- Paul Bastante
- 17 hours ago
- 5 min read
Written By Paul Bastante, Wayne Confidential
The lights on Alps Road in Wayne, NJ will burn bright this Friday night! The crowd will roar, resembling a tornado. And The DePaul Catholic Spartans will take the field against New Jerseys top-ranked team, The Don Bosco Prep Ironmen in a matchup that feels less like a season tilt and more like "David vs. Goliath", circa 2025!
The Spartans know the script all too well. They’ve read the headlines. They’ve heard the chatter. Don Bosco, fresh off a suffocating 14-9 win over Bergen Catholic, comes to town undefeated and newly anointed as New Jersey’s No. 1 team. DePaul? The smaller school, the smaller roster, the underdog everyone expects to fold waits for them!
But there is a truth to the matter, a truth to the moment: The Spartans have been here before and last season, they landed the stone squarely on Goliath’s head.
It isn’t every week that the top ranked team in New Jersey visits. As a matter of fact, the last time it happened the then #1 Bergen Catholic Crusaders came calling all the way back on October 26, 2018. They whipped the Spartans 42-7 on that Friday night. Suffice it to say it is a rare occurrence indeed to play in a game of THIS magnitude. It only happens once every two or three leap years. That’s it!
This year’s Spartans are led by senior quarterback Derek Zammit, Zammit hasn't been just an arm — he’s also been a threat with his legs, averaging 56 rushing yards per game alongside 8 passing touchdowns this season. When the pocket collapses, he escapes. When the play breaks down, he improvises. There are certain truths around Depaul football, and that Zammit will escape the pocket is definitely one of those universally held.
Behind him, the Spartans lean on Marquan Carter, the bell-cow back averaging 72.5 yards per game, and change-of-pace junior Sean Nevers, a steady No. 2 option. The passing game belongs to Mason James, a vertical threat putting up 103.8 receiving yards per game, torching defenses to the tune of four touchdowns, and Kyron Dubose, a reliable chain-mover who adds another 52 yards per game to go along with his touchdowns.
Defensively, The Spartans bring double barreled veteran LB’s to the dance in Seniors Logan Monteyne (9.8 tpg) and Jaxon Bastante (6 sacks). Logan Monteyne has been a tackling machine, racking up nearly 10 stops per game while Jaxon Bastante is an aggressive linebacker who brings pressure off the edge with 6 sacks already through the first 5 games of the season.
Throw Logan Nagle into the mix on the defensive end it becomes a witch's brew for The Ironmen to contend with. Nagle has wreaked havoc on opposing backfields all season long with 3.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.
This is a unit built on speed, hustle and fight. And it is also a group that likes being doubted — it fuels them.
”I love being an underdog”, Quipped Jaxon Bastante, adding, “it makes us want to beat them even more than we already do.” And that is a lot!
All players that come to play in The Big North Conference, maybe the nation's pre-eminent football conference, do so to play in a game such as this, with huge stakes and implications, and contested on the absolute grandest of stages.
Senior linebacker and team captain Logan Monteyne made no bones about it when asked, "To be one of the best teams, you have to play the best. Everyone must have their individual best each week”.
He went on to seemingly make the point, “This is why we buckle up every Friday against one of the best HS football schedules anywhere. It just adds fuel to the fire".
And when you mix fuel with fire there will be explosions! Like the 25 tackles combined for Monteyne and Bastante in the Paramus Catholic matchup last week.
Across the line of scrimmage stands the machine, however. Don Bosco isn’t just a football program; it’s a factory for championships, college commits, and NFL dreams. Where careers come to take flight.
At quarterback, junior Carson Shoen has steadied the Ironmen offense. The run game leans on Johnny Santana, a downhill runner who thrives behind Bosco’s imposing offensive line.
In the passing game, targets like Isaiah and Jeremiah Alvarez stretch the field, while tight ends and backs keep defenses guessing.
But it’s the defense that’s made headlines. Last week, Bosco’s front, anchored by Robert Ekins and Aidan Oneil, held Bergen Catholic to a season-low nine points. Owen Aversano patrols the linebacking corps, while the secondary — led by Amori McNeil and the towering Mikahi Allen (6’3”, 230 lbs) — makes every pass attempt an adventure. It’s no wonder pundits are calling this the best defense in New Jersey.
That is the line drawn in the sand for the underrated and stingy Spartan defensive unit led by another underrated unit, the interior defensive front which has been mowing over offensive lines all year long.
The Matchups That Matter
Zammit vs. Bosco’s Front Seven: Can the Spartans’ QB find airspace against relentless pressure? If he can extend plays, DePaul’s receivers have the skill to punish single coverage.
Carter vs. Ekins & Oneil: Establishing the run keeps Don Bosco honest. If Carter can churn out yards, DePaul controls tempo.
Monteyne & Bastante vs. Santana: Linebacker play will decide whether Bosco’s ground game eats clock or stalls.
James & Dubose vs. Bosco DBs: The Spartans’ big-play threats need just one opening to change momentum.
Special Teams & Turnovers: In David vs. Goliath-type battles, it’s often a blocked kick, a punt return, or a strip sack that swings the story.
"Just another little bit of History Repeating?"
We shall see, but the game shouldn’t be handed to Don Bosco just yet by the football gods, this one is most certainly not a forgone conclusion.
The last time these teams clashed, in October of last season, DePaul stunned Bosco, 21–20. Zammit threw two touchdowns that night. The Spartans remember. The Ironmen certainly haven’t forgotten.
That’s the tension Friday brings: Don Bosco playing to protect its top ranking and DePaul playing to prove the crown can be cracked and that they belong in the conversation with the elite New Jersey football powers.
And something has to give!
Will There Be A "Slingshot" Moment For the Spartans?
For the Spartans, the narrative has already been written by outsiders. They’re outmanned. They’re undersized. They’re facing a roster with more depth, more Division I recruits, and more hype. And there isn’t a soul outside the facility at Alps Road in Wayne that believes that The Spartans can win.
But that’s the beauty of the story of David vs. Goliath — the giant rarely ever sees the stone coming!
Come kickoff, Zammit will sling it. Carter will pound it. Monteyne, Nagle and Bastante will stalk it.
Will Giants fall?