September
17, 2006
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| Bogota QB James Lynch completed 10 of 20 passes for 185 yards and three scores. | |
NEW MILFORD -- Last season, Bogota dropped a 35-32 game to New Milford because the Bucs could not convert extra points. On Saturday night, the Bogota found itself in a similar spot, when an extra point try moved back because of a celebration penalty bounced off the crossbar.
Thankfully, it was only the first quarter, and this Bogota team is a year older and more experienced. They used their veteran status to atone for some of last season’s mistakes and got their season off and running, no pun intended.
The offense racked up 437 yards on a muddy track and the defense stifled the New Milford running game en route to a 34-13 victory, one that Bogota hopes is the beginning of a deep run in to November and the Group 1 playoffs.
“It was nice to get off on the right foot,” Bogota head coach Dan Sabella said. “We don’t have much time to enjoy it (the Bucs face Cresskill on Thursday), but it was nice to get the first one.”
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| AJ Scoppa ripped off a 56-yard TD run to put New Milford up 13-12 late in the first half. |
New Milford, a 32-7 winner last week in its opener, could not duplicate its offensive success, as it was out dueled time and again in the trenches. If the Knights needed any more of an omen, it came on the first play, when A.J. Scoppa was blasted just as he got the ball for a three-yard loss by Max Katzner.
“They’re very physical up front on defense, and we made some plays, but over four quarters they made more plays,” NM head coach Billy Wilde noted. “You’ve got to be able to run the ball a bit, and we couldn’t do that tonight.”
The Knights had only 119 total rushing yards, and 56 of them came on one sweep by Scoppa. Other than that, Katzner, Jonfrey Sanchez, Albert Verona and Dan Distasi were physical in leading the Bogota defense.
“Our veterans and our leadership,” Sabella said. “They had over 300 rushing yards last week, and we knew we had to stop the run. It was an overall team defensive effort, we played hard and the line got off the ball.”
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| Bogota Shane Stanek carried the ball 16 times for 126 yards. |
New Milford (1-1) actually broke out on top, getting a 51-yard completion from Danny Diaz to Pat Mitchell that set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Scoppa with 2:30 left in the opening period. Kevin Hill added the extra point.
The Bucs came right back, as James Lynch dropped a perfect deep pass to Ray Carrasco for a 43-yard TD, but an excessive celebration after the score drew a 15-yard penalty. Felipe Pena’s PAT try doinked the crossbar.
While that would have worked against them last year, the 2006 Bucs kept playing, and they grabbed the lead on their next possession. Shane Stanek had runs of 27 and 18 yards, the latter a touchdown jaunt off the left side to put Bogota up 12-7.
“Last year, we had a lot of guys playing for the first time (on the varsity),” Carrasco commented. “This year, we’re all veterans.”
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| New Milford QB Danny Diaz was 6 of 14 passing for 152 yards and an interception. |
Scoppa’s 56-yard burst set up a Diaz quarterback sneak from the 1, giving the Knights the lead back at 13-12, but the Bucs responded immediately, going 80 yards in 9 plays to take the lead back. Carrasco got his second score on an 8-yard catch, making it 18-13 with one minute left in the first half.
“We’ve been playing together since we were little,” Carrasco, a three-year starter, said of Lynch, “and last year and through this summer. We know each other well.”
They took full control at the outset of the third quarter, going 89 yards in 15 plays and 7:20, with Stanek (16 carries, 126 yards rushing) and sophomore Dan Brown (15-95) taking turns delivering good chunks of yardage.
On third-and-goal from the one, Stanek bulled in off left guard, and then swept the left end for a two-point conversion.
“It starts up front,” Stanek acknowledged. “The line was giving us great holes to run through, and they were getting great penetration to the linebackers, too.”
“You can’t win without a running game, and we certainly can’t win without it,” Lynch said. “We had nice balance.”
Lynch certainly did his part, completing 10 of 20 passes for 185 yards and three scores. The lefty showed poise in the pocket and tremendous accuracy on the deep ball.
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| Bogota's Ray Carrasco caught five passes for 97 yards, including two TDs and a two-point conversion. |
“We knew we could pass on them,” he said. “I just had to go through my progressions and find the open receiver.”
“They made some big plays in big spots,” Wilde admitted. “They have some great skill guys, and we knew we had to control that, and we didn’t do a good job of that.”
A 42-yard Lynch to Danny Bowen bomb set up the final score, a three-yard fade to tight end Justin Appleton. Lynch and Carrasco (5 catches, 97 yards) teamed up for the two-point conversion with five minutes left in the game.
Despite the relatively easy win, Sabella was still cautious in his praise.
“I think (New Milford) is a really good team,” he remarked. “We’re not where we need to be yet, and at times, we have some lulls in our concentration. We gave up some big plays and hurt ourselves with penalties, and until we get there, we’re going to give things up.”
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| Sophomore Danny Brown carried the ball 15 times for 95 yards for Bogota, which is now 1-0. |
Scoppa finished with 92 rushing yards on 18 carries, and Diaz was 6 of 14 passing for 152 yards and an interception. Ricky Cecilione had four receptions for 97 yards.
“We have to stay healthy and stay on track,” Wilde said. “It’s only one loss, it’s not the end of the world. We have a lot of work ahead of us. (Bogota) will be there at the end (playoffs), and maybe we can meet up again down the road.”
Jose Correa led the Knights, who enter a bye week before facing Hasbrouck Heights a week from Friday night, with 10 tackles and Will Esposito added nine. Peter Lynch had eight tackles and Distasi and Dan Lupo each had seven stops for the Bucs, who enter the short week knowing they must concentrate on a Cresskill team that will be stinging from its loss to Palisades Park/Leonia.
“You can’t look ahead to the next game,” James Lynch offered, and Stanek added that, “We did that last year (when Bogota lost to Park Ridge). We have to go game by game.”
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