1 state final, won by the Bulldogs 56-14. Glassboro punched its ticket to the final with a 44-8 thumping of Burlington City.
The Group 1 championship game is set for noon, Sunday, Nov. 30, at Rutgers SHI Stadium in Piscataway.
Before beginning preparation for a return matchup with the South Jersey juggernaut, there is time to enjoy the incredible finish to Friday night in Bulldog country as Cedar Grove knocked off an undefeated team for the second week in a row.
“I didn’t think we played great,’ said a grateful Cedar Grove Coach Rob Gogerty. “I thought we made a lot of mistakes, but our guys hung in there” said a grateful.
“As a program this is what it’s all about. A lot of people said last year we lost these guys but we have a room back there with 50 guys who go back to work and we got better all year long.
“We went through some adversity. Our schedule was tough, but we got better and better as the year went on, and we just beat two undefeated teams. We’re gonna’ go in there, put a game plan together and see what we’ve got next week.”
Somewhat lost in the celebration was the play of the Panther defense, which set up the winning drive with a fourth down stop.
Butler took over at their 11 with 4:53 remaining and was able to drive the ball downfield on the strength of their all-everything QB David Smith (33 carries, 301 yards, 3 TD). Seven runs by Smith and a pair of completions moved the ball inside the CG 30. Panther LB George Dakar then make a pair of big plays, stopping Smith for a 2-yard gain on 3rd-and-7 from the 27 and a 12-yard sack on 4th down to set up the game-winning drive.
Starting from the 37, Asfalg hit Xavier Andujar for 8 yards, and Andujar went out of bounds to stop the clock with 22 seconds remaining. Asfalg then gained 8 on a keeper followed by a timeout with 18 seconds left. A 12-yard completion to Andujar and a 4-yard keeper moved the ball to the 31 with 2 seconds left, setting up the heroics by Kovacs, whose game-winning field goal would have been good from over 50 yards.
“I would say it was one of my best kicks, it was one of my favorite kicks,” said a jubilant Kovacs, whose kicking coaches include Ramapo High School legend Ricky Krautmann. “It felt perfect. I knew it was a perfect kick right when it hit my foot and I saw it in the air.
“They (his coaches) help me with everything. They make sure that we’re always focusing on my technique, never about the power. Always got to be smooth about it.”
