Daily Record from Morristown, New Jersey • Page 33

uit uuuy Kovuia, iiui iwooi ih.j. omiuay, ubloihuoi (. louu SCHOLASTIC REPORT ifli if! II mim mm mm wst ihrirgini Bulling his way through Bencivengo gains 138 yards By ED MILLS Daily Record Staff Writer 14-yard pass from Ciesla to Scott Stiansen led to Bencivengo's 5- (j yard touchdown run on a third down play. Bencivengo's extra point kick made it 14-7 with 1:39 remaining In the half. Dover looked like It would get back Into the game when it drove 60 yards in 10 plays at the beginning of the third quarter.

But on a third-and-eight-play from Jffer- son's 18, Stiansen intercepted a Rettas pass. The Falcons proceeded to march 96 yards in eight plays to make it a 20-7 game. A 35-yard bolt by Bencivengo and a 52-yard pass from Ciesla to Gunneson set up Bencivengo's 1-yard touchdown run. Dover's Danny Sway ze ran back the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to get Dover immedi- ately back into the game at 20-14. But Jefferson answered right back! with a 65-yard, U-play drive.

Stiansen scored from two yards to 1 make it 26-14. "You have to be good and you have to be lucky to win a state championship," Cinotti said. "We were both, but we also showed a great deal of heart. This team went through a lot of adversity today, but they responded to it with the heart of a champion." i never gave up and never stopped battling for every chunk of yardage." Ciesla hit on three of five passes on Jefferson's first touchdown march, coming up with a 9-yard completion to Al Gunncson on sec-ond-and-nine, a 22-yard completion to Gunneson on third-and-10, and a 9-yard completion to Glenn Morgan on fourth-and-seven. Ciesla finished the day completing 10-of-25 passes for 181 yards and two Interceptions, And most of his completions came in crucial third- and fourth-down situations.

Gunneson caught four passes for 98 yards. Bencivengo had three receptions for 40 yards. "We wanted to stop them from keying on Mike so much so we threw the ball a little more than usual," Ciesla said. "It's a lot easier for Mike to break into the clear if Dover has to respect our passing game. We forced them to do that." "I was too conservative against Hackettstown (7-3 win in opening game of playoffs)," Cinotti said.

"I decided this time we'd win or lose with our best. So we went with a strong passing game early, and it paid off." Jefferson took the lead for good following a 59-yard, 13-play drive late in the second quarter. Ciesla found Bencivengo with 12- and 14-yard passes on the march, and a I Group II this team is excellent. They refuse to die." Dover had its first opportunity to put away the Falcons early in the first quarter. The Tigers had gone on a 59-yard, seven-play touchdown march on their opening drive.

A 33-yard scramble by quarterback George Rettas set up Tom Mayes' 16-yard touchdown run with 7:38 left in the first period. On the following Jefferson possession, quarterback Ted Cicsla was intercepted by Mayes at the Falcon 32. Dover had a chance to take a quick two-touchdown lead, and a blowout appeared to be in order. But Jefferson's defense stopped Dover, tackling Rettas 1 yard short of a first down on a fourth-down play. Then the Falcons turned around and marched 77 yards in 15 plays for the tying touchdown, a one-yard plunge by Mike Bencivengo.

"That was one of our biggest drives of the whole season," said Bencivengo, who gained 138 yards on 27 carries and scored three touchdowns. "Defensively, we held them down and that let us get back in it. Then when we went for the touchdown, we realized we could beat them. We won because we I 4r i Daily RecordKAREN TOUHEY Jefferson's Mike Bencivengo, center, bulls his way through Dover defenders Conney Berger, No. 77 and Steve Malloy, No.

69. Bencivengo rushed for 138 yards to lead Jefferson to its first-ever state championship in its first-ever appearance. andolph's cte title Dover (9-2) 7 0 7 Jefferson (11-0) 0 14 6 Mayes 16 run (Saks kick) Bencivengo 1 ru (Bencwenqo kick) Bencivengo 5 run (Bencivengo kick) Bencivengo 1 run (pass failed) Swayie 80 kickoff return (Saks kick) S. Stiansen 2 run (pass failed) 0-14. 6--26 I J3 '4 JEFFERSON TWP.

