Knights make it 12 in a row over Bears
Come from behind to win the Battle of Route 18

At the half, East Brunswick appeared poised to break the streak.After losing the last 11 years to Old Bridge in the Battle of Route 18, the Bears, on the strength of a safety on the Knights' first possession and a Randall Nixon-to-Eric Eckhardt 10-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, held a 9-0 halftime lead, with a smothering bend-but-don't-break defensive effort seemingly ready bottle up the win.

But once the second half started, Old Bridge rediscovered its normally potent running game, and came back to defeat the Bears, 13-9, and increased its lead in the series to 12-1.

Senior fullback Eddie Ebewo led the resurgence for the Knights, carrying the ball 13 times for 76 yards in the second stanza, including a four-yard touchdown run that capped the Knights' initial 74-yard drive of the second half.

Down 9-6, the Knights then took the lead with 10 minutes left in the game when senior quarterback Ed Bucior plunged into the end zone from one yard out.

East Brunswick took one last shot at taking home the win as Nixon drove the team down the field in the waning minutes, reaching the Old Bridge 16-yard line. Once there, the Bears, who were forced to abandon the running game early in the contest, tried four consecutive pass plays, only to see all four attempts result in incompletions. Once Nixon's final pass off the day sailed just out of the reach of Eckhardt, Old Bridge had reason to celebrate once again.

While unable to secure the win for the Bears, Nixon certainly put on a show, completing 23-of-42 passes on the day for 253 yards.

Old Bridge, meanwhile, was led by 86 yards rushing by both Ebewo and Bucior to finish the year at 5-5, a mark shared by the Bears.

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above left, East Brunswick's Bobby Tocco hauls in a pass during the Bears' loss to Old Bridge on Friday in Old Bridge. Above, Bear QBRandall Nixon just gets a pass off in front of Old Bridge's Dan Soto, while below, Old Bridge's Teddy Greffin and East Brunswick's Tocco battle for the ball in the Bear secondary.