Sunday, October 11, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Glen Rock QB Brendan Miller led the Panthers to 20 unanswered points in a 34-14 win over Elmwood Park on Saturday.

ELMWOOD PARK – Even though it was only trailing Elmwood Park by a touchdown and it was early in the second quarter, Glen Rock’s playoff hopes were at a crisis moment. The Panthers were backed inside their own one-yard line without any proof to that point that they could sustain a long drive. Needing a win to improve its standing for its customary berth in the state playoffs, Glen Rock went to the hurry-up offense and put all of its stock in senior quarterback Brendan Miller.

Miller delivered with an eight-yard touchdown run to cap 99-yard scoring drive to tie the game. When it was tied again in the third quarter, Miller drove the Panthers down the field and hit Dillon White for a four-yard TD pass that put Glen Rock ahead to stay as the Panthers scored 20 unanswered points and knocked Elmwood Park from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 34-14 triumph.

Elmwood Park has been one of North Jersey’s biggest surprises through the first month of the season and its leading homerun threat is tailback Anthony DeFreitas, who broke another long one late in the first quarter. He busted through a huge hole up the middle and went untouched 45 yards to paydirt as Elmwood Park grabbed a 7-0 lead.

Anthony DeFreitas scored on a 45-yard run to give Elmwood Park an early lead.

An Elmwood Park punt took a friendly bounce and went out at the Glen Rock one-foot line. With the back end of the ball just barely over their own goal line, Miller had to find a way to get the Panthers out of trouble.

“Taking a snap from center in your own end zone is always a pretty scary thing to deal with,” said Miller. “If it wasn’t for our O-line, we would have been in big trouble. Even backed up, I felt really comfortable in the pocket. When we needed a big play, they did a great job. I felt like I had all day to throw and their blocking gave the receivers lots of time to get open.”

Miller broke a tackle and got in the end zone from eight yards out to knot the score at 7. On the Panthers’ next possession, he hit Eric Jordan in perfect stride on a deep post for a 34-yard scoring strike. Sean Miller tacked on the extra-point as Glen Rock took a 14-7 lead into the locker room.

Elmwood Park was set to kickoff to start the second half before kicker Brian Conboy pulled a surprise on the Glen Rock special teams unit. He squibbed an onside kick and recovered it himself to give Elmwood Park the ball in great field position. The Crusaders made it count as Edwin Cabrera took an option pitch from quarterback Jarrod Diaz and carried it in from two yards out. Conboy missed his first try at an extra-point, but Glen Rock was flagged for offsides and his second try was true to tie the game at 14.

Jordan Ramos and Glen Rock are now sitting pretty in the North 1, Group 1 state playoff chace.

That could have been a big turning point, but Miller’s play in the second half made it a moot point instead. He calmly led the Panthers to the end zone twice during the third quarter. His four-yard TD pass to Dillon White snapped the tie and he plunged in from a yard out to make it 26-14.

Tevin Ankle hauled in a pass from Miller with a juggling catch in the back left corner of the end zone midway through the fourth quarter for a touchdown. Miller then hit White for the two-point conversion and the final margin.

With the loss, Elmwood Park dropped to 4-1, but with games against Saddle Brook and Manchester the next two weeks, the Crusaders are still in line for their first state playoff berth since 1985.

“It would have been nice to win this game, but we didn’t get the job done,” said Elmwood Park head coach Garry Luciani. “They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and Miller played great. When we rushed him, he side-stepped us and made things happen. When we sat back, he went through his progressions and picked us apart.

Edwin Cabrera and EP are still in good shape for the program's first playoff berth since 1985.

“We’re obviously not happy about the outcome, but we’re still in a very good place. We have to get this game out of our minds and focus on what’s ahead of us.”

Glen Rock, which also sports a record of 4-1, is in the middle of a wild playoff hunt in the North 1, Group 2 bracket. A loss would have hampered its chances of getting in, but this win and another over Lodi two weeks from now will likely get the Panthers into the postseason, where they become even more dangerous.

“We have been going to the playoffs every year for a long time, we don’t want to be the team that breaks that streak,” added Miller. “We knew we had to win this game. I thought we came out and played really well in the second half. I think we’re starting to get on a roll and we’re getting better every week.”

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