Saturday, November 3, 2007

By Jim McConville
NJS.com Staff Writer

Quarterback Blake Crouch moved the offense before coming out for safety sake late in the first half of River Dell's 17-7 win over Westwood.

ORADELL -- As the pre-game news spread that Westwood would be without arguably its three best players, the consensus was that the anticipated BCSL-American Division championship match with River Dell was going to be a layup for the Hawks.

It appears that the heart and determination of the Cardinals was underestimated, as they went toe to toe with River Dell right into the fourth quarter before a broken tackle allowed the Hawks to finally gain some breathing room.

With a 17-7 victory, River Dell earned its first league title since 1999 and also returned to the playoffs for the first time since that same season. It will be their first trip to the postseason under fourth-year head coach D.J. Nimphius, and they will head into action as the second seed in North 1,Group 2 and play next Friday night at home against any one of four teams.

Westwood drops to 7-2, but is already locked into the second seed in North 1, Group 1, with a date at home next Saturday afternoon against either Glen Rock or New Milford. The Cards will be looking to get back some of the walking wounded, though it is entirely possible that running back/linebacker James Taylor (knee), tight end/defensive end Travis Sample (knee) and running back/linebacker Derek Cacciola (shoulder) could remain out. Their absence against River Dell was certainly a factor.

Kevin Condon (left) getting into position to catch the TD pass that put Westwood up 7-0 and River Dell behind for the first time all season.

“Three strong defensive players,” Cardinal head coach Billy Straub lamented. “We stepped up and I thought we went toe-to-toe with them. They’re a great football team and they’ll represent our league well.”

Despite the missing players, Westwood would not relinquish its crown without a fight, and it made it very difficult on the Hawks, who also sat out leading rusher Dan Chiarello and removed quarterback Blake Crouch near the end of the first half.

“He’s fine,” Nimphius advised of Crouch. “We’ve got a state playoff game next week. He’s a little banged up, but the other kid can play. We’ve said all along, Anthony Carnevale can win a game for us before he’s out of here. The team is just as happy for him as they are about the championship.”

Carnevale made the one big play his team needed, finding Matt Connolly on a deep sideline route for a 50-yard touchdown with 9:24 left in the game to make it 17-7. Connolly broke a tackle at the Westwood 15-yard line to complete the play, which allowed River Dell (9-0) its first breathing room of the evening.

“We needed to prove to ourselves that we could play a game when we weren’t blowing someone out,” receiver/linebacker Ryan O’Neill said, “and we just stuck with it. We kept our heads up after we didn’t play well in the second half, and we stayed with it.”

John Francin hit a field goal and two extra points for River Dell.

The Hawks found themselves trailing in a game for the first time all season when the Cardinals struck with 4:16 left in the first quarter. QB Adam Lewites’ fourth-down pass found Kevin Condon at the goal line, and he appeared to get away with a push on the defensive back before hauling in the 35-yard TD toss. Rob Schneider added the extra point.

That seemed to spark River Dell as it tied the game 1:28 later. A 38-yard catch-and-run from Crouch (7 of 8 passing, 126 yards) to Garrett Avitable was the big play that set up B.J. Fowler’s 4-yard scoring run and John Francin’s tying PAT.

They had other first half chances, but came away empty three times in the red zone and had to settle for a 31-yard Francin field goal on a fourth trip inside the Westwood 20-yard line.

“We didn’t finish well,” Nimphius assessed. “We were knocking on the door a whole bunch of times, we had couple of snaps over the quarterback’s head and some fumbles. That’s something we haven’t done in the past and it killed a couple of drives. We will not be doing that next week, I can guarantee you that.”

Adam Lewites went to the air 13 times, completing 4 for 67 yards, an unusually high number of passes for Westwood.

“They’re always a great game,” said O’Neill, speaking of rival Westwood. “They’re always respectful and they just play football. That’s what we do, and that’s why it’s always a good game with them.”

Westwood couldn’t take advantage of its prosperity as the offense struggled throughout the game. The Cardinals had only 156 total yards, and ran for only 91 total yards in the game. They actually went to the air 13 times, completing 4 for 67 yards, an unusually high number of passes for the Cards.

“We had to try and attack where we could,” Straub commented. “Their defense was all over the place, and we thought we could hit them with the run, but as good as they are it was tough to sustain drives, so we had to throw.”

Conversely, River Dell found success in the air as Crouch and Carnevale combined for 13 completions in 19 tries for 218 yards. O’Neill was the favorite target with 7 catches for 115 yards, most on a curl patterns where he picked up considerable yardage after the catch.

“We game planned for that,” O’Neill related. “We saw that they were flying up in coverage, so we sent a guy in the flat and I sat in (an open space) and they put the ball right in there.”

River Dell's Ryan O’Neill finished with 7 catches for 115 yards.

Westwood got 41 yards on 12 carries from Vin Arsi and Condon had 2 receptions for 43 yards. Jason Park topped the Card defense with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery, one of three the Hawks gave up. Chris Russo made nine tackles, including 1.5 sacks and four tackles for losses, while Leo Cardenas and Mike Berger, in his first start at inside linebacker, also had nine tackles.

“Any time you’re an athlete, you’re going to compete,” Straub said, “and we went after it. That’s why there was so much emotion. We’ve responded to so much adversity with the injuries, and here’s another shot at us. We’ll see how we bounce back, but with the makeup of our team, I have no doubt we’re going to be fine.”

River Dell’s Mike Buchholz had 79 yards rushing on 12 runs, most of it in the last two drives of the game. Avitable had three catches for 49 yards, Devin Hudson recorded nine tackles and Anthony DiBella and Andrew Trass added eight stops apiece.

“They’re a great football program, and when you’re in the position we’ve been in, you have to go through people to win a championship,” Nimphius said. “It meant a lot beating Westwood, because of the class and the success of the program and the way those kids play.”

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