December
4, 2005
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| Pompton Lakes' Orion Woodward returning an interception for the TD that broke open the Cardinals' 27-7 win over Hasbrouck Heights in the North 1, Group 1 state sectional final. | |
EAST RUTHERFORD -- Even though it was the top seed, Pompton Lakes never felt like it was the favorite. On Saturday morning at Giants Stadium, the Cardinals played with the urgency of an underdog, and it paid off with a state championship.
With a defensive effort that left Hasbrouck Heights searching for an offensive answer, the Cardinals took home their first title since 1997 with a convincing 27-7 defeat of the Aviators.
“That was our mentality,” first-year PL head coach Scott Mahoney said. “We went in the attitude we have to win with defense, and the defense won this game.”
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| Jeff Siedel was Hasbrouck Heights' main offensive threat, rushing for 137 yards on 18 carries. |
The Cards kept Heights out of the red zone for the most part, and were effective in limiting the damageinflicted by Jeff Seidel, who had 137 rushing yards on 18 carries but only five of them inside the Pompton 20.
“We play tough run defense, and we were hoping to put them into some long situations,” Mahoney explained. “We were bend but don’t break, and when they got inside the 30, we wanted it to be third and 10.”
They did it well enough to allow their offense to pick its spots, and they got a first quarter lead thanks to a great catch by Jarred Bush. On a fourth and 8 at the Aviator 28-yard line, quarterback Bob Mathews rolled to his right and fired a pass to Bush.
“I misinterpreted the ball,” Bush said. “It was behind my head. Bob had to throw it over the defender and it was back in the end zone more, so I had to leap for it. Once it hit my finger tips I knew it was mine.”
The touchdown, coupled with an O.J. Woodard extra point with 1:51 left in the opening period, gave Pompton Lakes (11-1) an opportunity to work from ahead.
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| Pompton's Dave Kent picked up 62 of his 84 rushing yards in the second half. |
“He doesn’t have a lot of stats, but he’s been there when we needed him,” Mahoney said of Bush. “We needed him to make that play and he made the great catch.”
Hasbrouck Heights (10-2) never dented the Lakes 42-yard line in the first half despite Seidel’s 87 rushing yards, and the Aviators found themselves down 13-0 at the half after Mathews hit Bush for 22 yards and found Woodard for a 33-yard touchdown pass.
The TD came down the right sideline, with Woodard making contact with the defender before catching the ball.
“I just had to break him off and come back to the ball,” Woodard said.
The third quarter was uneventful until the final minute when, while trying to take advantage of the wind, Heights threw two interceptions back-to-back. The first was the most critical, as Woodard returned it 67 yards for the touchdown that broke the game open.
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| Brendan Gareffa got Heights' lone touchdown at the end of this 10-yard run. |
“I stayed behind a little bit and read the quarterback,” Woodard recalled. “I just snuck in. I knew if I got into the open field I was gone.”
“I was thinking, just give me one big play,” Mahoney said. “He picked up a tremendous block from Rich Milazzo. Once he got in the end zone, I just told them, play smart ball.”
Abe Kabakci picked the second one, taking it back 39 yards to the Aviator 19. Three plays later, Kabakci went in from a yard out and Woodard hit his third PAT to make it 27-0.
Heights did manage to break the shutout, taking the kickoff and going 67 yards, thanks to a 19-yard Seidel run and a 27-yard scamper by Dan D’Amato. Brendan Gareffa got the touchdown on a 10-yard run and Brandon Melchior kicked the extra point with 8:50 left.
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| Fullback Abe Kabacki diving over the goal line with Pompton's final score. |
Heights did have 202 rushing yards, but was unable to complete a pass in the game. Defensively, Bryan Fill had 11 tackles and a sack, and bobby Calderone had 6 tackles and shared a sack.
Pompton's Dave Kent picked up 62 of his 84 rushing yards in the second half, totaling 14 carries. Matthews was 5 of 11 passing for 92 yards and Bush had two catches for 50 yards. Seby Chiaramida topped the Aviators with 11 tackles and Kabakci and Reid Setzer each had 7 tackles.
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
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