Several times in yesterday's game, Dover seemed ready to apply the knockout blow to Jefferson. The Tigers had the Falcons down on the canvas and all they needed was one more good blow to apply the finishing knockout punch. But coach John Cinotti's team is made of much sterner stuff than glass chins, weak stomachs and wobbly legs. The durable and resilient Falcons refused to give in to the constant Dover attack, and they recorded a 26-14 victory over the Tigers in the North Jersey Section 2, Group II state championship game. This postseason was the first year Jefferson has ever appeared in the state playoffs.

Yesterday marked its first-ever state championship. Jefferson, the regular season Sussex County Interscholastic League champions, finished the season with a perfect 11-0 record, the first undefeated football team in Falcons history. Dover, which tied West Morris for the Iron Hills Conference-Hills Division title, ended up at 9-2. "My kids find a way to win, we may get down but we are never out," said Cinotti. "These kids believe totally in themselves.

Even when we got behind early I was not worried because the character of "He's carried the ball like 150 times this year," Summit coach Howie Anderson said, "and that was his first fumble. I feel badly for him because he's a great player." Randolph ran the clock down to two minutes with a pair of first downs. Summit, on its last stab, ran out of downs at the Ram 46. "I was surprised at how well they stopped us," Anderson said. "I think the footing slowed up our outside game." Randolph found its footing midway through the first quarter, driving 80 yards for a touchdown.

A 19-yard pass from Nardolillo to Steve Crociata got a crucial first down at the 40 early in the march. The Rams went the rest of the way on the ground, Bierals in particular finding room on an inside counter play for gains of 13, 8, 8 and 5 yards. Figurelli finally scored the touchdown from 3 yards out to give Randolph a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter. "They called my number," he said, "but they could have called anyone's number, the line was blocking so well;" No one could have called the number of wins Randolph would have this year, or that the Rams would win a state title. "I never gave that a thought," Bauer said of his preseason expectations.

"I kind of think that's an ego trip, thinking you can win a state title. Everything's got to break right for you." And if things don't break right, what's needed is the kind of defense Randolph played yesterday. Summit (8-3) 0 0 7 07 Randolph (10-1) 0 6 0 612 Figurelli 3 run (pass (ailed) Paessler 2 run (Feoli kick) Bierals 2 pass from Nardolillo (pass failed) fens 1 fc. A eft I I I fl 3 1 0mfv liM rf i 1 it to Group III though. It bottled up Summit's outside threat, halfback Mike Feoli, holding him to 19 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Mr. Inside, fullback Rob Paessler, had 77 yards on 18 carries. "We knew if we stopped those two runners, we'd have the game," said Mike Figurelli, the Rams' halfback on offense and defense. It was almost that simple, but not quite. Summit did finally penetrate the Randolph defense after an interception set up the Hilltoppers at the Ram 34.

Steady running by Feoli and Paessler carried Summit in for the touchdown with Paessler scoring from the 2. The extra-point kick by Feoli gave Summit a 7-6 lead late in the third quarter. At that point, the Randolph offense became its usual efficient self. One play after a 23-yard kickoff return by Figurelli to the Summit 42, Nardolillo hit Bierals for 9 yards on a screen pass. Then Nardolillo ran for 29 yards to the Summit 19.

A 7-yard run by Nardolillo on third-and-6 kept the drive alive. Finally, on third-and-goal at the 2, Nardolillo rolled right and found Bierals in the right side of the end zone for the clinching score. "Mattie had a great day running the ball," said Bauer. "That's what great quarterbacks do. You frustrate them and they find some other way to beat you," Randolph couldn't tuck away the title yet.

With more than eight minutes to play, Summit launched a drive of its own that carried from the Hilltopper 38 to the Randolph 27. But on a third-and-2 play, the ball popped out of arms and into the hands of Randolph's Tony Moschella. fate Daily RecordJOHN BELL Randolph's Dan Bierals, who scored the winning touchdown yesterday, grinds out some yardage. Nardolillo took to the ground 1 carries By MIKE TSCHAPPAT Daily Record Assistant Sports Editor RANDOLPH TWP. Randolph High School football means offense in most people's minds top quarterbacks, imaginative play-calling.

Yesterday, though, the defense won a state championship for the Rams. It stuffed Summit's heralded running game, giving the offense enough leeway to pull out a 12-7 victory for the North Jersey Section 2, Group III state title. The win brought to a conclusion a 10-1 season for Randolph. Besides yesterday's state crown, the Rams won a co-championship in their first year playing against the bigger schools of the Iron Division in the Iron Hills Conference. Summit finished at 8-3.

