Pirate Takeover at MetLife: Cedar Creek Rolls to First Group 3 Title

Cedar Creek didn’t just win a state championship at MetLife Stadium, they authored the kind of performance that defines a program. Facing undefeated Old Tappan, one of New Jersey’s most fundamentally sound and physically disciplined teams, the Pirates leaned into their speed, their edge, and their big-play identity to take the Group 3 title in emphatic fashion, 34–7, and close a 12–2 season with one of the great displays of athleticism the championship weekend saw.

For a quarter, the two powers traded field position and patience. Old Tappan tried to settle the game into its familiar rhythm: methodical drives, limited mistakes, and forcing opponents to beat them in tight spaces. But Cedar Creek — fast at every position and dangerous in open field — doesn’t play slow. And once the Pirates found their spark, the dam broke quickly.

Senior running back Aamir Dunbar ignited the offense with two second-quarter touchdowns, each run showing a different part of his game. The first, a hard-earned nine-yard score through contact. The second, a smoother six-yard burst once the blocking sealed the edge. Those two drives not only gave Creek a 14–0 halftime lead, they also set the tone: if Old Tappan couldn’t match Cedar Creek’s speed, it wouldn’t survive Cedar Creek’s pace.

Any hope of a Golden Knights comeback vanished instantly after the break. Gyan King, one of the state’s most electric returners, fielded the second-half kickoff and sliced through the coverage team for an 84-yard touchdown, a moment that felt like MetLife tilted, the energy visibly shifting green. Old Tappan finally broke through with a touchdown, but it only delayed what was coming.

Cedar Creek answered with their biggest punch of the night — a 52-yard sprint from Jahmir Campfield, who turned a crease into a runaway, outrunning angles and leaving defenders grasping at air. And moments later, quarterback Frenchmon Bethea, whose ability to threaten both as a passer and runner complicated everything for Old Tappan, added a 14-yard touchdown of his own to make it 34–7.

By then, the Pirates had put the game in a different stratosphere. Every time Bethea, Campfield, or King touched the ball, MetLife held its breath. Every defensive series saw a different Cedar Creek athlete close space with burst, force a throw, deliver a hit. Bethea, Campfield, and King each finished with an interception — a fitting reflection of a defense that matched the offense’s fireworks with discipline and opportunism.

The heart of the performance, though, belonged to Dunbar. The senior and program anchor ran for 117 yards, the kind of punishing, patient, veteran performance championship teams rely upon in big moments. After the win, he tried to put the feeling into words.

“It feels good — all the hard work paid off for me and the guys. We knew we had a good group this year, so we had to make it count. The pressure of living up to a certain standard really helped us. What I credit is obviously my O-line and all the work they put in this offseason — this is the best unit I’ve seen since I’ve been at Creek. Every year I feel like I come back faster, bigger, stronger, and it all came together. My sign-off message is simple: leave no doubt. That’s the motto we’ve been going by the whole season.”

And they lived that motto to the last snap.

Cedar Creek’s title wasn’t an upset as much as it was a declaration. A fast, fearless team arrived on the biggest stage and played exactly like itself — explosive on offense, swarming on defense, unfazed by records or reputations. Against a powerhouse Old Tappan team that had controlled opponents all year, the Pirates forced the game into open water, where they knew they were the fastest boat.