Monday, September 24, 2007

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Senior Andrew Trass had three sacks for a total of 28 yards in losses as River Dell posted its third straight shutout to start the season.

ORADELL -- Perfection on the football field is almost unattainable, but through three weeks of the season the River Dell defense is making a serious run at it. Three opponents, three games, three shutouts, and in the latest blanking the Golden Hawks' defense outscored its opponent all by itself. With its 38-0 win over Fort Lee on Sunday afternoon, River Dell is rolling heading into the stiffer part of its schedule.

And the River Dell defense set the tone with the first chance it got. After BJ Fowler went 42 yards for a TD on a fourth and 4 on the Hawks’ first possession, they pushed Fort Lee from its own 20 to its own 4 yard line while forcing a three-and-out punt. The Bridgemen were never able to turn field position in their favor the rest of the way as River Dell simply teed off.

“We haven’t let up a point yet on defense and we are just trying to fly around and make a lot of tackles,” said RD senior Nick Pallotta, who had four solo stops from his defensive tackle spot. “We just work real hard on defense. We do pursuit drills everyday to prepare for just getting after teams.”

Taffadzwa Mushandu (right) and the Fort Lee defense played well despite the final score as the Bridgemen could not move the ball offensively.

No player had a better game than senior defensive end Andrew Trass, who recorded three sacks for River Dell (3-0). The first came on third down on Fort Lee’s first drive as Trass chased down Abe Ruelas, who was trying to scramble left as his protection broke down early.

That forced a punt from the end zone and with the benefit of the short field, Andrew Carnevale went over from two yards out to cap a 3-play, 33-yard drive. John Francin added the second of his five successful PATs as the Golden Hawks went up 14-0 just 5:44 into the game.

Fort Lee’s defense actually played well despite the final score as it kept the Bridgemen within 21-0 in the first half despite the fact that the offense mustered just 9 total yards of offense through the first two quarters. Fort Lee’s first half possessions ended in four punts, on interception in the end zone on their lone scoring chance of the afternoon and a kneel-down to end the half.

“In the beginning [of the game] we got caught up in that flurry and we never really got out of it. We gave away points and we gave away field position and then we had to try to play catch up, which is not where you want to be against a team like River Dell,” said Jon Traina, who is in his second season as the Fort Lee head coach. “I think right now we have talent, for us it is a matter of believing in themselves and that is my job as a head coach to help them do that. We have a lot of young kids playing (seven sophomores and two freshmen) and maybe we got caught up in the hype a little bit.”

BJ Fowler gave River Dell the lead for good with a 42-yard touchdown run 3:29 into the game.

If the game wasn’t over at the half, it was when the Bridgemen fumbled the snap on the first play of the second half and River Dell’s Anthony DiBella pounced on the ball to set up Francin’s 30-yard field goal that made it 24-0 1:37 into the third quarter.

Kevin Sonnet returned his second interception of the game 55 yards for a River Dell score late in the third quarter and Ryan O’Neill caught a 9-yard pass for a touchdown from Carnevale, who came on at QB, 41 seconds into the fourth quarter to close out the scoring and pave the way for the benches to empty.

Crouch completed 6 of 11 passes for 85 yards with one interception, in running River Dell’s intricate offense, which never huddles while retaining a smash-mouth option feel without turning its back on the forward pass. Crouch ran the ball 12 times for 41 yards; BJ Fowler carried 5 times for 48 yards and a score; Shane Fowler had 8 carries for 41 yards and fullback Michael Buchholz had 8 carries for 37 yards.

River Dell's Nick Pallotta getting pressure on Fort Lee QB Abe Ruales.

Defensively, Trass’ three sacks piled up 28 yards of losses and the Golden Hawks got nine tackles from DiBella and six each from Devin Hudson and Alex Lambert. Buchholz and Pallotta also shared a sack for River Dell, which is 3-0 for the second straight season.

The Knights will play in Rutherford on Friday night before hosting defending league champion Tenafly on October 5. But as impressive as the Hawks have been thus far, head coach DJ Nymphius warns that his squad still have plenty to improve on.

“I am happy with the start and the kids are giving great effort, but we committed 130 yards in penalties in Week 1 (against Englewood) and we had 120 yards in penalties today. It’s almost like we have to remind the kids that blocking in the back and clipping are against the rules,” said Nymphius. “So we have some work to do. We have been sloppy in some areas and if we can clean that up we will be fine.”

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