Daily Record from Morristown, New Jersey • Page 35

Daily Record, Morris County, N.J., Wednesday, November 17, 1999 B3 SPORTS STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS Lenape Valley fears underdog Hopatcong Delbarton wary of Immaculata i 1 Hopatcong at Lenape Valley football Section group ii Semifinal Saturday, 1 p.m. St -c Delbarton vs. immaculata football Parochial Group III Semifinal Saturday, Rutgers stadium Anthony Veglatte (1,054 yards this season) and Matt Hrutkay (647) sparingly due to injuries, but Josh Morrison stepped in and rushed for 71 yards and a score. That's a clear sign that Immaculata's line blocks well, no matter who carries the ball. Defense? Immaculata held Pope John standout Zach Zeigler to 53 yards.

Zeigler has rushed for almost 3,000 yards over the last two years. "The thing I like is the way Immaculata pursues to the football," Kowalik said. "It's not just one guy, it's 7-8 guys in the picture when you watch them on film. That demonstrates to me that they have good speed and they play good defense." But can they keep Delbarton's Jer-maine Pugh from breaking a long one? Can they contain explosive receiver Wes Swackhamer, who is also becoming a game-breaker? Can they rattle quarterback Jeff Parros? Can they penetrate a line that has been consistent all season? Dominant defense And we haven't even begun talking about a Tim Johnson-led Delbarton defense that has been punishing people all year. "We think our defense is real good this year," linebacker Andy Lynn said.

"We have more speed and a faster defense than last year. Everyone is really fast and we're a lot stronger. Everyone was really dedicated in the weight room." "We have a lot of speed and that benefits us on both sides of the ball," Kowalik explained. The speediest of them all, of course, is the Pugh (143 carries, 1,431 yards), who rushed for 111 yards and scored five touchdowns against Donovan. Pugh also returned a punt 54 yards for a score and leads New Jersey in scoring with Delbarton running back Jermaine Pugh leads New Jersey in scoring with 35 touchdowns and 212 points.

tit 2 Mike Buscher daily record remained dominant. Joe Albarelli and Lynn have been factors at inside linebacker. McCurdy has done well at either end or linebacker and Grier Jones has been strong at tackle. Parros has seven interceptions at safe-ty. i That same group helped lead Delbarton to a 21-3 victory over Immaculata in the state final at Rutgers last year.

"From Donovan to Immaculata is a big leap," Kowalik said. "It's a real test of how far we've come on and whether or not we are the caliber of team we'd like to be." If they are, then Delbarton fans can finalize those championship-game plans. JOE HOFMANN can be reached at (973) 428-6674. BY JOE HOFMANN Daily Record To the casual Lenape Valley foot ball fan, it was a night to remember. To Patriots coach Don Smolyn, Lenape Valley's victory over Hopatcong on Sept.

24 wasn't all that easy. The Patriots silenced upstart Hopatcong in Week 3, 28-8. Junior running back Andre Bogle had touchdown runs of 50, 51 and 81 yards. Easy win? Smolyn didn't see it that way that night. He still doesn't see it that way.

Smolyn sees his team ahead late in the first half by only 14-0. He sees his son Chris running for his life in his own end zone with the ball. He sees Chris barely getting away a 50-yard punt. He sees two teams that are pretty close. "If Chris gets tackled, it's 14-7," Don Smolyn said.

"I was never comfortable in that game." Don Smolyn hasn't felt comfortable all week, either. Lenape Valley has to beat Hopatcong all over again Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Section 1, Group II playoffs in Stanhope. Don't let the final score of the first meeting fool you. Even Chris Smolyn doesn't relish the thought of that night.

"We didn't sustain any drives," he said. "Andre played real well. The last time we played would've been close if he didn't break those runs off." Coach Smolyn has taught his son well. Lenape Valley didn't break any long runs not a single one against Kittatinny on Oct. 9.

The result: a startling 10-7 loss. Hopatcong has knocked off that same Kittatinny team twice this year, the second time a 25-6 victory in the first round of the playoffs Saturday. Overconfidence a concern Now you know why Smolyn wants his team to erase the memory of Lenape Valley's first meeting with Hopatcong. "It was 28-8 the first time, but it was four big plays," Don Smolyn said. "Overconfidence is a concern.

The game was a lot closer and that's scary." More often than not, Lenape Valley has been scary this year. The Patriots (8-1) captured their second straight SCIL crown. Their best victories were a 24-0 win over perennial league power Pope John on Oct. 22 and a 42-15 win over Vernon on Oct. 1.

Both teams finished tied for second place in the league and qualified for the playoffs. The speedy duo of Bogle (90 carries, 879 yards, seven touchdowns) and Joe Egan (89 carries, 715 yards, eight touchdowns) has benefited from great line play. So has strong fullback Chris Vaughan, who excels in tight yardage situations. Lenape Valley's leaders up front are Chris Holland, Dan Morschauser, Dave McCready, Chris Smolyn and Rob Bruno. "The strength of the team is in the lines, without a doubt," Smolyn said.

