Daily Record from Morristown, New Jersey • 41

Dl Dig deeper into Game. Log on to www.dailyrecord.com for more coverage of the Morris County area's high school sports scene. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2003 THE DAILY record's scholastic sports extra section Section Group IV Football Final: Ridgewood 35, morristown 6 Colonials fall short in state championship BY MATT UNDERWOOD DAILY RECORD Adair rushed nine times for 30 yards and caught three passes for 14 yards. He also completed 2-of-3 passes for 26 yards. Robinson carried 17 times for 74 yards.

"Our objective was to get Shaun Adair 15-20 touches and we got that done," Porcelli said. "But give a lot of credit to their defense. They kept him out of the end zone." In the first half, Morristown had just 62 total yards and Ridgewood took a 13-0 lead into intermission. Ridge wood dominated on both sides of the ball and came away with a 35-6 victory over Morristown in the Section 1, Group IV championship game at Giants Stadium "This is by far the best team we've played all year," Colonials coach John Porcelli said. "Nobody expected us to be here.

We surprised a lot of people with such a junior-loaded team. We expect to be back here next year hopefully with a different outcome." The Maroons forced Morristown to punt and then embarked on a 56-yard drive capped by a running back option pass from Derek Pilipi-ak to quarterback Chuck Kali-ades for 14 yards with 1:19 left in the third quarter to make the score 22-0. Morristown went three-and-out once again and Ridgewood went downfield and scored one more time. The Bergen County school took advantage of a muffed Morristown trailed by just 13-0 at the half and Porcelli believed his team was in for the long haul, but the Maroons took the second-half kickoff, drove down the field and scored and Chris Helsel's 32-yard field goal to dampen Morristown's hopes. "We thought we had some momentum built up going into halftime," Porcelli said.

"But they came out, scored on the first drive of the second half and put us on our heels." Ridgewood wasn't through. punt and took control at the Colonials 37-yard line. Four plays later, Pilipiak took a pitch and went 12 yards for a touchdown to open the fourth quarter and give Ridgewood a 29-0 lead. Morristown finally got on the board by driving 53 yards in nine plays. Travell Robinson rushed for 26 yards to key the march, which ended when Shaun Adair rushed in from 4 yards out up the middle.

EAST RUTHERFORD Morristown ran into one of New Jersey's best teams and the Colonials could not come up with any answers Wednesday night. SEE MORRISTOWN D3 Section group I Football Final: boonton 14, butler 7 er. for sfeite mwlm Bast SEMI v. HOB KARP DAILY RECORD Sparta's Adam Lavalley is pulled down by Dover's Marc Fico during the first half on Thursday at Giants Stadium. The Spartans won the game, 16-0.

tart tikes i kspf 4 Arm hvskm Iv- if Gar Section 1, Group ll: 0 1 sparta 16, Dover Oj 3 Bombers capture first, state crown in school history BY STEVE TOBER SPECIAL TO THE DAILY RECORD EAST RUTHERFORD Any lingering thoughts of that monumental playoff semifinal victory over Mountain Lakes were neatly tucked away in the memory banks. Boonton's previous best-ever football victory was strictly in the past tense. After all, there was still a mission to complete in this historic 2003 season for the Bombers, but first they had to rid themselves of the rust of a snow-induced, two-and-a-half week wait until Wednesday afternoon's rescheduled North Jersey, Section 1, Group 1 state playoff championship game. Thanks to a couple of huge offensive plays and an opportunistic defense that took advantage of seven Butler turnovers, Boonton re-energized itself when it mattered most and rode a strong second half for a 14-7 victory. The monumental triumph sealed the school's first-ever state playoff title before a spirited crowd of 2,000 at Becton Regional's Field-Turf home surface in East Rutherford.

"This is what we fought for," said Boonton Coach Gus Modla. "We beat Mountain Lakes and it was a great win for the program and for the town, but we wanted to put a trophy in the trophy case and we did that today." Even when they were down, 7-0, late in the third quarter, the Bombers (11-1) knew their batteries had plenty of energy left in them in order to respond in a big spot. "I think the long layoff had its effect on us and I was kind of scared until Matt (Rathbun) and Mickey (Norton) hooked up on that huge pass play," said John Takacs, whose 49-yard TD run with 9:24 left proved the margin of victory. SEE BOONTON D2 M7 BY JON LESNIK DAILY RECORD EAST RUTHERFORD As the final seconds ticked down on the clock, the Sparta band played Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." And when the final whistle blew on Sparta's 16-0 victory over Dover, the band played "We Are the Champions." Then the celebration was on. Blue Spartans football helmets were tossed into the air.

Players rejoiced in front of the Sparta section of the stands. Quarterback Eric Reese and running backs Adam Laval-ley and Tom Zanetich stood on the team bench and held up their fingers to their cheering fans, signaling they were No. 1. On the same Giants Stadium field where players like Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor have made football history, the Spartans, did the same, completing a perfect season and claiming the Section 1, Group II championship. Capping a 12-0 season, the Spartans became the first SCIL school to not only go undefeated in con- yj 1 ference play, but in the state playoffs as well.

"The cheers are music to my ears," Reese said. "This team has worked so hard, we have so much heart, and so much passion. Tonight it all paid off. We deserve this." The victory was the perfect climax to the coaching career of Sparta's Pat Shea, who is retiring from coaching after this season. No sooner than he as presented the championship trophy that Shea found himself surrounded by his players, coaches and friends.

"Twelve-and-0 has never happened in our league so it is really rewarding to be the first team to do that," Shea said. "It is great for the seniors. You always remember your last game, so it is really rewarding to win the last game and go out on top. It is something the players and my coaches will always have. I 1 fc.il, a Hi -rTJjON aaLanl jMli 1 DANIELLE AUSTEN DAILY RECORD Boonton's Bill Be'ermeister breaks through the line for a touchdown against Butler on Wednesday.

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