Myers-Led Linden Keeps Rolling
In 35-0 Win Over Scotch Plains

By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com

LINDEN – Trell Myers couldn’t wait to get back under center again.

A three-year starter at quarterback for the home team Tigers, Myers was not able to take one snap after suffering an ankle injury while playing safety in the beginning of Linden’s first pre-season scrimmage.

Linden survived its first test of the season without the talented southpaw signal-caller running with the ball and flinging passes to open receivers.

Friday at Cooper Field, the Tigers absolutely thrived with him back in the lineup as his offensive performance helped spark Linden to a commanding 35-0 win over Scotch Plains in a battle of 1-0 Mid-State 39 Conference-Watchung Division rivals.

Myers completed eight-of-12 passes for 141 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and one two-point pass. In the first half, he completed six-of-nine throws for 108 yards and his one TD pass.

He directed Linden to touchdowns on its first two possessions and three of four in the first half.

“It felt good,” Myers said. “We’ve got a good team to back me up.”

Myers completed his first three passes of the season, with the first one part of Linden’s opening drive that covered 76 yards in 10 plays and took 3:59, with junior running back Will Ingram capping the march with a 10-yard touchdown run.

Ingram carried 12 times for 131 yards and his one score in the first half.

Rolling against the grain to his right, Myers hit sophomore Ruhann Peele at the right side of the field for a 15-yard gain and a first down at the Linden 49.

On Linden’s second possession, which was an 11-play, 52-yard march that took 5:55, Myers completed passes of 11 and seven yards to Peele.

All in the first half, Peele, a speedy sophomore, caught four balls for 50 yards and one score.

Myers felt good initially when it came to both running with the ball and passing it.

“I was feeling good, although the ankle was still a little sore,” Myers said.

Myers completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Peele on fourth-and-10 with just 28 seconds left in the first half. He rolled right and found Peele open in the corner of the end zone, with Scotch Plains senior safety Gary Binkiewicz getting there too late.

The 82-yard drive took nine plays and 3:36 off the clock.

“I got comfortable right away and the more I played the more comfortable I got,” Myers said.

“Trell had a great week of practice,” said second-year Linden head coach Deon Candia. “We started off that we were going to let him get in, but he had such a great week and he was on fire in practice, so we had to give him the ball right away.”

Junior Jaurice Jones did a good job of filling in at QB for Myers last week. He excelled on defense against Scotch Plains Friday, while Myers got back to running Linden’s Multiple-I offense.

“We usually like to go on defense first, but we wanted to get Trell involved right away,” Candia said of Linden getting the ball first. “He really stepped up.

“He’s competitive and just being hurt killed him. He did what he needed to do to get back on the field and we just let him go.”

Senior fullback Kranston Green capped Linden’s final scoring drive by running into the end zone on a one-yard jaunt. The surge took seven plays, covered 61 yards and used up 3:25.

Linden’s final touchdown was a 48-yard punt return by Peele on the final play of the third quarter. He caught the punt, made a move to his left, sprinted down the sideline and then dove in the end zone ahead of a Scotch Plains tackler.

Peele returned a kickoff 80 yards to help Linden beat Rahway 21-12 in last weekend’s season-opener.

“We’re young and we’re a good team,” Peele said.

“He’s a good athlete and he’s still young.” Candia said. “He still has a lot of learning to do and he’s going to get better. He’s a bright spot for us.”

Peele and Myers are two offensive weapons, but there are many more to contain, including Green and junior running back Kevin Rodriguez and sophomore wide receiver Anthony Alix, who caught a 49-yard pass from Myers in the first half.

Defensively, Linden had everyone swarming to the ball. In between an incomplete pass during Scotch Plains’ second possession of the game, the Tigers had two hits that could be heard from two blocks away.

On first-and-10 from the 50-yard line, Linden 6-5, 225-pound junior lineman Justin Phillipe met Scotch Plains junior running back Quintin Blackwell and smacked him and brought him down for a three-yard loss.

Two plays later, Binkiewicz completed a pass to senior wide receiver Mike Marsan, only for him to turn around and get immediately pounded by Linden senior defensive back Jaylen Johnson, which was a completion that went for a five-yard loss.

The hits by Phillipe and Johnson were textbook tackling and are the kind of defensive plays Linden can build on.

