From the hot summer practices to the frigid playoff games, this is the moment the Green Knights have been built for. The Non-Public A state final at MetLife Stadium, under the lights against undefeated Don Bosco Prep.
"I'd say we are built for the moment because we sacrificed early," said captain Nate Bailey.
"I feel like all these types of games are the ones you work towards in the summer. Doing all the right things leads to big moments like this,"
This will mark the second meeting of the season between SJR and Don Bosco Prep. The Ironmen got the first laugh of the season after a 17-14 overtime win in mid October. Similar to how the Green Knights found redemption in their rematch against St. Peter's Prep in the semifinals, SJR has their eyes set on revenge against their biggest Friday night.
In the 25-21 semifinal win over the Marauder, it was the Nate Bailey show at Caven Point. Bailey rushed for 104 yards, four touchdowns and had 71 yards through the air, cementing himself as one of the greatest all around players in SJR history.
"I'm feeling good. Just trying to whatever it takes to win the game." said Bailey
In the first go around against Don Bosco, Bailey was coming off an ankle injury and had 86 total yards, five rushing and 81 receiving.
"I'm feeling great, I'm taking care of my body. By being professional, doing whatever I gotta do to be healthy," said Bailey.
Despite Bailey talents, he could not have gotten the team to this game without his quarterback, Lamar Best. Since getting back to full health in the playoffs, Best has put up 389 passing yards, a touchdown and 53 yards on the ground.
The 17-14 win for Don Bosco in October was the closest game the Ironmen have been in all season and if the Green Knights want to keep things that close again, the defense will have to mirror what they did the first time around.
Back in October, the Don Bosco offense accounted for just 201 total yards and one touchdown. The Green Knight defense forced sophomore QB Carson Schoen into his worst performance all year, completing 46% of his passes, with 64 passing yards and an interception while having -8 rushing yards.
"Carson's a good young player. He'll be a great player in this league," said Coach Hoffmann
"They don't ask him to do too much, it seems like. He does a great job of managing the game and he delivers the ball when he has to. But we are going to play the defense that we played and continue to play with physicality and speed and hopefully rattle them a little bit and we'll see what happens."
On top of the strong passing game, SJR halted the dynamic rushing duo of Ca'si Thomas and Dante DeLuca to just a combined 74 yards on the ground.
"We can replicate that performance by just trusting our coaches, and trusting our play callers. They set us up first, so we just have to go off that," said linebacker Tahj Gray.
A huge key to stopping Don Bosco in October was sophomore Tahj Gray who has proven why he is a top linebacker not just in New Jersey but the country. This season Gray has put up 71 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for a loss and a forced fumble.
"My key to success this year has just been playing my game," said Tahj Gray.
"Also just being aggressive to the guards. I just know they can't mess with me up front so I just use that to the best of my ability,"
Although the Ironmen will have to be cautious with what they do on offense against the Green Knights defense, SJR will also be very respectful of Don Bosco's defense. The strongest points of the Ironmen defense have been the pass rush and defensive backs.
The Ironmen's pass rush has put together a combined 28.5 sacks. The Junior trio of Mikahi Allen, Aidan O'Neil and Aidan Ekins have all put up at least 6 sacks each this season.
The Ironmen secondary is just as strong, headlined by Phoenix Evans and Jack Demenna. who have proven to be top tier talents. Evans, a four-star recruit and the No. 5 DB in the class of 2028 has had 10 passes defended while Demenna has a team leading five interceptions.
"They do a lot of good things," said coach Hoffmann
"I feel like we have a pretty good plan right now. We just have to execute and try to exploit it because their pass rush is really good, it makes a lot of quarterbacks speed up. So we just got to play our game and not let them speed up."
The bright lights of MetLife are a known territory for Don Bosco, who have appeared in the finals three times since 2021. However, all of those appearances have not yielded success on the biggest stage. The Ironmen have lost every time and have been outscored 98-14. SJR, meanwhile, has not seen the bright lights of a state championship game since its 13-0 win over Bergen Catholic in 2018.
Now with everything on the line, the Green Knights are looking for sweet revenge.
"Winning would mean the world to all of us," said senior Brady Shust.
"We certainly haven't forgotten what they did to us in overtime. Every single practice, every single workout, they've been on our mind. So that's the mission."
It all comes down to Friday, November 28th at 7 PM with bragging rights, history, and most importantly a state championship on the line.
