Bishop Ahr football gets back to its winning ways
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
After two consecutive losses, the Bishop Ahr High School football team rebounded with an impressive 33-6 road win over John F. Kennedy Memorial High School over the weekend. The victory improved the Trojans' mark to 4-2.

"We got down on ourselves after the first loss, and it took us a while to start believing in ourselves again," Bishop Ahr head coach Ron Hilliard said. "This week's win got us back to where we belong."

After rolling off three straight wins to open the season, the Trojans dropped two in a row to the likes of South River and Monroe.

"The key this week was that we didn't make any mistakes and played error-free football," Hilliard said. "Miscues really plagued us in our two losses."

The Trojans took little time establishing the upper hand against JFK, as running back Moses Negron proved he was going to be a handful for JFK all game. Negron put together a string of big runs on Bishop Air's opening drive and scored the team's first touchdown. He would finish the game with three touchdowns and 120 yards rushing.

"Moses gave us another strong outing," Hilliard said. "He was effective running the ball, and that opened up things for quarterback Larry Belotta and our passing game."

Belotta was as efficient as they come, chipping in with an 11-of-12 passing performance and just under 180 yards. He threw for three touchdowns.

"Larry did have some good protection and he got a number of receivers involved," Hilliard said. "He connected with at least five different guys throughout the course of the game."

One of Belotta's favorite targets was receiver Jordan Smith. Smith pulled in three catches for 70 yards, with two of his catches setting up a pair of Negron scoring runs.

With the Trojans scoring early and often, the game was never in the balance as the Trojan defense put the clamps on anything the JFK offense could throw at them. Led by Chris Luma, the Trojan defensive line harassed the Kennedy backfield for four quarters. As a result, the Trojans tallied more than 260 yards of total offense to Kennedy's 110.

"Chris had an outstanding game for us defensively," Hilliard said. "He and the rest of the guys on the line really put the pressure on Kennedy's quarterback. To me, the play of our line both offensively and defensively made a big difference."

Kennedy's lone score came on the final play of the game when backup quarterback Alex Weinstein connected with running back Mark Weber on a five-yard toss. The Mustangs fell to 1-6 on the season.

Bishop Ahr will look for its fifth win of the season when it plays host to visiting St. Mary's of Rutherford at 7 p.m. Oct. 26.

"St. Mary's is a two-time state champion, so I expect this week's game to be another tough one," Hilliard said. "Again, we'll need to limit our mistakes and keep playing the type of football we are capable of playing."