Quarterback Matt Nardolillo threw 2 yards to Dan Bierals for the winning touchdown with 8:41 left in the game, erasing a brief 7-6 Summit lead. Then the defense made it stand up. "That defense was absolutely super," Randolph coach John Bauer Sr. said, "I thought (John) Rago did an outstanding job. Those guys had a lot of pressure on them.

That's not the kind of game I like to play, giving Summit field position." The normally-reliable Nardolillo threw four interceptions yesterday. He made up for it by running for 98 yards, but the offense had trouble making things happen. Bauer took some of the blame for the turnovers. "Last week we did great passing," he said, referring to a 25-8 victory over Roxbury. "My problem is I don't know when to get off.

The next thing I know the ball is exchanging hands." The defense held things together By MIKE TSCHAPPAT Daily Record Assistant Sports Editor guably the best passer in the area. "I just had to run because things weren't open too much." It's not surprising things weren't open. Summit was determined to stop Randolph's passing game. "We played good coverage," Summit coach Howie "i Anderson said. "We used a 3-5 against their shotgun.

didn't think we could get to him (Nardolillo). If you can't'y get to him, you might as well put as many people in cov-w; erage as you can." i So Nardolillo took off, both on scrambles and designed plays such as the quarterback draw. "We were worried about the quarterback draw," An- derson said. "But we'd rather have him do that than beat; you with the bomb like he did last week." Nardolillo va threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Dan Bierals a week ago in Randolph's 25-8 win over Roxbury. Nardolillo did throw one touchdown pass yesterday, 2-yarder to Bierals in the fourth quarter that gave Ran- dolph the win.

Then, from his defensive back position, he helped the Rams stop Summit one last time. 4 "We were just thinking about all the hard work we did i over the summer," Nardolillo said. "We just called on it. We knew if we stopped them there we'd win." RANDOLPH TWP. In Matt Nardolillo's own he was "shook up." Not injured, but psychologically shaken.

Here was Randolph's junior quarterback trying to lead his team to a state title, and his passes were landing in the hands of Summit defensive backs. Three were intercepted in the first half and another early in the second half. So Nardolillo turned to his legs and led Randolph to a 12-7 victory over the Hilltoppers for the North Jersey Section 2, Group III championship. He led all rushers, including Summit's vaunted pair of backs, Rob Paessler and Mike Feoli, with 98 yards on eight carries. "Every time I ran the ball I was trying to make up for my passing," Nardolillo said, looking emotionally drained after the game.

On Randolph's winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, Nardolillo escaped on runs of 29 and 7 yards. Late in the first half he ran 33 yards and also had a 14-yard carry. "I wasn't passing too well," said Nardolillo, who is ar All-star game icing on cake for players Mt. Olive holds off Whippany Park, 5-3 By JIM CAPPUZZO Daily Record Staff Writer championship and county championship teams, so this game may not be as important to them." With college scouts on hand, it would appear playing in a game of such caliber would be a definite goal of any high school soccer player. But all of the Daily Record area players admitted they didn't know anything about the game until early last week.

"The competition was everything I dreamed it would be, but I had no idea the game ever existed," said Ranucci, a senior halfback who hopes to play at Rutgers next season. Even Helmut Soell of Morris Catholic, the head coach of the North team, didn't find out about the game until two weeks ago. Soell, however, was able to get the players together for one practice session last weekend. "If it wasn't for the fact that only seniors are allowed to play, the coaches could probably come up with four or five All-Star teams," Soell said. "These kids know what to do.

You can't change their playing style for one game. I'm just here to guide them." The game was first played in 1972. And, according to Rutgers head soccer coach Bob Re-asso, the game use to be played at Giants Stadium before a selected Cosmos NASL game. But when the Cosmos folded in 1984, the Soccer Coaches Association of New Jersey couldn't find a location. The game was not played last year due to a lack of insurance.

That difficulty was overcome this year with the Metropolitan Life taking over as the game's major sponsor. The South took a 1-0 iead with 20:30 left in the first half when John Maessner of Notre Dame scored off a pass from Lakewood's Dan Lindner. Twenty one seconds later, Carl Henks of West Essex tied the game. Seven minutes later, Archer gave the North a 2-1 lead off a corner kick from Mueller. At 5:51 of the second half, Steve LaMattina of Raritan scored from the top of the box to tie the game.

