The Ridgewood News from Ridgewood, New Jersey • 19

1 Leonard directs 27-0 victory By JERRY PERVINICH WESTWOOD Glen Rock executed its lethal run-and-shoot offense to perfection in last Saturdays Group 2, Section 1 quaiterfinal playoff game to gain an easy win and stay on target for the bullseye prize of a state football title. With junior quarterback Chris Leonard pulling the trigger of an awesome aerial assault, the undefeated Panthers blew away Westwood, 27-0, for their tenth straight win and sixth shutout of the season. The granite Glen Rock defense has yielded just 48 points. The sharpshooting slinger put on a dazzling air show, completing 17-of-27 passes for 290 yards. He was sacked three times and had two passes intercepted.

Leonard also racked up 39 yards rushing on nine carries. It was deja vu for Westwood, making its second straight unsuccessful trip to the playoffs. Last year, the Cardinals were shot down by Lenape Valley, 13-0. We worked all week preparing for their aerial attack," said Westwood head coach George DiGrande. I thought our guys had it down and that they all understood their coverages.

But we just had a plain old bust in coverage and made some other mistakes. On the games opening play, Leonard connected with split end Jim Kurz for a short gain and then hit long gainers of 21 and 32 yards on the way to a quick touchdown. The seven-play, 66-yard drive was capped by Damond Andersons two- Picking apart the Westwood secondary on Saturday was Glen Rock Air Marshal Chris Leonard. Here, the versatile junior looks downfield to one of the tour receivers he used to gain 290 yards in his teams 27-0 state-playoff victory, as tackle Kevin Van Lenten (55) tends oft Westwood tackle Kyle Smith (77) at the line. At left is Rocker slotback Chris Reinartz (44).

(Photo by Tom Moorhead) yard run. It was a broken play; he was Early in the fourth quarter, not my main receiver, Leonard on his last toss of the game, noted. He was just standing very hard, and today, he gave it all he had. Before the game, Glen Rock Glen Rock slotback Chris Reinartz is halted by Westwood players John Grimes (81) and Joe Lucious (20) after a pass reception for a first down in the second quarter. (Photo by Tom Moorhead) head coach Alan Deaett expressed concern about the field, some portions of which were turned into a quagmire by earlier rain.

The ground crew did what they could, but this game should have been played on a neutral field, the veteran coach said. I felt it was unsafe to play on. I thank God we came out of it with no injuries. It hurt them more than it did us. Wells, with his bad ankle, could not run on this turf.

I think it would have been a much better game for them had it been played on a neutral field. Glen Rock now has two weeks to prepare for its next playoff game Dec. 2 versus top-seeded Ridgefield Park (8-0). Leonard connected with Kurz on a seven-yard scoring strike for the last touchdown, and then took a seat on the bench. In between, he spread the ball around among the other receivers in the run-and-shoot scheme.

He hooked up with split end Mikkel Brown five times for 88 yards, found slot-back Chris Reinartz on four occasions for 41 yards and hit Kurz with four tosses for 44 yards. Leonards leading receiver was split end Mike Henzel, who hauled in four passes for 118 one of them a- second-quarter, 41-yard scoring strike on blown Westwood coverage that put Glen Rock up, 14-0. there, wide open, yelling for me to throw him the ball. Reinartzs recovery of a West-wood fumble set up a third-quarter score on Andersons second touchdown of the game, a 14-yard run. Westwood was unable to get anything going and never got closer than the Glen Rock 39-yard line.

The Cardinals leading rusher, senior fullback Idris Wells, was hobbled by a linger1-ing ankle injury sustained a couple of weeks ago and impeded by the less-than-ideal conditions of the playing field. He managed just 18 yards on 10 carries. He is still not 100 percent, DiGrande said. He hardly played last week, but worked We still have to rectify last years 16-13 loss to Hasbrouck Heights in the playoffs and achieve our goal of the state championship, Deaett said. Westwood, now at 7-2 after losing the last two games, can gain some solace with a win against River Dell on Saturday.

A Cardinal victory and a loss by Ridgefield Park would give Westwood a tie for the BCSL American Division St. Joseph rushes to playoffiyffii We scrimmaged them earlier this year, so were familiar with them, Deaett said. They have a strong defense with a lot of big guys up front. I look for a great battle. Glen Rock has already achieved two of the three goals it set at the start of the season.

It has completed the regular season undefeated and captured the Bergen-Passaic Scholastic Leagues Carpenter Division championship. Title time By JIM McCONVILLE Three local teams have come away with state soccer championships, including a performance unheralded in Bergen County for at least 20 years. In the space of three days, Waldwicks boys soccer team won not only the Group 1 state championship, but also the Bergen County tournament and completed a perfect 24-0 season. No team has gone unbeaten and untied in the county for at least two decades, and the Warriors accomplished that feat by conquering the larger schools in the counties. A 2-1 win over Schalick gave the Warriors their first state title, and they followed with a 2-1 victory over Ridgewood in the county final.

As was their trend in the later stages of the season, they came from behind in the county final with a strong second-half effort. Aaron Kanarvogel (16th goal) headed in a Gino Miragha comer kick to tie the game at 1, and Emeka Ofodile got the game-winner with 16 minutes left when he put his 15th goal in on a pass from Paul DelValle. Ridgewood (14-4-4) had scored in the first half when Chris Hudson took a Craig Myatt pass and registered his fjfth goal of the year. Waldwicks win followed tourney triumphs over Clif-fside Park (Group 3), Ramsey (Group 2) and Don Bosco (Parochial A). Don Bosco did not let that loss deter them.

