Saturday, September 10, 2011

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Brian Swatek scored two first half TDs to hep Pascack Valley get off to a fast start before the Indians held on for a 30-28 win on Friday.

OLD TAPPAN – No doubt, there was some scary moments for Pascack Valley in its bid to win its season opener in front of a packed house at Northern Valley/Old Tappan. Two straight delay of game penalties that turned a third-and-1 into a fourth and 11 and a shanked punt had the Indians on the verge of giving up all of the 27-7 lead that it had built by halftime with some old school, punch-you-in-the-nose football.

Devin Fuller, the Old Tappan quarterback with almost as many Division 1 collegiate options as there are Division 1 schools, got the ball just 55 yards from the go-ahead score with just over two minutes to play in the game. And Fuller hit Andrew Dobitsch for a 20-yard gain on the first play of the potential game-winning drive. But with the home crowd going nuts and momentum clearly on the Golden Knights' side, a snap from the shotgun turned the game back in Pascack Valley's favor just in time.

The snap went over Fuller's head for a 16-yard loss, two final passes fell incomplete and Pascack Valley open the season and some eyes with a 30-28 win on Friday night.

“I was freaking out. I didn't know what the [heck] was going on there for a minute,” said Brian Swatek, the running back and defensive back who was a handful on both sides of the ball for PV. “We had the two delay of games and then we gave them the ball back in good position. We knew that even if they got into field goal range that we were done, so we had to keep them there.”

Old Tappan quarterback Devin Fuller accounted for 233 yards of total offense.

That the game was decided in the final minute was somewhat of a surprise after Pascack Valley's dominant second quarter. After allowing the game's first score on a blown coverage that allowed Fuller to find John Trainor for a 45-yard touchdown 4:28 into the game, the Indians just took over at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Using drives of 58, 56, and 60 yards, PV got rushing touchdowns from Swatek (21 yards), Jordan Roses (2 yards) and James DeChiara (1 yard) to take a 20-7 lead. The defense did its part by forcing and turnover-on-downs and two three-and-outs, the second of which led to a botched punt that set the Indians up at the Old Tappan 21-yard line with 1:58 to go in the second quarter and already leading 20-7. Facing a fourth-and-1 from the 2, PV head coach Craig Neilsen passed over his dependable field goal kicker Zach Costa for a final play from scrimmage.

When Swatek turned that play into a touchdown and Costa kicked the extra point, PV walked to the locker room with a 27-7 lead having held Fuller to just 33 rushing yards on seven carries and just two completions in seven passing attempts.

“Our defensive coach told us just to run to the ball,” said Swatek. “That way as soon as he cut back there was someone there to tackle him.”

It was a tough first half for Fuller, who was playing behind a brand new offensive line. He was repeatedly hurried when he dropped back to pass and had to make a man miss in the backfield just about every time he was called upon to run the ball.

Jordan Roses and the PV ground game controlled the first half.

“We did not play a good first half. That is part of the deal,” said Old Tappan head coach Brian Dunn. “We have a lot of sophomores playing out there getting their feet wet and we made a couple of mistakes.”

With the turnover on the offensive line mistakes were bound to happen. But with Fuller, the next big play if often just one snap away as he proved on the first two plays from scrimmage in the third quarter. On the first he hit Dobitsch for a 25-yard gain and on the second he got the right edge, cut back to the left and outraced everyone to the corner of the end zone to get Old Tappan back to within 27-14.

A Dobitsch interception at the goal line thwarted PV's attempt to answer and the Knights' defense held PV to a 27-yard Costa field on its first drive of the fourth quarter. That kept the OT deficit at just two possessions and it cut it to won when John Trainor went 75 yards on a reverse for a touchdown on the first play of the Knights' next possession. Fuller hit Dobitsch with a 2-point conversion pass to get Old Tappan to within 30-22 with 8:00 to play in the game.

Old Tappan's defense was at its best when it forced PV into passing situations and Travis Procida came up with a hug sack on a third-and-4 to force a punt that turned into 6-play, 60-yard TD drive that Fuller capped with a seven-yard run and dive to the pylon. The crucial 2-point pass that could have tied the game fell incomplete and left Old Tappan trailing by a 30-28 score with 3:57 to play and Pascack Valley could have just about iced the game with one more first down, which it was on the verge of getting on a third-and-1. But then those two consecutive delay of game penalties forced a punt that traveled all of 24 yards gave Old Tappan one last shot.

Old Tappan John Trainor about to haul in the game's first score, a 45-yard TD catch.

It started well enough for the Knights when Fuller (5 of 14, 136 yards, TD) hit Dobitsch for the 20-yard gain to the PV 35, but the shotgun snap over Fuller's head and three straight incompletions wrapped up the huge win for Pascack Valley on the home field of one of last season's North 1, Group 3 state sectional finalists.

“From the first day of summer, the first day of camp we were focused on this game. We knew it was a big one for the season right off the bat,” said PV quarterback Kyle Schneider. “We remembered what happened last year (a 42-7 loss) and we wanted to get some revenge. We got it and it feels good."

PV did most of its offensive damage on the ground as Swatek (13 carries, 125 yards, 2 TD), Roses (17-51) and DeChiara (4-19, TD) took turns pounding the ball behind the physical offensive line. Fuller was again the main threat for Old Tappan as he rushed 15 times for 97 yards and two scores and threw for 136 and a score.

Pascack Valley will look to stay unbeaten next week when it hosts Passaic Valley on Friday night, while Old Tappan will try to crack the win column at Paramus, which opened its season with a 14-7 win over Northern Highlands.

“It was the first game and we made first game mistakes,” said Dunn. “We didn't tackle all that well, we did not adjust to a couple of things that they were doing all that well, so we have a lot of work to do for next week.”

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