Scotch Plains only had the ball for one series in the first quarter and gained just one yard on the ground on it.

Right from the first whistle, Linden made it a long day for Scotch Plains.

“We’re playing better in the second half so far and that is important,” said Candia. “I’m proud of the way we’re playing in the second half. Last week we came from behind.

“This week I talked to them about maintaining a lead and staying in control and finishing it.”

Linden outscored Rahway 21-6 in the second half last week and Scotch Plains 14-0 in the final two quarters Friday.

The Tigers have a number of players on both sides of the ball – and Peele on returns – who can wreak havoc.

“That’s a good problem to have,” Candia said. “We still have some kids that we have to find a way to get them the ball.

“But the good thing about these kids is they want to win, so we don’t have kids that are selfish and don’t have kids that think they should get a certain amount of carries. It’s just that we want to win.

“Whatever’s going to help the team, these kids are willing to sacrifice and that’s an advantage that we have.”

Linden is now 2-0 and will play at 0-2 Elizabeth next Friday night, seeking to beat the Minutemen for the first time since 2000.

Elizabeth opened on the road with a 21-7 loss at Westfield last Saturday and a 14-12 setback at Hillsborough Thursday night.

This might be one of the best Linden teams in some time. The Tigers, who also won at Scotch Plains 27-8 last year, defeated the Raiders in consecutive seasons for the first time since a 33-0 home win in 1995 and a 17-14 overtime win at home in 1996.

Scotch Plains beat Linden in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Scotch Plains went 7-3 vs. Linden this decade, with Linden’s other win a 19-14 decision at Linden in 2005.

The Raiders were held to 27 yards of offense in the first half – 25 rushing and only two passing.

Coming up with touchdown-saving tackles of Ingram during the Tigers’ first two possessions was Scotch Plains junior safety J.C. Davidson.

Although Linden ended up scoring on both drives, Davidson was quick enough to trip up Ingram after a 50-yard run and then tackled him again after a 16-yard gain on the first play of Linden’s second possession.

Scotch Plains inside linebacker Kyle Berwick also had two fine tackles in the first half.

The closest the Raiders came to scoring was in the second quarter when a nine-play drive that started at the Scotch Plains 30 ended at the Linden 20 on an incomplete pass.

Binkiewicz did not have the room to run the way he did against Cranford and was only able to complete three-of-13 passes for two yards.

Scotch Plains, now 1-1, will next prepare to play Warren Hills Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. in its home-opener. Warren Hills, coached by Larry Dubiel and situated in North 2, Group 3 like Scotch Plains is, also has a record of 1-1.

The Blue Streaks, one of six teams in the Raritan Division of the newly-formed Mid-State 39 Conference, opened with two home games, losing to Phillipsburg 34-12 Sept. 11 and beating Delaware Valley 14-3 Thursday night.

IS THIS THE YEAR LINDEN BEATS ELIZABETH?

Linden is 2-0 for the first time since 2006, with the Tigers going after their first winning season since that campaign and also hoping to at least get one playoff win like that club did.

Elizabeth is 0-2 for the first time since opening the 2005 season with consecutive losses at Shabazz 27-23 and at Irvington 16-12.

The Minutemen, during head coach Jeff Wiener’s fourth and final season at the helm, did well to rebound and make the state playoffs in North 2, Group 4 that year and also finished with a winning record of 6-4 after ending the season with a 27-0 home win over Scotch Plains on Thanksgiving.

Elizabeth lost by four points and four points on the road four years ago to start the season and this year lost by eight points and two points on the road to start 2009.

Linden knows that Elizabeth will be super hungry to win its home-opener and prevent the team’s first 0-3 start in some time. The Minutemen have posted 28 consecutive winning seasons (1981-2008) and last finished under .500 in 1980 by going 4-5.

“When it’s Linden and Elizabeth, you have to throw the records out the window,” Candia said. “No matter what their record is, they’re still going to play us tough.

“It’s a big rivalry and a lot of the kids know each other. We’re going to prepare for this game and get ourselves ready to be in a good position to win.”

So, Linden defeated Rahway last week for the first time since 1997, although the teams had not played since 1998.

Then the Tigers went out and beat Scotch Plains in consecutive years for the first time since 1995 and 1996.

Now Linden will be out to beat Elizabeth for the first time since downing the Minutemen 27-6 in October of 2000 at Linden’s Cooper Field.

