Saturday,
November 22, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
MOUNTAIN LAKES – Having to play without its best player, Tommy Visaggio, Ridgefield Park needed needed to go right if it wanted to even be in the game let alone pull a massive upset over the freight train that is Mountain Lakes, the undefeated top seed in the North 2, Group 2 state sectional tournament. The Scarlets were reeling emotionally coming into the game and Mountain Lakes needed just one play to let its opponent know that it was going to be a long night.
On the Lakers’ first touch of the game, Brad Landry went untouched for a 57-yard touchdown run. Landry added another long TD run later in the second quarter as Mountain Lakes had the game well in hand by halftime. The Lakers ran their state-best winning streak to 23 games and advanced to the section final with a 41-14 semifinal win over No. 4 seed Ridgefield Park on Friday night.
Ridgefield Park got the ball first and had a chance to grab some momentum and run some clock, but it was not to be as a third-and-one run from the Scarlets’ 35 was stuffed in the backfield and they were forced to punt. On the very next play, Landry took a jet sweep and waited patiently for a hole to open up. Offensive lineman Anthony Smith and Sean Walsh opened it up and Landry went right through with ease on his way to a 57-yard TD and an early 7-0 lead.
“We wanted to make a statement on our first drive and we ended doing it on our first play,” said Landry. “It’s not just setting the tone, it’s maintaining it for the rest of the game. On the first touchdown, I was running parallel to the line and waited for a hole to open up. I felt like I if I got by the safety that I had a chance to go all the way.”
Field position was the name of the game throughout the first half. On the first five possessions for each team, Ridgefield Park’s average starting field position was its own 21 while the Lakers’ average starting field position was at the Scarlets’ 47. In that span, RP did not record one first down with four three-and-outs and an interception. Mountain Lakes quarterback Brad Smith took advantage, scoring nearly identical touchdowns on play-action rollouts to his left. The second of them came on a fourth-and-6 from the Scarlets’ 16 with Smith breaking two tackles to bull his way in for the score and a 21-0 lead.
Ridgefield Park was without Visaggio, who was ejected from the Scarlets’ first-round win over Hanover Park and, by rule, was hit with a one-game suspension by the NJSIAA, but had two chances to make a game of it on consecutive drives into the red zone set up by long passes from Ryan Lamon to Tommy Caraccio. However, the first drive stalled and a fumble ended the second.
Landry went untouched again on a 68-yard jaunt to the end zone midway through the second quarter and Jack Palazzi dragged three defenders into the end zone three minutes later as Mountain Lakes was in complete control by halftime, 34-0.
“Mountain Lakes is disciplined and has good athletes all over the field. If they find a crack it’s a touchdown,” said Kraljic. “There’s a reason why they’ve been as successful as they’ve been. When you make a mistake, they turn it into points and we just made too many of them early on.”
Although the outcome was essentially never in doubt, the Scarlets did what they have done all year and continued to fight hard every play regardless of the score. They averted the shutout early in the fourth quarter when Tayo Fatiregun scored from four yards out.
Bobby Frawley scored on a 60-yard run just over a minute into the third quarter for Mountain Lakes (11-0). Over the Lakers’ 23-game winning streak, they have won all 23 of those games by at least two touchdowns. The Lakers will face the winner of tomorrow’s semifinal game between third-seeded Lincoln and second-seeded Madison for the North 2, Group 2 title.
Fatiregun had 14 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown for Ridgefield Park, whose season came to a close with a final record of 7-4. Dante Capurso scored on a one-yard plunge and Alex Pratissolli hit Eli Carlos for the two-point conversion.
It was a disappointing end for the Scarlets, but taking the long view of the season, they not only exceeded expectations, led by a determined senior class they set a precedent under Kraljic, who was a longtime assistant under Tony Gonzalez. The new look Scarlets hope that making the playoffs becomes a yearly tradition.
“I can’t say enough about this senior class and what they meant to the program both for this year and the future,” added Kraljic. “Tonight we did not execute and we ran into a better team that did, but it doesn’t take away from what we accomplished this season. Now we have built in an expectation to win a league title and make a run in the states every year. While we’re never happy with a loss, we hope this is only a stepping stone for this program for years to come."
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