In a tale of two halves, the Barnegat High School Bengals lost to Bridgeton, 18-17, under the home lights in the opening round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III playoffson Nov.15.

The Bengals (5-5) had the game under control early, scoring 17 unanswered points until the closing seconds of the first half. But Bridgeton (6-4) dominated the second half, scoring two more touchdowns and stopping Barnegat on its final drive to seal the victory.