Saturday,
September 28, 2013
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Matt Butler converted a key fourth down late in the fourth quarter and deep in his own end to preserve Ramsey's 20-14 win at Ridgefield Park on Friday night. |
RIDGEFIELD PARK – As Ramsey head coach Vic Tribuzio paced the sidelines before making his big decision, a slew of different ideas went through his mind. With his team up by six and just over four minutes to play, Tribuzio knew this decision might be a deciding factor in both the league title possibilities and/or state playoff hopes. Faced with fourth-and-a foot at his own 15 with just over four minutes to play and with Ridgefield Park carrying all the momentum, he chose to go against conventional wisdom and roll the dice.
In a high risk-high reward move, quarterback Matt Butler dove on a QB sneak for a first-down. That allowed Ramsey to chew up some more clock and eventually escape with a 20-14 victory over the Scarlets on Friday night at Ridgefield Park High School.
“I’m not one to die slowly, I knew it was a big risk but I felt it was one we had to take,” added Tribuzio on his fourth-down call. “I had the confidence in the guys up front to get a push off the ball and they did. If we were going to finish off the game against a tough team, I wanted to do it on our terms. We made a lot of mistakes and had three turnovers, but we found a way to overcome them. This is a big league win for us and gives us some momentum into next week’s game against a very talented Mahwah team.”
Ridgefield Park’s Raul Ferrara picked off a pass in the end zone to end the Rams’ first offensive series, but they could not keep them out of it on the following series. On a play-action pass, Butler hit fullback Nick Catalano for a 12-yard TD strike and a 6-0 lead.
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RP quarterback Liam Connors escaped a sack on fourth down and threw a TD pass on fourth down to get the Scarlets to within 20-14. |
The Scarlets used a turnover to secure their first score of the game. After Freddy Garcia forced a fumble and Elijan Carlos recovered at the Ramsey 12, Andrew Rizo capped the short drive by sweeping for a one-yard TD run and Ferrara tacked on the PAT to give Ridgefield Park its only lead of the game, 7-6, with 4:38 to go in the half.
Ramsey showed no panic and methodically moved the ball down the field before hitting paydirt in the final minute of the first half. Butler hit Catalano in stride on a crossing route and the senior did all the work from there. He outraced a defender and dove for the pilon. That play capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive and gave the Rams a 13-7 lead at the half.
“It was a play we’ve practiced over and over and we got the right coverage on it to run it,” said Catalano. “I had a safety on me and he dropped off the line of scrimmage, so I ran my route underneath him. Once I caught the ball and he was behind me, all I saw was the end zone in front of me. I laid out to get the ball to the pylon. We needed to get a touchdown before the half to take back control of the game. Our teams faced some adversity all game, but that’s what football is all about. Facing adversity and finding a way to overcome it as a team.”
Ramsey added to its lead when Butler scored on a QB sneak from two yards out to make it 20-7 late in the third quarter. The Scarlets battled back on an athletic play from senior quarterback Liam Connors. On a fourth-and-15, he escaped a sack and scrambled around before hitting a wide-open Jeremiah Arce in the end zone for a 30-yard TD pass to slice the lead to 20-14.
The Scarlets had a big chance to take the lead when Arce intercepted a pass on the ensuing Rams’ possession and took it back to the Rams’ 12-yard line. The Rams hung tough, though, and forced a turnover on downs.
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Nick Catalano forced a late fumble to secure the win for Ramsey. |
On the following series, Garcia stuffed a play at the line for no gain to seemingly set up a fourth-down punt. Tribuzio took a timeout and thought about what exactly he was going to do. He had already made the decision to go for it and take a huge chance. Butler made that decision a smart one by following the left guard and diving forward for a two-yard gain and a first down.
The Scarlets did end up having one last possession, but they were backed up at their own 29 with 1:30 to play and no timeouts. Three plays later, Catalano forced a fumble and Ramsey fell on it to secure an important victory and move atop the standing in the Big North-American Division.
“We had our foot in the trap but we somehow snuck out of there,” said Tribuzio. “We’ve got a lot of new guys in new positions so we’re still trying to jell. Every single time we play Ridgefield Park, it’s one of those smash-mouth types of games that comes down to the fourth quarter.”
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