Saturday, September 27, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS – In last year’s North 1, Group 1 state sectional football final, New Milford got off to a fast start and gave top-seeded Hasbrouck Heights quite a scare before falling. The two BCSL-Olympic Division rivals met again on Friday night for a much-anticipated rematch. This time would be different as Hasbrouck Heights quarterback Bobby Kistner got on track early.

By the time New Milford got its first first-down of the game, Hasbrouck Heights had already built an 18-point lead. They held New Milford’s standout running back A.J. Scoppa to 91 yards en route to a 39-14 romp over the Knights at Depken Field.

“We wanted to come out fast and put some points on the board,” said Kistner. “(A.J.) Scoppa is a very good running back. We wanted to get a big lead and turn them into a throwing team. We wanted to take away Scoppa and by getting a lead, we did that.”

Kistner hit Michael Ruggiero on a 54-yard scoring strike on the Aviators first drive to put them ahead. After forcing a three-and-out on New Milford’s first drive of the game, Hasbrouck Heights’ John Cambridge blocked a punt to give the Aviators excellent field position.

Kistner followed with a three-yard scoring run. He scored again, this time from five yards out, giving Hasbrouck Heights an 18-point lead before the first quarter was even over.

“They showed why they are the best team in our league and the defending section champs,” said New Milford head coach Bill Wilde. “We needed to get off to a fast start to stay in the game. We’re young and we just ran into a very good team that played really well on both sides of the ball.”

The Knights got their offense going by handing the ball off to the speedy, powerful Scoppa. He and his teammates bulled their way up the field, leading to Brendan Baum’s six-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 18-7. Just seconds later though, any momentum the Knights might have accumulated was long gone.

Cambridge, who missed last year’s North 1, Group 1 title game with a hip injury, went untouched on the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to the end zone and Kevin Condal tacked on the extra point to make it 25-7. After an interception, Cambridge scored from 19 yards out on the next play to put the game out of reach by halftime, 32-7.

Shawn Zahn led Hasbrouck Heights (2-0) in rushing with 123 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Kistner accounted for 95 total yards and three touchdowns, all of which came in the first quarter. Lorenzo Tattoli anchored a defense that held Scoppa to under 100 yards rushing.

Scoppa scored a late touchdown and finished with 91 yards and TD on 19 carries for New Milford (0-2).

“Bobby (Kistner) can really make things happen out there and he got us going,” said Hasbrouck Heights head coach Nick Delcalzo. “Our offensive line played very well and they opened up the holes. We had to stop them and jump on them early. Our defense did a great job on not letting Scoppa break any big runs. I thought we did a good job overall tonight. But it’s a long season and we will keep working hard to get better.”

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