William C. Bryant gives football coach Vincenzo Donato the birthday present he wished for: victory

William C. Bryant’s players promised coach Vincenzo Donato a birthday victory.

Under the lights for the first time in program history, according to Donato, they had to do it on the road against another unbeaten team in Transit Tech.

The Owls made his 37th birthday a special one.

Senior Lorenzo Lopez totaled 104 yards of offense, a touchdown and an interception as Bryant defeated host Transit Tech, 12-6, Saturday night in PSAL 2A.

“It was super special. It’s my birthday today, so the guys kept saying, ‘We’re going to get you a win, Coach,’” Donato said.

Bryant’s defense repeatedly turned away Transit Tech within striking distance, including three red-zone stops and two more stops inside Bryant’s 30-yard line, one of which sealed the game.

“It’s the hitting,” senior lineman Houssine Altbouja said. “We work as a team. We make stops as a team.”

Lopez caught a 14-yard touchdown from Jayden Suero to give Bryant a 6-0 lead as time expired in the first quarter.

“We came into this game knowing it wasn’t going to be the easiest game,” Lopez said. “We got a heck of a defense, man. We stopped [them] when we needed to.

“We all had to be intelligent,” he added. “We watch a lot of film. You study it all the time, and it works out.”

Bryant’s Kassimou Bouda had a pass breakup in the end zone as time expired in the first half to keep the Owls ahead 6-0.

Suero later found Jason Feaster Jr. for a 12-yard touchdown after a defensive pass interference penalty against Transit Tech. The Owls led 12-0 with 5:01 left in the third quarter. Feaster also added a pair of key tackles for loss.

Transit Tech’s Terry McKay scored a 17-yard rushing touchdown with 10:06 left in the game to cut the lead to six.

Bryant (5-0) got its lone stop in Transit territory when Jorge Alvarez Vera recovered a fumble with 4:47 left in the game.

The Express (4-1) defense responded with a turnover of its own: an interception by Ezekiel Stanford, his second, with just over two minutes left in the contest, setting up his team at the Bryant 30-yard line.

But four plays later, a pass on fourth-and-3 fell incomplete, and the Owls went to victory formation. The first night game in Bryant history was a win.

“I felt it in every bone of my body,” Suero said. “After the game, once we heard the last whistle, hearing the crowd cheer, I wouldn’t put anything over it.”

The victory also gave its coach exactly what his players had promised.

“The best present possible,” Donato said.