The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 156

t-S-18 THE SUNDAY. RECORD HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL DECEMBER 6, 1992 turnovers 1 are costly to Highlands 1 ''iy By JOE CKESSARI Correspondent WAYNE Justin Riemer and company are well aware of Wayne Valley's tradition. All it takes is a trip past the trophy cases, which are filled with awards and footballs from the school's biggest victories. And there have been many. Now you can add one more.

After spotting Northern Highlands a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, Wayne Valley took control to post a 23-7 victory Saturday and earn another trip to the Group 3, Section title game. GROUP 3 A v--- I tries to break the tackle of Wayne STEVE AUCHARDTHE RECORD Valley's Paul Ricciardi. STEVE AUCHARDTHE RECORD -Dax Strohmeyer of Northern Highlands celebrates after the Highlanders recovered a Wayne Valley fumble. The recovery led to a score. ends Pope John's dominance "You can't make mistakes against them," said Rotella, who was questionable until Saturday morning.

"They outplayed us. We didn't play up to our potential. There's nothing else to say." Highlands' second half-to-forget began positively enough when Riemer was stopped by Rotella on a fourth-and-one at the Highlands-18. But after two running plays, the Valley defense forced a fumble, which was scooped up by Tom La-badie at the 20 and returned to the 16. Jackson got the call three times before quarterback Boyd Bishop he does most of his damage.

"He Johnston' is a great runner," Lennon said. "We thought about him all week long. He's someone we wanted to contain." DePaul answered Johnston's touchdown with a 16-play drive that consumed eight minutes. The possession initially ended on Pete Spicer's 27-yard field goal, but the Spartans got a break when Pope John was called for roughing the kicker. DePaul took advantege, scoring three plays later when quarterback Spicer rolled right and fired a bullet to Jeff Buczek for a 5-yard touchdown.

Pope John came right back. John O'Leary took the ensuing kickoff 56 yards to the DePaul 29. Six plays later, Frank Zydel ran for Rory Sabino of Northern Highlands cause we have outstanding athletes and blockers." Junior Alphonzo Jackson led the Indians' ground attack with 106 yards on 25 carries. He closed the scoring with 1:51 remaining on a 4-yard run up the middle. Riemer, who suffered bruised ribs in the first half, rushed 11 times for 39 yards and booted a 37-yard field goal to give his team a 10-7 lead going into the second half.

Highlands self-destructed in the second half, losing two fumbles that led to the Indians' final scores. showed great resilience each time we scored." The game, billed as a matchup between two of the state's top running backs Hu and Pope John's Mike Johnston became a Hu showcase. Johnston never got un-tracked. After battering St. Mary's for five touchdowns and more than 200 yards rushing in the semifinals, Johnston (73 yards on 14 carries) failed to gain at least 100 yards for the first time all season.

Johnston left his only mark on the game on Pope John's second play from scrimmage, when he ran 40 yards off right tackle for his 35th touchdown of the season to give PJ a 7-0 lead Otherwise he was unable to get outside, where nfTTT 4 The Indians (9-1) seek their fifth State championship Saturday when they meet unbeaten Northern Valley at Demarest, a 42-0 winner over Ramapo. "We don't think about losing," said Wayne Valley coach Dave McMahon, who took the Indians to an undefeated season a year ago. "We have one more week of work, but we'll take it." "There's a mystique here," said Riemer, a multi-talented senior. "When you win over and over, you just expect to keep winning." Valley adhered to its game plan to overwhelm the Highlanders, who were without leading rusher Frank Rotella on offense. A badly sprained ankle limited the senior to defensive duty.

Meanwhile Wayne Valley ran often and effectively. "We like to run our pitches," McMahon said. "We try to run off-tackle traps. We like to run be- PAROCHIAL them." Make that manhandle. With the exception of their opening possession, DePaul never had difficulty moving the ball.

The Spartans' ball-control offense kept Pope John's defense on the field for long stretches, and that took its toll in the second half. "Having the offense on the field so much certainly helped us," Hu said. "The best defense is always a good offense." Veteran Pope John coach Vic Paternostro agreed. "They won the war in the trenches," Paternostro said. "They were well prepared and 1 i-i 1- 111 I rip Butler victimized by Roselle Park dove over from a yard with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter.

