The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 40

12 BERGEN THE RECORD, MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1979 KftSEMPASSWHUCSOM COUNTIES, kfW JERSEY ergen Catholic gains crown, 14 By Joel Pisetzner Slaft Writer EAST RUTHERFORD In the moments following his team's 14-6 championship victory over DePaul, Bergen Catholic High School coach Tony Karcich reflected upon the start of the season and said he learned something between then and yesterday. "I learned that attitude can take you a long way," lie said. "We didn't figure to get this far in August We had lost 16 starters, four All-County. We lost to Plain-field if it were a regular-season game they would have beaten us by two touchdowns. But our attitude got us going.

"Then, before you know it, we had some experience and the underclassmen gave us depth." Once the Crusaders got going, they never stopped, although they were temporarily sidelined by a midsea-son tie against Paterson Kennedy. They capped their, near-perfect season yesterday in Giants Stadium by dominating the top-seeded North Jersey Parochial A -team in the -New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association playoffs. 1 CC .4 keeper with 52 seconds remaining, but its subsequent outside-kick attempt wound up snug in the arms of BCs Dave Fica. Thus was Karcich able to claim his first State sectional title after four runner-up finishes in his previous five years as head coach. "Hey," said Jones with a shrug, "when you're behind like that, your great kids have to come through.

Our kids were tight We made some mistakes we hadn't made before." One was a fumbled handoff on the 26-yard line just four plays after Jagiello had spoiled BCs game-opening drive by fumbling the ball away on the DePaul 12. Never a team to blow the same opportunity twice, BC pushed into the end zone seven plays after Bill Cronin's recovery. The long-legged Jagiello covered the final six yards on a bootleg left. After the ball had changed hands three times, BC was back in the end zone on a 10-play, 50-yard march highlighted by Jagiello's 12-yard run, a 13-yard strike to Fica, and Pacicco's 13-yard run to the one. Jagiello sneaked'in, and then threw a two-pointer to Fica.

On the following series BC stopped DePaul on the BC one, making the Crusaders a confident team entering the locker room at halftime. "We could feel the momentum building up," Azelby said. "I thought that goal-line stand was fantastic," Karcich said of BCs feat after DePaul had picked up a first down on the Crusader eight. "That took the momentum away from them and back to us." Now BC has enough momentum to carry over to next August, when the Crusaders will go to camp without 10 of this year's starters. Karcich won't worry, as long as the rest have the right attitude.

NOTES Kees, playing with a sore throwing hand and hip, completed 10-of-20 passes but overthrew a Bill Kohl a few times BCs Mike Amatrula carried 19 times for 71 yards. Everyone in BCs starting backfield fumbled, but Amatrula recovered his own Yesterday's paid Giants Stadium attendance was 19,012. Saturday's Stadium tripleheader drew 15,000 Toms River North rallied to upset Brick, 15-14, for the Group 4, South Jersey title. Parochial A They outrushed the previously unbeaten, untied Spartans 249 yards to go, holding runner Rick Cuaycong to 6.0 DePaul quarterback Dan Kees threw for 204 yards, but most of it was in a catch-up effort after the Crusaders had taken a 14-0 lead at halftime. "They've got fine athletes," said DePaul coach Jack Jones.

One of them, quarterback Ken Jagiello, scored on six- and one-yard runs. West Virginia is among the colleges pursuing the third-team All-Bergen pick, who led i all rushers with 73 yards and completed his four passes for another 61. 1 Joe Azelby, the first-team All-Bergen linebacker being ogled by several Ivy League schools, recovered two of DePaul's three lost fumbles. Two other times DePaul was stopped on interceptions. Crusader, runners lost three of four fumbles but Karcich's rocklike defense refused to be discouraged.

In the end, it was the BC defense, which had allowed 51 points before yesterday, that made the slim lead seem "I was never sure until I saw the clock running down," said Steve Pacicco, who had one interception. "They kept on coming." DePaul finally broke through on Kee's one-yard vil Parochial A i-O-l) Beroen Cath. Ft ueraui Jaaiello ritn frtm fsilpri) BC-Jagiello I run (Fica pass from Jagiello) DeP-Kees 1 rup (pass failed) First downs Rushing yards-Passing Yards 249 DP 10 90 204 10-20-2 MM -61 Ctiff nhntn hti Datar rm i-t-t rasses Punls-avo. Fumbles-lost Penallies-yards 3-2 DePaul's Danny Kees (11) passed for 204 yards against Bergen Catholic, butwassacke'd on this play by Joe Waters. ic Vail assu ey avenges loss to Clifton picked up the slack, and their success made it possible for Passaic Valley to get into the playoffs.