"Holland is a very physical kid and a great run blocker. He's so darned strong and a fanatic in the weight room. Morschauser is usually the guy we run behind." Matt Meehan doesn't pass often (24-of-46, 405 yards, four touch- fired a shot off the hands of the Mahwah keeper. Kopec came running in from the left wing and sent the ball past the outof-position goalie to knot the score at 1-1. The biggest reason the Thunder-birds scored just one goal was the play of Keneally, who, acting as Gibson's personal bodyguard, made saves using various parts of her body.

"We didn't panic, we stayed with our game plan and we had Lady Luck on our side," Anderson said. "We had confidence and our goal showed our character. We could have quit but we kept playing." MAURICE BROOKS can be reached at (973) 428681. By Joe Hofmann Daily Record For any Delbarton football fan expecting to attend a Green Wave-St. Joseph (Montvale) Parochial Group III championship game at Giants Stadium the weekend of Dec.

3, don't finalize your plans just yet. Delbarton must still get through a semifinal game against Immaculata, which proved during last week's 37-7 dusting of Pope John that it is not a team to be taken lightly. The Green Wave (10-0), defending Parochial III champions and winners of 19 straight, have turned every game into a rout this season. Delbarton has outscored opponents by a combined score of 470-40. Among those were blowouts were wins over NHC-Skyline foes Orange (35-8) and Wayne Valley (55-14), both of whom are still alive in the playoffs.

But none of that means anything if Delbarton can't beat Immaculata. That's why coach John Kowalik won't let his team look past the Somerset County school when the two meet at Rutgers Saturday morning at 11. "Immaculata did a real good job against Pope John and made a statement about where they are," Kowalik said. "They're playing at a real high level right now." So, too, are the Green Wave, who are ranked No. 1 in the Daily Record area and No.

3 in the Gannett New Jersey Top 20. Delbarton, seeded second, dominated from start to finish against Msgr. Donovan on the way to a 56-0 first-round victory. In the other bracket, top-seeded St. Joseph's (8-0), which is ranked fourth by Gannett, is an overwhelming favorite against Camden Catholic.

But Kowalik's message this week is clear: forget St. Joe's. Think Immaculata. The Spartans passed the ball effectively against Pope John with quarterback Willie Dupree (9-of-16, 135 yards, three touchdowns) at the controls. Immaculata used runners Randolph Continued from Bl overtimes.

After mostly standing around in the chilling winds, Still-man found herself on the penalty kick hotseat and performed admirably in defeat. "When the ball's down the other end all the time, you've just got to keep your concentration," StUlman said. "I tried to keep moving and keep my mind in the game." That's all Stillman could do to keep occupied during a scoreless first half dominated by her team. Despite their territorial advantage, the Rams found themselves in a 1-0 hole when Wayne Valley's Amy Wieszun scored early in the second half. On the play, Stillman came off her line and got trapped out of the goal after a long pass upfield.

Wieszun's first shot was stopped by the keeper but the Indian Hills forward gathered the rebound and calmly left-footed a shot into an unguarded net from about 12 yards out. Randolph pressed for the equalizer throughout the half but could get little past sweeper Knapp and noth DMendham Continued from Bl saves, still in net, Mendham and Mahwah played two scoreless overtime periods. "Ashley's eye puffed up right away and we put ice on it and it didn't go down," Mendham head coach Gary Anderson said. "I put Beth in at goalie because she was the last player to play the position, although it was about two years ago." Anderson decided to gamble and put his top defender, Colleen Keneal-ly, in goal for the shootout. Keneally, who plays sweeper, allowed four of the five Mahwah shoot 35 touchdowns and 212 points.

Pugh uses his speed behind fullback Sean Farrell and a seasoned line led by center Joe McCurdy and Johnson at tackle. Swackhamer (26 catches, 539 yards, nine touchdowns) has become one of the area's most most dangerous two-way players. He caught five passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns against Donovan and is an excellent defensive back. Another player on offense who has blossomed is Parros (59-of-102 passing, 929 yards, 15 touchdowns, three interceptions), who was 8-of-10 passing for 148 yards and three scores against Donovan. Johnson, bound for Penn State, has lined up at outside or inside linebacker or at defensive end, has constantly been double-teamed but has Shinobu Bharaj of Randolph battles yesterday's Group IV Semifinal.

The thwarting Blom's kick. Elia, Mendham's first shooter, beat the Mahwah keeper to the right side, setting off a wild on-field celebration by the Mendham players. "Colleen told me to pick a side and I happened to guess right," McCann said. "You're probably wondering why I didn't go with Casey originally," Anderson said. "I went with Colleen because she doesn't have to run as much as Casey and I figured her legs would be fresher.

