Randolph Football showed grit in its second game of the year. Despite a strong second half, however, the Rams couldn’t close the gap and fell to Morristown 24-14 on Friday, Sept. 5, at Morristown High School.
To start the game, Morristown jumped out early, scoring twice in the first half, while the Rams offense struggled to find its footing. Randolph’s defense, however, continued to fight, with senior co-captains Joey Bosotina and Ben Quinn keeping the unit together.
With seven players currently sidelined from injuries, many of them seniors, the team has pulled up underclassman to fill key roles on the field. “Even with the injuries, I still wanted to go out there and give 100% and leave no regrets out on the field,” Quinn said after the game.
The tide started to turn after halftime. Senior quarterback and co-captain Jackson Magley sparked the comeback with his legs, finding the end zone twice in the second half. Running back Logan Hankin helped carry the load on the ground, and junior Matt Skrapits made some clutch grabs to keep drives alive.
Randolph’s first touchdown came midway through the third quarter on a long, grinding 12-play drive. Magley and Hankin kept pounding the ball forward before Magley hit Skrapits on third-and-long for a big gain. Just a few plays later, Magley tucked the ball and scrambled in from eight yards out, cutting into the Colonials’ lead.
The Rams used this momentum and came up with a huge stop when senior John Andrade forced a fumble in the backfield and fellow senior Max Eisenberg jumped on it. The turnover gave Randolph great field position and fired up the sideline, even though the drive didn’t end in points. Andrade finished with 10 tackles on the night, while Skrapits added seven tackles and two pass breakups of his own.
Randolph kept pushing until the final whistle. In the fourth quarter, Magley led one last march down the field, leaning on Hankin’s tough runs and Skrapits’ receiving yards before punching in his second rushing touchdown from ten yards out. That brought the score to 24-14, but the Rams ran out of time before they could pull even.
“Even though we lost, this game was a stepping stone for our future,” Bosotina said. “With fewer cramps and mistakes, our execution has been even better and will continue to improve.”
Now 0–2, Randolph will be back at Bauer Stadium on Friday, Sept. 12, looking to grab its first win of the season against Mount Olive at 6:30 p.m.