Another Highlands fumble six minutes into the fourth quarter was recovered by Wagoner at the NH 37. Valley ran eight plays before Jackson powered through a hole up the middle to score from 4 yards. Linemen Scott Rankin, Jayson Friedman, Dan Kalosieh, and Dave Vandergrift opened holes all day. "They have great speed," Highlands coach Steve Simonetti said. "We knew they were very fast, but seeing them today, they were unbelievably fast." i V.

EION HU Enjoys a banner day a 6-yard touchdown. DePaul again tied it, this time, on a 13-yard scoring pass from Spicer to Bill Miesch that was set up by a fake handoff to Hu. GROUP 1 The ground played a part, too; Butler, which employs the run-" and-shoot, is winless on a muddy field. "We had to deal with the weather and I tried to tell the kids it was not a factor," Jones said. "But it affected them.

We turned the ball over early, and they Roselle Park played on the" same surface and did a great job. Fullback Maurizio Gadaleta, a junior who will be a cog in Butler's rebuilding plan, turned in another stellar performance. After being held without a gain in his first two; carries, he finished with 74 yards-on 14 carries and caught three passes for 66 yards. He scored Butler's touchdown in the second quarter to cut the lead to 7-6. Roselle Park scored on its second possession after a Butler punt, snap was mishandled at the RP Fowler eventually went in from' the 1, and Jon Nitche kicked his first of three extra points.

Butler answered quickly. On a third-and-21 on the next Gadaleta took a short pass 60; yards to the RP 16, thanks to a block at the 50 by wideout Dave' Conklin. Two plays later, Butler had a first down at the 5, but the situation improved only to a-' fourth-and-goal at the 2. Jones called for a full-house, backfield and, with Matt Sanders and Rob Ormsby blocking, Gada-' leta ran in for the score. Roselle Park controlled the line of scrimmage through most of the game, and its defense forced er- rant passes thanks to a heavy rush.

After the lead increased to 21-6, Butler's last four possessions ended in a fumble, an interception, -and two fourth-down tries stopped at the RP 37 and Butler 41. "Our kids are brokenhearted," -Jones said. "But I'm proud of them because? they got UePaul By JIM MCGUINNESS Record Staff Writer SPARTA Six consecutive Parochial North football championships, 18 straight appearances in the title game, and a 24-game winning streak. Those were pretty good reasons for DePaul to be intimidated by Pope John entering Saturday's championship game. To many, DePaul was considered little more than a sacrificial lamb in Pope John's quest for a record seventh straight State title.

But the Spartans weren't interested in being part of someone else's history. Eventually, they wore down the smaller Lions for a 28-21 victory and their first championship since capturing the Parochial A title in 1976. eserve propels By THOMAS SIM0NE JR. Correspondent NUTLEY With starting full-back Charles Rousselle doubtful with a badly sprained ankle, Nut-ley coach Rich SanFillipo looked to junior halfback Jason Zinna all 5-feet-4, 140 pounds of him in Saturday's Group 3, Section 2 football final. Zinna didn't disappoint, running for touchdowns of 10 and 30 yards while also blocking for Don Sellari, who rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns.

It all added up to Nutley's first sectional title by virtue of a convincing 39-6 victory over Morris Knolls. Last year the Maroon Raiders lost the title game to West Morris, 14-0. a feeling this is," said Zinna, who made his first start at fullback. "I worked all week in practice trying to catch up on the duties of the fullback in our offense. I just wanted to contribute any way I could." "I don't know what to say except that we made a commitment to win this year, no matter what it took," said SanFillipo.

"Nothing can take away this feeling of success today. Zinna came to play and Sellari stepped forward when we needed him, and our defense just kept up the pressure." But the game did not start out well for Nutley (8-1-2), which drove from its 22 to the Morris Knolls 7 before quarterback Frank DeMaio fumbled. Jason Webber recovered for Morris Knolls (8-3) at the 7. Two plays later, quarterback Scott San Julian faked a pitch and and went up the sideline for 63 yards to the Nutley 31. Eight plays later, Danny Eberth scored from the 1 for a 6-0 lead.

