The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 78

rwnrni. wwwwwwimMw i--- i- k. r- MOO SPORTS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1987 PM THE RECORD 8-17' Sennedy's Freeman rams past Bayonne By Ron Foi Record 8laff Writer GROUP 4 FOOTBALL PATERSON Disaster lay at Vincent Freeman's feet yesterday or so it seemed. The Kennedy quarterback was just starting to run a belly-option play when his fullback slipped and fell. Instead of going down with the ship, the alert Freeman stayed cool and high-stepped it 43 yards to start the unbeaten Knights on their way to the Group 4, North Section 1 football championship.

"I saw him fall and, when I saw the hole, I just said the heck with the pitch, and turned it up," Freeman said. "It was just a busted-up option and it was just instinct on my part." Freeman's part was of star quality. He also was 7-of-10 passing for 93 yards. The game was not supposed to be decided by a quarterback. The outcome was supposed to hinge on the play of a tailback and, in effect, it was.

Andrew "Tex" Johnson scored the winning touchdown on the next series, a 13-yard burst off left tackle with 17 seconds left in the third period. But the focal tailback coming into the game was Bayonne's Division I prospect, Ernie Beler, who figured to celebrate his 18th birthday with more than the 60 yards in 16 carries that the Kennedy defense allowed him. "He's a great back, but our goal was to keep him under 100 yards," Kennedy coach Frank Bonadies said. With Kennedy watching for an inside play on their 1-yard line, Bayonne crossed up the Knights for its defense, however. McDonald's sack stopped Bayonne's next possession, and the Knights drove 80 yards for the score as Freeman hit Kevin Jackson, 1 Marcus Banks, and Johnson for completions.

The 190-pound Beler also was a nuisance as linebacker. "He was making the tackles on our sweeps, so we had to go for the counter," Bonadies said of John- son's score. Kennedy iced the game by continually hounding Bayonne's backs. End Ronald Brand made a tackle on the kickoff following the touchdown, made the first-down tackle, and sacked the quarterback on the i next play. In the fourth period, Brand leaped above several linemen to bat away a third-down pass to halt one possession, and McDonald made a second sack to ruin another.

"This is why kids lift weights all summer," said Bonadies, whose Knights were winless last season. "This proves it an unbeaten season can happen to anybody if you set goals and work for it. This is for the winless Bloomfields and Paramus Catholics, to show them it can be done." S-18 I Knights regroup at halftime. touchdown with 1:52 left in the first half. Two spectacular pass plays sparked the 41-yard drive.

Quarterback Danan Hughes got off the first pass while being hit by Dedrick Williams, but Jason Verela made a nice catch in heavy traffic for 11 yards. End Devon McDonald was about to make the tackle on the next throw, but Hughes got it to the end zone, where it was deflected by Noble. Yet Charles Rankin made the catch at the 1. On fourth-and-goal, fullback Ernesto Baret made a beautiful leaping fake into the line, and wingback Rankin took the pitch around the left side for the touchdown the first allowed by the Knights in 26 quarters. "It was the perfect play," linebacker Frank Jacob-sen said.

"The man dove up and I hit him. And then I saw the other guy with the ball." The score was not enough to cave in the Kennedy The Knights were trailing unbeaten Bayonne, 7-0, until the broken play three minutes into the second half of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association playoff game. Freeman darted into the line and broke toward the right sideline, behind a block from wide receiver Dante Noble, and scored. Kennedy went on to the championship, 13-7. Bergenfiel lawks Valley By Barry Qramllch Correspondent BERGENFIELD The pressure to duplicate an undefeated season didn't concern Bergenfield coach Alex Turnamian.

The pressure to win another state championship did. Moments after Bergenfield's 14-0 victory over Wayne Valley yesterday, Turnamian played the part of a relieved coach. Unlike last year's orderly celebration of the Bears' state final victory over Hoboken, an unrestrained Turnamian turned Bergenfield's locker room into a dance hall to toast his team's second GROUP 3 fcPLS ft I 1 1 straight New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 3, North Section 1 championship. And appropriately, the coach boogied with his high-profile players. "It's tough coaching a team with a bunch of big-play guys who have a lot of talent," Turnamian said after sharing a two-step with split end-safety Ron Villone.

"And I'm telling you, it's harder the second time around. The kids were pressured to win all season and they never let it get to them." Perhaps it did once when the Bears (10-1) lost to Fair Lawn in a regular-season game. But Turna-mian's celebrated group came to play in the state tournament, and did not allow a touchdown in victories over cross-town contenders Wayne Hills ancf Wayne Valley. Now it is fair to make comparisons with the state's premier football programs. Not since Ridge-field Park in 1975-76 has a North Jersey Group 3 team repeated as champion.