Yesterday, however, Wassel and Pegel drew the running assignments in their last varsity game. Each scored a touchdown, and Wassel in particular enjoyed the kind of game he dreamed of having Jim Donnelly prior to an eight-yard touchdown pass to Pegel. Wassel's running sparked the Hornets' other touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. His four-yard TD run was preceded by a 46-yard sprint. "When I was first told of my Illness, the doctors said I probably wouldn't play all year," said Wassel.

"I hoped and prayed I'd get a chance to play, This one game makes up for everything. It's great to be a champion." Group 4 By Jack O'Connell Stall Writer EAST RUTHERFORD It was a sea-' son of maturity for Passaic Valley, and the Hornets' continual growth as a football team was never more evident than in the New Jersey State Interscholastic 'Athletic Association playoff game yesterday at Giants Stadium. Another team might have suffered a letdown after being turned away from an opponent's goalline twice in the first half. Passaic Valley, however, proved it was more than just another team. It did so by totally dominating Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League rival Clifton, 15-0, for the Group 4, North Jersey Section 1 championship.

The shutout avenged a regular-season loss to Clifton two months ago and gave the Hornets their second State sectional title. Passaic Valley, which lost to North ley moved 79 yards in 15 plays after fhe opening kickoff, but was stopped at the one-yard line. Early in the second quarter, a bad snap from center left punter Bob Daly scrambling inside the Clifton 10 where he fumbled after a hard tackle by Frank Tummino. Bob Quinn recovered for PV at the seven-yard line. On fourth and goal, Daly and Bob Rad-cliffe stopped.

Wassel just short of the goal-line. The poor field position cost Clifton two points, however, when Kaptein was tackled in the end zone by Mark Krautheim and Marty Barone for a safety. After the free kick, the Hornets marched 42 ydrds in six plays, highlighted by Wassel's 19-yard run. Junior quarterback Mike Cyr, who completed 6-of-9 passes for 111 yards, threw 12 yards to Bergen in the Group 4 final a year ago, had been expected to rebuild this season because of heavy casualties in June when most of the players on last year's 10-1 team were graduated. Instead, PV head coach Joe Biscaha and his staff constructed an opportunistic offense and an aggressive defense out of a collection of inexperienced underclassmen.

"This team has matured a heckuva lot," said Biscaha, noting that the Hornets allowed an average of 280 yards in their first two games. "We played well enough to get by the early part of the season. Then we just started to improve with each game. We were forced to go with some players who normally would have been brought along slower." One reason was' injuries to senior run-" ning backs Bob Pegel and Joe Wassel, who missed the first seven games. Juniors Bob Shaara and Steve DePasquale for 171 yards on 23 carries and gaining another 38 yards on a pass reception.

The game started shortly after 5:30 p.m., and the' gametime temperature of 33 degrees steadily dropped into the 20's. With winds blowing up to 20 miles per hour, the conditions seemed to nullify any expectations of a wide-open game. "It wasn't the best night to be throwing the football," Biscaha said. Staying on the ground suited Passaic Valley much more than it did Clifton, which had used a strong passing game to beat the Hornets on Oct. 6, Quarterback Dave Kaptein was not as accurate this time, completing only 5-of-14 passes for 57 yards.

Clifton's running gamej meanwhile, was almost nonexistent PV the Mustangs to just 30 yards on the ground, minus 11 in the second half. Clifton's defense had given the Mustangs the early momentum. Passaic Val- Group 4 (-2)-Clion (lO-l)-Passaic Valley Safely, Barone and KraulHelm tackle Kaptein In end zone. for two months while he was out of school because of viral hepatitis. "I had my doubts about whether I play that much," Wassel said.

"We've been platooning a lot in the back-field. I wanted to do something for the team. It's tough standing on the side- lines." The 5-foot-ll, 180-pound halfback did little standing anywhere yesterday. He seemed to be in constant motion, running Pegel 0 pass from Cyr (pass failed). Wassel 4 run (Buscema kick).

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