Monday,
September 16, 2013
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Alex Wasserman scored N/V Demarest's only touchdown and had a late interception to help the Norsemen to a 7-6 win over Bergenfield. |
DEMAREST – With the early returns in from the first full week of the North Jersey football season, it looks like parity has settled in across the land, especially when it comes to public schools playing each other, and there are going to be a lot of game like the one Northern Valley/Demarest and Bergenfield completed on Sunday afternoon.
The two teams picked up right where they left off when the game was suspended by weather after a scoreless first quarter on Thursday and played to a near similar stalemate. In the end, over 48 minutes of football covering four days, a made extra point was the lone difference between the two evenly matched teams.
Bergenfield field on the third play of the second quarter, which also happened to the third play of Sunday's restart, but missed the extra point. Demarest got its touchdown on a third-and-11 play just before the half and Dominick Fazio's extra point stood up as the difference through a scoreless second half. With a stout defense and an offense that controlled the clock even if it did not score after halftime, Demarest held on for a 7-6 win in the completion of the season opener for both teams.
“We knew coming in that this was going to be like a heavyweight fight, that it was going to go 12 rounds and the kids played it like that. We are just happy to get out of here with a win,” said Demarest head coach. “We are anticipating [tough games] all year and we'll just try to keep getting better every day because we need to. It's a tough league and the games are going to be like this.”
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Aaron Vaz scored on a 71-yard run on Bergenfield's third play from scrimmage. |
If it was a heavyweight fight then Bergenfield threw the first punch as, on its third play from scrimmage, Aaron Vaz took a handoff and slanted off right tackle. He gained the edge and then outran the angle on a 71-yard scoring run that gave the Bears a 6-0 lead that stayed right there when what turned out to be a crucial point was missed.
Demarest, with its no-huddle, spread offense, was able to move the ball, but putting points on the board proved elusive. Its first drive of the day reached the Bergenfield 27-yard line and then, after a holding penalty, quarterback Matthew Liparini hit Andrew Doran on a late-developing crossing route. Doran got into the endzone, but the play was nullified by a holding call and the drive instead ended in a punt. On their second possession, the Norsemen were all set to go for it on a fourth-and-8 from the Bergenfield 35, but a false start cost them five more yards and led to another punt.
Demarest's final drive of the first half started with 1:24 to go in the second quarter and they Norsemen quickly marched to the Bergenfield 19 where it faced a fourth-and-4 with 24 seconds left before halftime. That was when Alex Wasserman caught a ball on the sideline, turned the corner and lunged for the end to finally get Demarest on the board.
“They had a safety over the top and I took a few steps toward the middle to get him to flip his hips and when I got back outside, I was open,” said Wasserman, a junior who moves around the offensive formation, some times lining up in the backfield, in the slot or out wide. “Matt Liparini put the ball right in there, I caught it, stayed in bounds and got in for the touchdown. It was a huge game-changer, especially because it came right before the half.”
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Matthew Liparini is now 1-0 as Demarest starting quarterback. |
Demarest was its own worst enemy in the second half as it punted on its first drive, fumbled on its second and had its third drive ended by Jamal Williams, who intercepted a pass for Bergenfield and returned it all the way to the Demarest 27 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter. But the Bears were unable to capitalize on either of those two turnovers nor the interception by BJ Haskins that ended Demarest's first possession of the fourth quarter.
“Offensively, I put a lot of the blame on myself. The play-calling and the execution just wasn't there and that is on me. We kind of went away from power football that we have been known for the last couple of years and that is one me,” said Bergenfield head coach Rob Violante. “The kids played their hearts out, but we have to be better than that because this schedule is too tough to play the way we did.”
Wasserman had a key interception that did not lead to a score, but to a drive that ran the clock down to 1:00 left in regulation before a Liparini punt pinned the Bears back on their own 5 with no time outs left. Quarterback Hassan Evans hit Haskins for a 14-yard gain and then scrambled for 13 and 5 yards on consecutive plays to get Bergenfield out to near midfield, but when he was flushed from the pocket on a third-and-5 from his own 48, it took the remaining time off the clock and gave Demarest its first win on Opening Day since 2007.
“It was a hard battle, it was a dogfight. Our defense really stepped up. We didn't give up anything after they scored on their first drive. Even though this was the first game, it was a big win because we have a hard schedule and we had to get off to a good start,” said Liparini, who is not only the starting QB but also the punter and the long-snapper on field goals. “It's a great feeling to open the season with a win, especially because we haven't opened the season with a 'W' in a long time and this can get us going.”
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