The extra-point kick was wide. Nutley's problems continued on its next possession, as Webber intercepted a DeMaio pass at the "This is the best win I've ever been associated with," said De-Paul coach Joe Lennon. "We've had some big wins, but Pope John is the team we've been chasing. They had all those championships and they had the winning streak." Not anymore. Taking full advantage of their superior size, the Spartans dominated the line of scrimmage.

The main beneficiary was running back Eion Hu. The 6-foot, 180-pound senior seemed to do whatever he wanted, carrying 39 times for 271 yards and two second-half touchdowns. "The offensive line made it easy," Hu said. "The key to the game was that we weren't scared. We'd seen them Pope John on film and we knew we could handle fullback utley GROUP 3 Morris Knolls 47 and returned it to the Maroon Raiders 18-yard line.

But the Golden Eagles couldn't handle the prosperity. On the next play, San Julian fumbled and it was recovered by Nutley defensive tackle Charles Piro at the 12. Sellari then took matters into his hands. On the first play he took a toss from DeMaio and cut back across the field for an 88-yard touchdown. Kicker Mark Smith added the extra point for a 7-6 lead with 10:53 left in the second quarter.

Another San Julian fumble on Morris Knolls' next possession this one recovered by Nick Baneky put Nutley in business at the Morris Knolls 33. Eight plays later, DeMaio ran in from 5 yards and Smith made it 14-6. The second half was more of the same as Nutley's defense forced yet another turnover on the opening series. Defensive end Dan Neville recovered Chris Cervona's fumble at the 20. This time Nutley settled for Smith's 33-yard field goal.

The next series turned the game into a rout. With Morris Knolls forced to punt from its 20, Smith broke in and blocked Webber's attempt, giving Nutley the ball at the 10. On the next play, Zinna went up the middle for the touchdown and a 24-6 bulge. Zinna, who rushed for 52 yards on seven carries, added another score in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard run and Sellari ended the scoring with a 1-yard plunge with 5:06 left. NOTES Despite a badly bruised shoulder, Piro was in on 11 tackles.

San Julian led the Golden Eagles with 88 yards rushing on 12 carries. 'v: By RON FOX Record Staff Writer BUTLER The spread offense carried Butler to the State Group 1, Section 2 championship football game, but it was the spread-the-wealth backfield of Roselle Park that kept the Bulldogs from the title Saturday. The Panthers and their three-pronged running attack out of the Delaware Wing Nick Fowler, Mark Carlson, and Kevin Kirby churned out 236 rushing yards and a 27-6 victory to complete an 11-0 season. A 6-yard sack by Butler's Glenn Borgmann is about all that cut into the yardage pileup. "They have a sound backfield with three kids who can go, and a quarterback John Schinestuhl who throws very well for that type of offense," said Butler coach Bob Jones.

Winning coach John Wagner further defined his club's strength: "Fowler's an fullback, Kirby went over 1,000 today, and Carlson has over 1,000 yards combined, running and passing. And our quarterback keeps the defense honest." Schinestuhl didn't throw a pass in the first half as Roselle Park built a 14-6 lead. But on the first two plays of the second half, he completed throws of 30 and 26 yards to tight end Marc Leonardis. The drive reached the Butler 5 before Matt Hamilton intercepted in the end zone. However, Butler couldn't take advantage.

Keith Wintermute intercepted a Butler pass at the Bulldogs' 41, and Roselle Park, which continually got outside the Butler defense, scored in five plays as Carlson took a sweep in from 14 yards. Butler was further sidetracked by a muffed punt attempt, two interceptions, a fumble, three key drops of early passes, and too many personal-foul penalties. V-r VV, tl'l o- Jt EO HILLTHE RECORD Mike Sizow of Lodi make a 36-yard reception, setting up the Rams' only touchdown in their 7-6 win over Lenape Valley. Story on S-16 mm.