High School Football:
Cherokee Scores Last On Big Play

Saturday, November 14, 1998

By Vincent Lewis Jr.
SJSports Staff Writer

In a game where Cherokee was not at its top performance, Mike Scanzano literally won the game for the Chiefs. Brick Township had nothing to lose. Considered serious underdogs, Township scored early and often in this game. Brick scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to go ahead of the Chiefs by one. But in the end Scanzano scored his third touchdown of the day to win the game 30-25 in a Group 4 playoff game.

Saturday was the first round of the football playoffs. Brick Township traveled to Cherokee High School with the confidence of their running game. Rick Hahn capped off the Dragon's scoring drive with a 23-yard touchdown run and took an early 7-0 lead. They continued their success on the ground with their second touchdown of the quarter, a 30 yard run to give Brick a 14-3 lead. It just seemed as if Cherokee was caught off guard by Brick's ability to run the ball on them. The Chiefs' Scheinberg scored the last touchdown of the first quarter to pull his team closer and give them the spark they needed.

Quarterback Chris Spina and Scanzano (along with the coaching staff) must have seen something that they could exploit during the first quarter. The two connected twice for touchdown passes to put the Chiefs up 24-13. Cherokee would take that lead to the locker room at the half.

In the second half, Hahn went back to work again and rushed for two short touchdowns to put Brick back up in the game. Now, behind one point in the fourth quarter and the playoff season on the line, the Chiefs got a big time play to ignite the crowd. Scanzano received a kickoff and returned the ball for a dramatic 96-yard touchdown to put the Chiefs up for good. The Chiefs next opponent will be Shawnee in the semifinals.

Photos by Forrest Robleto