The Bears have three titles in the Eighties, and five since the current playoff format was adopted in 1974. "I don't know how many teams can say they won five state championships in 13 years," said Tur- namian, in his fourth year as Bears coach. Senior defensive end Barry Las-tra may best symbolize the 1987 Bears. He never was included in the fanfare surrounding skillful quarterback Tom Fasano, Villone, split end Glenn Pinnel, and 6-foot-5, 250-pound tackle Anthony Grego. But he is one of the unsung heroes who filled nine vacancies from the 1986 championship team.

Lastra, who sat out his junior season to concentrate on basketball, had 11 tackles, two sacks, and an assortment of bone-crunching first hits. "We had nine brand new guys on this team," Turnamian said. "Barry's one of the guys who the recruiters never heard of, but they sure pick him up on the films." Gold stars could have been handed out everywhere. The versatile Fasano ran for 53 yards and passed for 85. Villone had three receptions and eight tackles.

Pinnel caught a 6-yard touchdown pass. Grego punished the Indians' lines, and had three sacks. Fullback-linebacker Mike McNulty Wayne Valley quarterback Mike Flower, left, hands off to running back John Cappo. I I scored one a 2-yard run and made 10 tackles. Guard-defensive end Brendan Ferriter had 11 tackles and a sack.

Dave Nogaki collected 76 all-purpose yards. Coach Fred Keil lacked a similar big-play performer on an underclassman-laden Wayne Valley team. The Indians advanced to the Bergenfield 11-yard line in the first quarter and came up empty. They got to the 3 in the third quarter and came up empty. And when the strong wind was in their face, they seemed to go in reverse.

"What bothers me is that we played well enough defensively to win," Keil said. "This is not a physically strong football team. We can't plow the ball in like Ber- genfield. But on a day when 90 i percent of the football teams are sitting home, we're here. "And that's why I'm satisfied." Hawthorne has big problem with River Dell's size GROUP 2 Section 1 title.

"We were decimated, but the kids showed their guts and rose to the occasion," said Toal, who was missing four players from his starting lineup, including star tight end-linebacker Bill Schwanewede. "Our defense was the real story of the game. We had three new starters, and we only made one mistake. It was as fine a defensive effort as we've had all year." Toal and defensive coordinator Kevin Looram switched from four linebackers to three to compensate for the loss of Schwanewede. The Golden Hawks By Mark J.

Czerwinckl Correspondent ORADELL A football coach tries to avoid tinkering with his lineup entering a state championship game, but River Dell's Greg Toal had little choice yesterday against Hawthorne. Toal introduced a new defensive alignment and shifted the personnel on his offensive line. The moves proved to be strokes of genius as River Dell edged the Bears, 7-6, to win the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 2, North (11-0) relied on their size advantage up front to hold the Hawthorne offense in check through most of the first half. With less than a minute left in the half, the Bears caught the River Dell defense napping. Quarterback Ricky Spirito pitched out to running back Jeff Collier, who saw split end Steve Casapulla breaking mr -m down the sideline.

Casapulla caught Collier's option pass, broke a tackle on the River Dell 20-yard line, and rambled in for a 57-yard touchdown. The snap on the extra-point kick was mishandled, but the Bears led, 6-0. "We used that play five times this season, and four went for touchdowns," said Hawthorne coach Tom DeMaio. "Casapulla made a nice catch and a nice run. We tried to get him the ball a little more, but Rich Kyasky did a good job covering him the rest of the way." Toal's second big move involved his offensive linemen.

Toal capitalized on his team's size advantage and shifted tackles Jeff Collins and Joe Augusta into the guard slots. The chief beneficiary of the move was Kyasky. The senior tailback didn't have his usual dominating game, but he still led all rushers with 103 yards on 33 The Golden Hawks took the kickoff to start the second half and drove 65 yards on 12 plays. Kyasky carried eight times during the drive for 32 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown sweep around the left side with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter. Mike Quinn kicked the extra point, and the Golden Hawks led, 7-6.

"We set the tempo for the second half right at that point," Toal said. "Without Schwanewede, we played it a little closer to the vest than we normally would, but we got the job done." The Hawthorne offense continued to come up short Kyasky ended one drive with an interception on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Hawthorne wasn't finished yet. The Bears (9-2) took over on their 26 with four minutes to play. They moved the ball into River Dell territory, but the Hawks defense stiffened. Collier failed on two more option passing attempts, and Hawthorne could get no closer than the River Dell 39.

Quinn filled in at defensive tackle and played a major role in stopping the Bears' final drive. Kevin Esler had a big game as Schwanewede's replacement at outside linebacker, shutting down the run and recovering a fumble. Fullback Steve Pusterla made his first defensive appearance of the season and impressed Toal with his play at cornerback. -f jr River Dell's Colin Kelly pulls down Hawthorne's Damon McGreen during their Group 2 playoff game. STEVE AUCHARDTHE RECORD.