Fittingly, it ended on a sack.

Don Bosco Prep, which had run roughshod through the Bergen Catholic backfield all game long, clinched a 17-10 overtime victory on a fourth-down sack. Ian Grayson made the final tackle, but it was Marcellus Earlington whose presence made the biggest difference in this football game.

Earlington had four of the eight Don Bosco sacks on the day, including one that caused a fumble shortly before halftime. That led to a touchdown pass from Tommy DeVito to Tommy Courtney on a screen pass and a 10-7 halftime lead for the Ironmen.

It appeared that lead might stand up, until Bergen Catholic put together its only sustained drive of the day. The Crusaders marched 70 yards in the final minutes to set up Michael Kearney's game-tying 36-yard field goal.

But Don Bosco got the ball first in overtime, and quickly regained the lead. DeVito found John McGuire, who took the ball to the one-yard line, and Kevin Brennan dove in for the touchdown on the next play. Bergen Catholic then went four-and-out, capped by the Grayson sack, to end the game.

DeVito finished 15-for-26 on the day for 190 yards. Casey Dana was the leading receiver for the Ironmen, catching nine passes for 75 yards.

Jalen Berger had 55 rushing yards and Courtney added 51 yards on the ground for Don Bosco. Brendan Marrero booted a 42-yard field goal.

Bergen Catholic had its passing game nearly completely stifled, but one big play set up its only touchdown. A 75-yard completion from Johnny Langan to Ankaury Camilo led to a five-yard touchdown run by Langan, putting the Crusaders ahead 7-3 in the second quarter.

Josh McKenzie rushed for 78 yards for Bergen Catholic, which falls to 5-3 with one regular-season game left to play.

Don Bosco has now won 23 of the last 26 games against its arch-rival. The Ironmen improve to 4-4 overall (4-1 in-state) heading into their regular-season finale at St. Peter's Prep; a win will give Don Bosco a share of the United Red Division title in the North Jersey Super Football Conference.

For sports video highlights of this New Jersey and NJSFC high school football game, click play in the box at left.