Ironically, that was the only loss suffered by Elizabeth in 2000, as the Minutemen went 11-1 for the second straight season and repeated as North 2, Group 4 champions. Linden reached the semifinals that season, falling at home in overtime to Montclair, which was the team Elizabeth beat in the final for the second straight season.

Elizabeth ’s only loss of the 1999 season was a 14-8 decision at home to Union. The Farmers also lost to Montclair in the N2, G4 semis that season, falling 13-7 to the Mounties at Rutgers.

LINDEN VS. ELIZABETH THIS DECADE:

2008: Elizabeth 26, Linden 0 – at Linden

2007: Elizabeth 42, Linden 14 – at Elizabeth

2006: Elizabeth 21, Linden 0 – at Elizabeth – N2, G4 semis

2006: Elizabeth 39, Linden 0 – at Linden

2005: Elizabeth 27, Linden 7 – at Elizabeth

2004: Elizabeth 23, Linden 0 – at Linden

2003: Elizabeth 40, Linden 15 – at Elizabeth

2002: Elizabeth 34, Linden 0 – at Elizabeth – N2, G4 quarters

2002: Elizabeth 13, Linden 0 – at Linden

2001: Elizabeth 28, Linden 18 - at Elizabeth

2000: Linden 27, Elizabeth 6 – at Linden

Not only does Elizabeth have an eight-game regular season winning streak against Linden and a 10-game overall winning streak against the Tigers including playoff wins in 2006 and 2002, but almost all of Elizabeth’s wins over Linden have been blowout victories. Nobody, not even the most die-hard Linden fans that hate Elizabeth, can dispute that.

Six of Elizabeth’s wins in the streak came by shutout, including both playoff victories. Linden has only scored 54 points in the 10 games for less than a touchdown per contest.

That’s dominance.

MID-STATE 39 CONFERENCE-WATCHUNG DIVISION GAME

AT LINDEN’S COOPER FIELD

SCOTCH PLAINS (1-1) 0 0 0 0 - 0

LINDEN (2-0) 7 14 14 0 - 35

FIRST QUARTER:

LINDEN – William Ingram 10 run, Yardley Batelus kick (L 7-0)

10 plays, 76 yards, 3:59 used

SECOND QUARTER:

LINDEN – Trell Myers 4 run, kick fails (L 13-0)

11 plays, 52 yards, 5:55 used

LINDEN – Ruhann Peele 17 pass from Trell Myers, Ruhan Peele pass from Trell Myers (L 21-0)

9 plays, 82 yards, 3:36 used

THIRD QUARTER:

LINDEN – Kranston Green 1 run, Yardley Batelus kick (L 28-0)

7 plays, 61 yards, 3:25 used

LINDEN – Ruhann Peele 48 punt return, Yardley Batelus kick (L 35-0)

SCOTCH PLAINS RAIDERS (1-1)

(A) Scotch Plains 26, Cranford 24

(A) Linden 35, Scotch Plains 0

Sept. 26 Warren Hills, 1 p.m.

Oct. 2 at Immaculata, 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 Phillipsburg, 1 p.m.

Oct. 17 Westfield, 1 p.m.

Oct. 24 Summit, 1 p.m.

Oct. 31 at Rahway, 1 p.m.

Nov. 6 at North Hunterdon, 7 p.m.

Head coach: Steve Ciccotelli

Section: North 2, Group 3

Record: 1-1

Home: 0-0

Away: 1-1

Points for: 26

Points against: 59

Shutouts: 0

Overtime: 0-0

LINDEN TIGERS (2-0)

(H) Linden 21, Rahway 12

(H) Linden 35, Scotch Plains 0

Sept. 25 at Elizabeth, 7 p.m.

Oct. 3 at Plainfield, 1 p.m.

Oct. 16 at North Hunterdon, 7 p.m.

Oct. 23 Hunterdon Central, 7 p.m.

Oct. 30 Westfield, 7 p.m.

Nov. 6 at Immaculata, 7 p.m.

Nov. 25 Union, 7 p.m.

Head coach: Deon Candia

Section: North 2, Group 4

Record: 2-0

Home: 2-0

Away: 0-0

Points for: 56

Points against: 12

Shutouts: 1

Overtime: 0-0