The big plays, particularly in this storied Bergen Catholic-Don Bosco Prep rivalry, Vito Campanile said, change a game's momentum like none other.

"You saw the first game with these guys," Bergen Catholic's coach said of his team's one-point win over the Ironmen in the regular season. "When someone makes a play, it's not like, 'Oh, someone made a play.' It's like an avalanche of momentum. Any time one happens, the place just goes off the Richter Scale."

On Saturday, with the stakes that much higher in the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics Non-Public Group 4 semifinals against rival Don Bosco Prep, the big plays came fast and furiously for Bergen Catholic over the final 26 minutes.

The bracket's top seed, defending champion and No. 1-ranked team in the NJ.com erased a 10-point, first-half deficit and erupted for 28 points after halftime to pull away from the fourth-seeded Ironmen en route a 35-17 win to clinch its spot back in MetLife Stadium for next week's state final against St. Joseph (Mont.).

From Pierson Tobia's momentum-swinging interception just before halftime -- which led to an Andrew Boel-to-Tyler Devera 23-yard TD with 1:40 left before the break -- to Jeremiah Grant's smothering INT at the line midway through the third to Rahmir Johnson's pair of long TD runs of 44 and 62 yards in the second half to A.J. Longo's recovered fumble, on a sack/fumble by Grant, in the end zone, Bergen Catholic delivered more punches than its opponent Saturday in Oradell.

And while those plays all factored heavily into Bergen Catholic's third straight win over Don Bosco Prep, the 71st installment of this heated rivalry might be most remembered years from now as "The Anthony Corbin Fake Punt Game."

The two teams had exchanged a handful of blows early in the second half. Don Bosco's Jason Haber had a big INT (two plays after a BC 57-yard TD was called back), Grant had his INT and Johnson gave Bergen Catholic its first lead, 14-10, with his 44-yard TD run with 7:51 left in the third.

The lead, however, would be short-lived when Don Bosco's Kyle Monangai, who formerly played for Campanile at Seton Hall Prep, broke a 56-yard TD run just 2:31 later, racing down the Bergen Catholic sideline right in front of his former coach.

Don Bosco had regained the lead -- and the momentum -- and was about to get the ball back after forcing a three-and-out with just over four minutes left in the third.

Or so it seemed.

The initial call from Campanile, facing a 4th-and-8 at his own 22 and trailing by three, was to punt it away. Spotting an alignment that he thought Bergen Catholic could exploit, though, Campanile shouted the audible to the upback, Corbin, and history ensued.

Corbin took the direct snap and bolted 78 yards to the house, racing toward -- and eventually celebrating with -- the Crusader Crazies, following the third-longest postseason touchdown run since 1998 in the Bosco-Bergen rivalry.

"It's pretty much just getting the ball, seeing the hole then seeing the punt returner 40 yards away," Corbin said. "I see him and know I've got to make him miss. And that's what I did. It was a huge game-changer and exactly the way I would've pictured it. Getting to celebrate in the end zone with my friends, my family... it doesn't get better than that."

There was no hesitation from Campanile once he saw the matchup he liked -- and he green-lighted a call that will forever live in Bergen-Bosco lore.

"I've been in a lot of games," Campanile said, "and you can't be afraid not to lose. You've got to play to win. I think my brother Nunzio said it best, a play like that is about having confidence in your players and having faith in your players. We've got to let the players play. We pushed some right buttons today."

It was Corbin's third fake punt run for a TD in the last two years, with Corbin finding paydirt on the same calls at Mater Dei (Calif.) and in the Non-Public Group 4 final last year against St. Peter's Prep.

"The thing with Ant is, he's such a smart kid," Campanile said. "And that was actually Nunz's fake punt. The same one he had last year. We said if we got eight up and two inside, which we did, we were going to check it on the field. I yelled for the call and he hit it. And man, did he hit it or what?"

From there, the Bergen Catholic defense went to work. John High and Jeremiah Grant registered a third-down and drive-ending sack on Don Bosco Prep's ensuing possession. Johnson, moments later, broke his 62-yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left in the third to put Bergen Catholic ahead, 28-17.

Johnson, who became Bergen Catholic's first 1,000-yard running back since 2007, finished with 17 carries for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

"He's a man," Campanile said. "I've never had a guy that's such a quiet leader the way he is. What he does with the younger guys... I mean, you say lead by example, he's that guy. He's one of those kids I point to my son and say, 'Watch the way this guys acts. Watch the way this guy carries himself.' We've got a lot of those types of guys. He'll never point to himself, he's always about the team. And when Josh [McKenzie] went down, he really had to change his demeanor as a runner this year -- and he has."

Bergen Catholic would cap its scoring when Longo recovered a fumble in the end zone following a sack by Grant with 8:04 left. It was another huge defensive performance from Grant, who finished with two sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception.

"From Jeremiah to Tywone Malone to John High, we've grown a lot as a team," Campanile said. "Some roles have changed throughout the year and they've all embraced it after a guy like Aeneas [DiCosmo] went down. They've done everything we've asked of them and then some. And I'm confident they're going to continue to do that this week preparing for this next game."

The win marked Bergen Catholic's third straight win over Don Bosco Prep, directly correlating with assistant coach Greg Toal's move from Don Bosco to Bergen before the start of last year. It's the first time the Crusaders have won three in a row over the Ironmen since winning five straight between 1991-99.

Bergen Catholic will now gets its opportunity to defend its Non-Public Group 4 title, seeking its first repeat since 1998-99.

"Getting there this year, it's a little sweeter," Corbin said. "Obviously we went to MetLife and won it last year. But there's nothing like beating Bosco to get there this year."

The Crusaders' 18-point margin of victory was also the biggest over the Ironmen since a 42-13 win at Giants Stadium in 1999.

"It's been an amazing experience for me," Campanile said. "Everyone here is so invested in this team's success. Everyone here wants you to do well. It's important to all of them. They understand and appreciate how hard these kids have worked and have been so supportive. It's really hard to explain. My brother tried to, but you can't really do it justice until walking in his shoes. I'm just so proud of what we've done here and to be able to have this opportunity to play next week. It's been pretty special."

Don Bosco Prep built a 10-point lead in the first half when Guy Fava connected on a 29-yard field goal with 2:15 left in the first and Monangai (17 carries, 140 yards, 1 TD) rumbled in from 10 yards out with 6:38 left in the second.

Bergen Catholic will take on St. Joseph (Mont.) in next week's title game on Saturday at 7 p.m. at MetLife Stadium.