After a scoreless five-minute overtime period, Leandro Henrique of J.P Stevens scored off a feed from Columbia's Dave Donovan at 4:36 for the game-winner. Also played yesterday was the second annual North-South College All-Star game. Gabe Truppi of Trenton State College and Mark Edelstein of Rutgers scored one goal each to lead the South to a 2-0 victory. Rob Bednarik, Bill Rimmer and Andy Carroll of Drew University also played for the South because of the lack if seniors from South Jersey Ted Davenport scored a power-play goal with just under eight minutes remaining in the game to help Mount Olive hold on to a 5-3 victory over Whippany Park yesterday at Mennen Arena. Morristown-Beard rolled over Morris Knolls 10-2, on three goals and four assists by John Murphy.

Jeff Ohlweiler scored three goals to lead Chatham Township to a 10-4 win over rival Chatham Borough. Mount Olive 5, Whippany Park 3 Mount OIIvb (1-0) 2 2 1 5 Whippany Park (0-1) 0 1 23 First period: 1 MO. Pete Trendafilov (Sam Bilotti), 1:27,2, MO, Bilotti (Bob Satiat, Pete Pel-lack). 2:49. Second period: 3, WP, John Sllva (Paul Magala), 1:50:4, MO.

Jason Obelz (Drew Pierce), 4:31, MO, ObeK (Glen Morris) 1 4:43. Third period: 6, WP, Steve Trott (Paul Piechnik, Glenn Vannotta), 0:16: 7, WP Piechnik (Bill Hack-ett), 7:07: 6, MO, Ted Davenport (Jim Norton, Shots on goal: Mount Olive 5-7-214. Whippany Park 6-14-626. Goaliei: Dominick Varrone (MO). Frank Freda (WP).

PISCATAWAY For Randolph's Joe Ra-nucci, Dave Mueller of Morris Knolls and Steve Archer of Ridge, yesterday's North-South All-Star high school soccer game was just another highlight for their scrapbooks. But for Pete Whelan of Morris Catholic and Pingry's Todd Gibby, it was the climax of their careers. The high point of Ranucci's season occured last week when the Rams won their first state championship by tying Lakewood, 1-1, for the Group III title. Morris Knolls and Mueller won the Morris County crown and Ridge captured the Somerset County championship behind the talents of Archer. In three varsity season's, however, Whelan and Gibby haven't experienced a state or county championship.

"This was the ultimate of my high school career," said Whelan, who along with his Morris-Somerset County teammates helped the North to a 3-2 double-overtime victory at the Rutgers Stadium Complex. "This was my dream game. Most of the other players in this game have played on state Hockey Morr-Beard 10, Morris Knolls 2 Morrlstown-Beard (2-0) 4 4 210' Morde Knolls (0-1) 2 0 02, First pedod: 1 MB, John Forgatch (John Murphy), 2, MB, Page Chapman (Murphy, Harry Jones), 3, MK, Lou Devenuto (Jeff Zuoker-man, Nick Valuzzi), 4, MB. R.A. Lee (Murphy Forgatch).

5, MK, Mark Conklln (Zuckerman), 6. MB. Forgatch (Rod Mancuso. Lee), 2:53 Second period: 7, MB, Tim Allen (Chapman, Jones), 8, MB, Murphy, 6:29: 9. MB, Murphy, i 10, MB, Merritt Lewis (Murphy, Forgatch), 12:05.

Third period: 11, MB, Murphy. 12, MB, (Jones, Bill Arnold), 7:18. Shots on goal: Morristown-Beard 11-10-425 Morris Knolls 8-7-12 27, Goalies: Bill Cullen (MB). Walt Keiper (MK) and -TomRyanlMK). Chatham Twp.

10, Chatham B. 4 Chatham Township (1-0) 4 2 410 Chatham Borough (0-1) 0 3 14. First pedod: 1 CT, Jeff Ohlweiler (John Land) 2, CT, Sean Meyers (Ohlweiler). 3:42: 3 CT, Ohlweiler, 4, CT, Dave Finkle (Dave Hansen), 12:44. Second period: 5, CT, Jeff Knightly (Jeff Burke), 6, CB, Rick Mulholland (Dave Cushlng Jeff Elmblad).

7, CB, ElmDIad (Cushing). 3:47: 8 CB, Mulholland (Elmblad), 9. CT, Ohlweiler, 10:03. Third period: 10, CT, Aiello, 11. CT, Knightly (Ohlweiler), 12, CT.

Aiello. 13, CT. Meyers, 11:49: 14, CB, Cushing, 14:20. Shots on goal: Chatham Township 10-6-925. Chatham Borough 4-8-3 15.

Goalies: Michael.