WASHINGTON TWP.—Heading into the NJSIAA Group 2 semifinal round, the biggest question was whether Shabazz’s physical, swarming defense could shut down one of the best small-school running backs in North Jersey. After 48 minutes of complete dominance, the only question is whether the Brick City Bulldogs can complete a historic season under first-year coach Nasir Gaines.
The Bulldogs’ front seven held Westwood’s high-powered run game in check, and its secondary intercepted Cardinal passes on five consecutive possessions as Shabazz turned a tight first half into a 36-6 rout Friday night in front of a packed house in Bergen County.
Shabazz (11-1) advances to the overall Group 2 state championship game for the second straight year, and will take on Camden (10-2) for the crown at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 3 at Rutgers.
The Bulldogs will look to become the first Newark school to win an overall state football championship just one year after suffering a heartbreaking two-point loss to Rumson in the 2024 final.
“We’re trying to do this for our team, our community,” said junior RB/LB Faheen Ausborn, who had a second half to remember, rushing 5 times for 102 yards and scoring all four of his touchdowns (three rushing and a 29-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter) to extend Shabazz’s seven-point halftime lead. “A lot of people in our community look at us for hope. So, whatever we have to do to win, to succeed, we’re going to do those things. It started this past week; it starts again this week.”
Also, for the second straight season, Shabazz will have business to attend to before the Group 2 title game: the traditional Soul Bowl matchup with archrival Weequahic on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 27, at Untermann Field.
Ausborn will draw the accolades for his dominant offensive performance, but it was the Bulldog defense that impressed the most Friday night, limiting outstanding Westwood back Steve Kline, a 1,400-yard rusher and Boston College commit, to just 30 yards on 11 carries. The high-powered Cardinal offense gained just 111 yards of total offense and did not cross midfield until the game’s final drive, with a running clock and both benches emptying.
“We had to control the line of scrimmage tonight, and we did that,” said Gaines, the first-year MXS head coach who was the architect of the renowned Brick City Lions youth football program. “We controlled it on the offensive side and on the defensive side.”
The Bulldogs’ opportunistic secondary caused havoc for Westwood quarterbacks, intercepting five of their 11 pass attempts. Five different Bulldogs picked one off, with Ausborn being joined by sophomore DBs Nasir Richardson and Nosym Brown, junior LB Zykir Best and senior DB Rayquan Clark.
“That’s all about AJ Dobson, our defensive coordinator,” Gaines said. “He does a great job coaching our kids, and you can see our guys just get fired up off of him. They’re out here flying around to the ball and making plays.”
The swarming tackling of Best and senior star Zaiden McDonald, plus the disruption caused by junior linemen Adekunbi Adetayo and Makai Walker-Dortch, gave Westwood fits all night. The host Cardinals punted on their first three possessions, picking up just two first downs in that time.
But the game remained scoreless late into the second quarter, as Shabazz struggled to establish the run in the early going. Given enough opportunities, however, the Bulldog offense was eventually going to cash in on its big-play ability behind talented junior quarterback Kariem Coston (7-for-14, 102 yards, 1 TD) and his deep receiver corps.
That’s exactly what happened in the waning minutes of the first half, when – after Shabazz committed back-to-back holding penalties and faced a 2nd-and-30 from the Westwood 42 –Coston fired a strike over the middle to Brown, the sophomore wideout, about 20 yards downfield. Brown made the catch, spun away from one defender and outraced another to the end zone for the game’s opening score.
The success in the passing game seemed to open up the run game for Shabazz, causing the proverbial dam to burst. The Bulldogs ran for 184 yards in the second half alone and that, along with Westwood’s turnover-prone quarterbacks, meant that the result of the game would not be much in doubt.
The third quarter began with up-man Yahzeed Sharif returning a squib kickoff 37 yards inside the Westwood 30. After two tough runs from senior Noah Foxworth gained 19 yards, Ausborn received his first carry of the game, and made it count by breaking two tackles and sprinting 8 yards into the end zone to double the Bulldogs’ lead. After Brown picked off a jump ball on Westwood’s first possession of the half, the ensuing seven-play drive ended with kicker Basit Rami’s 24-yard field goal that extended Shabazz’s lead to 17-0.
The Bulldogs would score three more times in this game, each the result of a Westwood interception. Two plays after Clark picked off a deep ball, Ausborn rumbled 49 yards for a score and a 23-0 lead with 2:21 left in the third quarter. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Ausborn stepped in front of a quick slant and returned it 29 yards untouched. After Richardson made the fifth and final INT, Ausborn capped his sterling second half with a 20-yard scoring run with 8:25 left, triggering the running clock for the remaining time.
“Faheen was a dog tonight,” Gaines said. “He came out on fire tonight the first time he touched the ball, and then he looked like [NFL great] Adrian Peterson to me. I’ve known Faheen since he was a kid, he was in my youth program. And it’s amazing to see him out here living his dreams, competing for Shabazz, and showing the world what he’s capable of doing.”
NOTES & QUOTES—Thursday’s Soul Bowl is one of the few remaining traditional Thanksgiving games still played in North Jersey, and the battle for South Ward supremacy should be very interesting. Shabazz holds a 34-26-6 all-time edge in the series, though Weequahic has won five straight in the series … That five-game streak includes last year’s 19-14 stunner, when the Indians came into Thanksgiving with a 3-6 record against a state-finalist Shabazz team playing to win a division championship. Shabazz last won the Soul Bowl in 2018, when it won a 6-0 overtime thriller … Weequahic (6-3) has not played since Nov. 5, having been barred from participating in this year’s state playoffs under the state’s disqualification rules, but they will certainly relish the opportunity to spoil another Turkey Day for their archrivals … “It’s tradition. It’s war. We have great respect for those guys up the hill, Coach Logan, all the players. But as far as we see it, it’s a new era. It’s the Big Body Era,” said Gaines, referring to his nickname that has become a mantra for Shabazz players and fans.
NJSIAA Group 2 sectional finals
North 1: Westwood 32, Ramsey 6
North 2: Shabazz 26, Madison 16
Central: Camden 43, Wall 7
South: Haddonfield 28, Delran 7
NJSIAA Group 2 semifinals
North: Shabazz 36, Westwood 6
South: Camden 37, Haddonfield 18
NJSIAA Group 2 championship game
Shabazz (11-1) vs. Camden (10-2), Dec. 3 at site TBD
Shabazz 0 7 16 13 - 36
Westwood 0 0 0 6 - 6
FIRST QUARTER
No scoring
SECOND QUARTER
MXS—Nosym Brown 42 pass from Kariem Coston (Basit Rami kick), 3:28
Drive: 6 plays, 44 yards, 3:15
THIRD QUARTER
MXS—Faheem Ausborn 8 run (Rami kick), 10:51
Drive: 3 plays, 27 yards, 1:09
MXS—Rami 24 field goal, 6:21
Drive: 7 plays, 50 yards, 3:34
MXS—Ausborn 49 run (pass failed), 2:11
Drive: 2 plays, 73 yards, 1:11
FOURTH QUARTER
MXS—Ausborn 29 interception return (pass failed), 11:27
MXS—Ausborn 20 run (Rami kick), 8:25
Drive: 5 plays, 29 yards, 1:12
WWD—Nick Klein 15 pass from Anthony Caporale (run failed), 0:26
Drive: 8 plays, 65 yards, 7:59
