DePaul football conquered every challenge thrown its way during wild 2022 season | Cooper

EAST RUTHERFORD — Derek Zammit will go down in the history books as one heck of a freshman quarterback for DePaul.

But his biggest moment Friday may have been as a receiver.

Zammit caught his own batted pass and ran for a key first down, and DePaul sophomore Steven Fiorendino blocked a fourth quarter punt to lift the Spartans to a 19-17 win over Red Bank Catholic and the Non-Public B state title at MetLife Stadium.

“I was thinking to myself that would be his signature play,” DePaul second-year coach Nick Campanile said of the Zammit-to-Zammit connection. “Just to be that heads up and athletic and make that play. He’s a really, really special young man.”

“It just kind of happened,” said Zammit, a Lincoln Park resident. “I saw it. I knew I could catch it, so I just went for it.”

Zammit’s throw, catch and run for 10 yards set up the Spartans at the Caseys' 19-yard line and led to the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter to make it 17-10.

The next state-title winning play for DePaul was also a first-timer.

After coming close to blocking a punt earlier on a bad snap by the Caseys, DePaul loaded up to attack a punt with the Caseys at their own 6-yard line. Fiorendino swept in and was able to lunge and block the ball out the back of the end zone for two points to provide the eventual margin of victory.

“I am so proud of him,” Campanile said. “He has been so close so many times this year and for him to do it on this stage is pretty cool.”

Fiorendino called it the biggest moment of his football life.

“We put the block on, and we finally got the opportunity to run after it and we finally got it in the end zone,” he said.

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“Well, that was the biggest play of the game,” Zammit said. “If that doesn’t happen, we probably go into overtime, and anything could happen.”

The scariest thing about the Spartans is that they finished two games over .500 and basically return every key contributor next year. Zammit showed great poise in the pocket, taking over for the injured Patrick Grusser midway through the season.

“I can’t thank the coaches and the players and the school community enough,” Zammit said. “Everyone had my back. Everyone believed in me and we made it.”

The Spartans also will return superstar wide receiver Dez Jones next year, as well as running back Jadin Johnson.

“I feel as good as I have ever felt,” Campanile said, already looking to 2023. “We have some good young linemen coming up, our skill positions are lights out, but I am so happy to send these seniors out the right way.”

Red Bank Catholic looked like the better team in the first quarter, running the ball with standout Sabino Portella and opening up a 10-0 lead.

But on the next kickoff, Johnson broke free for a big gain to the Spartans' 40. On the next play, Zammit hit Jones on a 60-yard post down the middle. He scored, and all the momentum swung to DePaul.

The Spartans defense suddenly got strong. Red Bank Catholic had 101 yards on its first three drives but finished with 161 for the entire game.

“It kind of sums up the way our season went ‒ we were 0-3, and then 1-4 and we had hard loss to Bergen Catholic, and things weren’t looking good,” Campanile said. “Adversity has been in our face all year. We got hit again today, but we banded together and fought back. I couldn’t be prouder of this group.”

Campanile got a big hug on the sidelines from his older brother Vito, who had just taken his Bergen Catholic team out for warm-ups for the Non-Public A final.

Though DePaul's 7-5 record is not the best in New Jersey, the Spartans are one of the seven state champs that will be crowned this season. North Jersey people know that the numbers can be deceiving – the Spartans come from a smaller school than their Non-Public A cousins, but they play them all. That type of experience matters when contending for a championship.

“Obviously, the next two teams out there right now are pretty good,” Campanile said, referring to Don Bosco and Bergen Catholic as they took the field at MetLife. “But I think we are right there with anyone.”

And when the ball came their way – whether it was catching their own pass or blocking their first punt – the Spartans showed that they know how to make plays when it matters the most.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: DePaul NJ football conquered every challenge thrown its way