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EWING – The College of New Jersey’s senior linebacker Zack Vasilenko was playing a top ranked team for the final time in his career.
And on a big stage like the one he performed on Saturday when his team took on the nation’s fifth-ranked team, Wesley College, the Spring Lake Heights native had a huge game at Lions Stadium.
Vasilenko, who said leading up to the game that he enjoys playing these big games, had 12 tackles, a sack, and an interception. He ran past the offensive line and was the only player to register a sack – and a 10-yard loss – in the contest.
“We had an inside blitz called while the two inside backers were going,” he said. “Our defensive line’s job was to open it up for us, and they did a great job to do that. The holes were huge, and the other backer got picked up, so they were outmanned. That left me free so I was untouched and I was able to get there. All the credit to the defensive line.”
Minutes into the fourth quarter on the Wesley opening driver of that stanza, Vasilenko picked off Wolverines quarterback Joe Callahan. On a 2nd-and-1 play from the TCNJ 26 yard line, he picked off the Absecon native signal caller.
Vasilenko picked off the pass at the 20-yard line. He returned the ball for 66-yards to the Wesley 14-yard line, before Callahan forced a fumble, which the quarterback-now-turned-defender recovered at the 12-yard line.
“It was not a good play to say the least,” the linebacker added. “It was a ball thrown and the wide receiver bubbled it, and I was able to pick it off. Then, I made a bad play on the other side of the field, and of all people, the quarterback was able to strip it from me. It’s embarrassing to say the least.”
While he was frustrated about the fumble on the interception return, he was happy with the defensive effort on his team’s stout, goal-line stand.
Following a long Wolverines drive, Jamar Baynard put the ball at the TCNJ 1-yard-line after a three-yard run.
Two rushes by Callahan followed for no gain each time. On 4th-and-1, the Wesley coaching staff decided to give Baynard the ball on 4th down and that play also went nowhere, as Vasilenko made the saving tackle on the Wolverines running back.
“That was a huge stop for our defense,” he stated. “That set the momentum for the entire second half. I wish we would have done it sooner, but I won’t say much more than that. It was a great stop.”
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