Saturday,
September 29, 2007
By
Jim McConville
NJS.com Staff Writer
MAHWAH -- It was a
situation that many thought the Wayne Hills football team wouldn’t
face until the Old Tappan if at all this season, a tight game
late in the third quarter with their lead seemingly slipping away.
Yet there was Mahwah
on Friday night, giving the Patriots all they wanted and more.
The Thunderbirds were marching, doing to Hills what they normally
do to opponents, running the ball into the teeth of the defense
with success.
A yard from the end
zone and a tie game, the unexpected happened, a fumble on a second
effort at the goal line that allowed Wayne Hills to dodge a huge
bullet, the turning point that allowed the Pats to extend their
winning streak to 32 games.
They tacked on a fourth
quarter score to finish a 14-0 defeat of Mahwah that left Wayne
Hills with a new-found respect for the T-Birds.
“We were in a
dogfight,” wide receiver/defensive back Bryan Ogden admitted.
So much so that Wayne
Hills was faced with a number of anomalies, including eight plays
on which they were stopped for losses and two more that recorded
no gain.
“They played
really hard, they hit hard,” Ogden said of Mahwah, and quarterback
Mike Giampapa agreed, saying, “They were a good test. They
beat us in the eighth grade Super Bowl, and they have a moxey
about them. They played tough.”
The fatal play was
the 16th in a drive that lasted 9:14 and began at the T-Bird 30-yard
line. All of the plays were runs, and Mahwah’s success forced
WH head coach Chris Olsen to insert injured linebacker Tim Waller
to try and quell the march. Olsen had hoped to hold him out until
the Old Tappan game next Saturday.
On a first down from
the 1-yard line, Mahwah QB John Ebeling tried to punch it in over
right guard.
“It was a quarterback
sneak,” Ebeling explained, “and on second effort I
went to the right. One of my own guys pushed me from behind and
the ball came out.”
Ronnie Driese recovered
the ball inches from the goal line with 1:08 left in the third
quarter. On a third down at the 10, Danny DeCicco got around the
right side for a 48-yard gain that shifted the field position
and sunk the Thunderbird spirits.
“Our intensity
level picked up after we stopped them,” Olsen said. “They
had us on our heels. We had our feet to the fire. You’re
not going to win every game 40-0.”
An exchange of punts
put the ball back in Wayne’s hands, and it went to Carlton
Marcin on three straight runs, gaining 21 yards to the Mahwah
27. Giampapa then went play action, finding tight end Kyle Hanenberg
behind the secondary for a 27-yard touchdown. Mark Romeo kicked
his second extra point with 6:45 left in the game.
“We prepared
to mix it up a little bit, but 7-0 in the fourth quarter, I think
we got back to Wayne Hills football,” Giampapa said. “Run
the ball and play action off that. When you’re worried about
Danny and Carlton running for touchdowns, it leaves Hanenberg
open.”
It was the second TD
pass for Giampapa, who was 11 of 19 passing for 140 yards. The
first came with 3:04 to go in the first half on a 36-yard fly
to Ogden on a third and 11 play.
“The corner didn’t
seem to be paying attention, and I just went right by him,”
Ogden recalled. “I caught it right over him.”
“He was the third option,” Giampapa related. “We
had Danny (DeCicco) to the left at tight end to move him out and
try to get a mismatch, but he was covered. I looked to Jeremiah
(Kayal) in the middle, and there was a safety on him.
“I looked to
my right and Brian had his man beat and I let one go. I give that
credit to the offensive line. Any time I get the chance to look
at three guys, I’m going to make a good throw.”
“He makes big
plays,” Olsen said of his signal caller.
DeCicco had 86 yards
rushing on 15 carries, while Marcin had 50 on 9 runs and 6 receptions
for 47 yards. Paul Drake recorded eight tackles and Kayal and
Ryan Daddurno added seven stops apiece.
Greg Stripe ran for
53 yards on 8 carries for Mahwah and Dylan Meola rushed 9 times
for 31 yards. Ebeling was 5 of 19 passing for 21 yards and two
fourth quarter interceptions, by Kayal. Anthony Negron had nine
tackles and Meola and Stripe (3 tackles for losses) seven each.
“We have to move
ahead and put this one behind us,” Ebeling said. “We
can take a lot of positives into next week (against Demarest),
and we know now that if we can play with the second ranked team
in North Jersey, we can play with anybody.”
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