Sports

Basilone Bowl Players Begin Forging New Teams

June 28 game aims to honor local hero John Basilone, while raising funds for wounded veterans and Toys for Tots programs.

For local varsity football players used to staring across scrimmage lines at each other, the June 28 Basilone Bowl—a game to honor World War II hero Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, of Raritan, while raising money for programs helping wounded veterans and the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program—will present a bit of a turnaround.

The teams in the game will be comprised of a mixed group of players from five different high schools—the Devil Dogs, with players from Bridgewater-Raritan, Bound Brook, Hillsborough, North Plainfield, Ridge, Watchung Hills and Delaware Valley high schools, will face the Leathernecks, with players from Bernards, Franklin, Immaculata, Manville, Montgomery, Pingry and Somerville. 

So, for example, center Ezra Keogh, from Ridge, will be hiking to a quarterback he's been rooting against for four years; while Bernards High School wide receiver Jackson Kotwick will be pulling down passes thrown by a QB he's never played with before.

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"It's football—why not?" Kotwick said after an event Wednesday bringing all of the players and coaches together for a photo op and chance to talk about college plans, summer plans—and one last chance to play high school football.

Keogh is Ridge's only participating player, but Kotwick will be joined by former Bernards teammates Greg Bolton and Jason Debalso.

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Bolton noted he's seeing his new teammates in a new way, after watching them across the field for years.

All of the players at the event said they were anxious for the game, and added how proud they were to participate in the game sponsored with the Marines—outside linebacker Omar Bradley, a player from North Plainfield who heads to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in the fall, said he was excited to be asked to participate, "because it is for a really special cause."

Playing in the first-ever game dedicated to honoring the memory of Basilone proved to be a big draw for the players—Franklin's Jason Erickson said Basilone wasn't too well known among his friends but when he did a little research, he was anxious to participate.

"This is a really good way to get his name out there to honor him," Jackson said.

Of course, Marines know the name well: Capt. Timothy Irish said only a handful of Marines have ever received both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross, adding "Every Marine knows the name of Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone when they finish training."

And having the game so close to Basilone's childhood home adds to the draw.

"It's tailor-made for this area," Major John Campbell said.

Updates on the game, as well as video clips introducing the players and team photos, can be found on the Marine Corps' Facebook event page for the Basilone Bowl.


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