And, when Casey was younger, she broke both of her wrists playing goalie. I knew her history and I didn't want to risk anything. I figured the odds were slim of her getting injured during sudden death." Chris Smolyn Brian Smith downs) but is efficient. Two weeks ago, Smolyn welcomed back receiver Marc Ligouri, a 6-foot, 3-inch, 190-pound flyer who can make a big play at wide receiver, defensive back or when returning kicks. Defensively, Holland and Vaughan anchor the defense from their linebacker spots.

Another key defender is tackle Adam Becker, who had what Smolyn called the best game a tackle ever had at Lenape Valley (12 solo tackles) during a 21-14 win over High Point on Oct. 16. Lenape Valley's defense will try and once again stop Hopatcong's elusive Bobby Smith, who has rushed for 1,373 and 11 touchdowns. But against Lenape Valley the first time out, Smith was bottled up nicely. Smith rushed for 225 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries against Kittatinny last week.

"We have to contain him on cutbacks," Chris Smolyn said. "He's very fast, he beats people to the out side and he can cut back." Another Hopatcong strength is a swarming defense, led by standout linebackers Sean Hefferon and Brian Smith, who are both said to be Division 1-AA caliber. "We're treating this the same as the Kittatinny game," Hopatcong center Tom Howell said. "We're the underdogs and its the first time in the playoffs. The first game, they were fired up and ready.

We were, too, but we beat them only once or twice in the last 15 years. Thinking about that kind of got to us the first game. We're playing tougher now." In recent weeks, Hopatcong (6-4) lost a 10-0 decision to Vernon on Oct. 30 and 9-6 to Pope John on Nov. 5.

"This is a chance for us to play in the state finals," Howell said. "It's the biggest thing in our careers. It's a chance to beat Lenape Valley. The night they beat us, coach (Todd Van Orden) said that we'd get a chance to play them again. We've been hanging on that all year." JOE HOFMANN can be reached at (973) 428-6674.

Local Sports Detailed coverage, of Morris and Sussetf county high school sports every day in the Daily Record Heating Air Conditioning by LOW, LOW PRICES! Central Heating Cooling Systems Furnace Replacements Oil 1 Gas Ductwork Specialists Humidifiers Air Cleaners Metal Vent Chimneys Hi-Efficiency Units SK YORK. FREE ESTIMATES 973-398-3712 Mombw FDtC be withdrawn at anytime. ing past Rabcow. The Wayne Valley netminder's 12-save effort was highlighted by a flat out, diving stop on Tara Repscher with roughly 10 minutes left in the half. Randolph was almost out of time when a bit of luck finally came its way.

Laura Gubitosa lofted a corner 'kick in front of the net that got headed a couple times and went off five or six players. The ball finally came to Tara Repsher, who chipped it in from just in front with two and a half minutes left. "You've got to give a lot of credit to Randolph, scoring at the end like that," Smith said. "That shows what they're made of." At that point, the Rams were one part relieved and one part inspired. They dominated the two 10-minute overtime periods but couldn't generate any quality chances in either, putting the game in the hands of a dozen players.

"Penalty kicks that's a tough situation," Randolph coach Colleen Suflay said. "I was into it but I was still really nervous," Rabcow said. "It just came down to having confidence." And some help from above. BOB SHWALB can be reached at (973) 428-6671. ers to score.

The one Mahwah shooter who missed kicked the ball over the goal. Mendham also connected on four of five shots, including the tying one by Jill Whitehead that forced sudden death. "I chose to go in goal," said Keneally, who plays keeper for the Mendham girls lacrosse team. Anderson rolled the dice again for the second round of the shootout, inserting McCann, who has scored 31 goals this season, for Keneally. Former Mendham assistant coach Sam Nellins screamed "Bri-ana Scurry" to McCann as she took her place in net and the junior did her best imitation of the U.S.

Women's Team World Cup keeper, il f. T. Mike Buscher daily record players from Wayne Valley during Rams were defeated in a shootout. The fact the game came down to penalty kicks at all was surprising. Mendham, which lost 2-1 in overtime to Gloucester Catholic in last year's Group II final, was the clear favorite over Mahwah, now 12-8-1.

Blom staked the Thunderbirds to a 1-0 led with 31:01 left in the first half when she sent a ball off the hands of Brady into the net. "Blom is a very tough player and their team played well," McCann said. Despite several solid scoring chances for both teams, the score remained that way until just under four minutes left in regulation. McCann dribbled the ball up the right side of the field and made a beautiful cross to a cutting Elia, who 4 it-uv-- RedOakBanlc 'lit M.T?iv 1 RED OAK CD RED OAK BANK HOME EQUITY LINE Introductory Rati Fircl 6 Moitfbs 5.999"' Thtrraftrr. through thr hje 0 tht loan tht rati mil bt 0.5 BELOW PRIME! 3.35-; Expect a Difference New Extended Bank Hours Lobby: 8:30 am to 5:00 pm daily.

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