The Ironmen captured the Parochial A state championship and completed an 18-2-2 season with a 1-0 win over St. Joseph of Metuchen. in soccer Mike ODonnells penalty kick, his third goal of the year, was the difference in the game as the Ironmen took home their fifth state title under head coach Rich Zawacki. Goalie John Wallace needed only one save to register his 14th shutout of the season, and the Dons played a solid defensive game. Tbs Glen Rock girls also came away happy from their final game, crowned co-champions with Moorestown in Group 2 after the teams played to a 1-1 tie.

The Panthers finished with a 20-2-2 mark, and they did not panic when th defending state champs took a 1-0 lead with five minutes left in the first half. It was a matter of time before they were able to finish off their offensive opportunities, and the tying goal came with 11 minutes left in regulation time. Junior Melissa Bochiaro took a pass from junior Kristen Ferry and knocked in her eighth goal of the campaign. Goaltender Yolanda Sheppard made it stand up with 10 saves, a couple of which were superb in the overtime. Ramapo's girts, who many thought were destined to be state champions, fell one game short.

They could not find the back of the net in a 1-0 loss to Holy Cross of Delran in the Group 3 final. The defeat left the Raiders at 22-2, the other loss coming in the county tourney to Northern Highlands in the semifinals. Holy Cross scored the games only goal with seven minutes to go, one of only four shots on goal by the Lancers. ByTONYABRUZZO M0 MTV ALE Whenever St. Joseph Regional and Delbarton face each other on the gridiron, theres one guarantee, an exciting football game, and Saturday was no exception.

For the last three years, the Green Knights and the Green Wave have met in the opening round of the state playoffs. In the first two meetings, Delbarton staged fantastic come-from-behind victories to deny St. Joseph a trip to the final. Last week, however, the Green Knights (9-0) turned the tables on their playoff nemesis by staging their own come-from-behind victory, 21-14, to earn a trip to Giants Stadium Dec. 2, when they will take on DePaul (8-2), a 21-9 winner over Immaculata of Somerville, for the Parochial 3 title.

They did it behind the strong running from tailback Cooper Rego, who scored both second-half touchdowns for the Knights on runs of 82 and 14 yards while carrying the ball 19 times for 161 yards. Their running game proved to be a little too much, said Delbarton head coach John Kowalik. They have a great offensive line, and their fullback is a bear; hes one tough runner. Their offensive line deserves the credit; it got off the ball well and played four quarters. St.

Joseph was down, 14-13, after three quarters, but stuck to what it does best run the ball. The Knights, starting at their 20 with 10:56 remaining, consumed 8:21 off the clock to score the game-winning touchdown with 2:35 left. Using their running tandem of fullback Henry Polio (872 yards, 12 TDs) and Rego (1,383 yards, 17 TDs), they slowly Delbarton executed to near perfection in the first half, using an explosive passing attack led by junior quarterback Rodney Tr afford, who picked apart the Green Knight secondary, completing ll-of-19 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns to bring his season total to 16 on the year. The reason for Traffords surgical success was the lack of a pass rush for St. Joseph.

Pressuring the quarterback has been the Knights forte all season, but, in the first half, they couldnt even lay a finger on him. The Knights needed to get to Trafford if they were going to win the game. And they did, as St. Joes made some adjustments in its defensive scheme and was able to pressure Trafford, forcing him out of the pocket. They sacked him twice, courtesy of Pollio, Timothy Dinkelmeyer and Mike Perrone, and limited him to just three completions in nine attempts for 21 yards.

We made an adjustment at halftime where we rushed both inside linebackers (Chris Cum-mingham and Perrone) to flush him (Trafford) out of the pocket, where our ends were able to contain him, said St. Joseph defensive coordinator Frank Salvano. That seemed to turn it around for us, because once he was on the run, he couldnt throw the ball as well as when he was sitting in the pocket. St. Joseph, down 14-0, responded with 1:47 to go in the first half, when Pollio barrelled in from one yard out.

The Knights pulled to within one late in the third quarter, when Rego scored on an 82-yard run. Rego was headed up the middle, but with no opening, he darted through a hole around the left end and used his 4.45 speed in the 40-yard dash to out run everyone to the end zone. Dan Colonna, St. Josephs second-year starting quarterback, gets sets to release the ball in the Green Knights stirring, come-trom-behind victory over Delbarton ol Morristown on Saturday in the Parochial Group 3 state playoffs. Blocking for Colonna is tailback Cooper Rego (23), who scored the tying and winning touchdowns in the 21-14 win that kept St.

Joseph undefeated. (Photo by Tony Vassallo) marched up the field, with Rego scoring the game winner on a 14-yard run. We beat a very good football team despite making numerous mistakes and never generating any sustained momentum until the last drive, said St. Joseph head coach Tony Karcich. Were down, 14-0, on a bad field against a good team, but we found a way to win.

Thats really the most important thing that came out of this game. For the first time this season, St. Joseph found itself in unfamiliar territory, trailing, 14-7, at halftime..