Sunday, October 7, 2007

By Jim McConville
NJS.com Staff Writer

Back in the secondary, Carlton Marcin had an interception and seven tackles as Wayne Hills' defense was dominant once again.

OLD TAPPAN -- As the Old Tappan bandwagon kept filling up, the Wayne Hills football team kept using the perceived disrespect it was feeling as motivation. There was even an internet mockup of the game, obviously showing Old Tappan as the winner.

Games are played on the field, however, and while the Golden Knights once again played the Patriots tough, it was another case of falling short.

With a 24-7 victory, two streaks remained intact. Wayne Hills increased its winning streak to 33 games while Old Tappan fell for the 19th straight time against the Pats. While recent losses may have been moral victories, there was no such feeling this time around.

Considering that it was believed that the Knights had their best chance to knock off Hills on Saturday night, this was an excruciating loss. Conversely, Wayne Hills was not overly impressive, but was certainly strong defensively.

With the defense geared to stop him, Old Tappan's Jamie Rowe carried 17 times for 54 yards.

The game plan was simple enough – stuff Jamie Rowe and force OT to try and win it through the air. Rowe managed just 54 yards on 17 carries and the Knights as a team had only 71 rushing yards.

“We were very prepared,” said Wayne Hills linebacker Tim Waller, “and the defensive linemen were keeping the offensive line off of us, allowing the linebackers to make the tackles. Three of us must have had 30 tackles.”

Actually, Mike Roman, Ryan Daddurno and Waller combined for 18 tackles, with Carlton Marcin and Paul Drake each adding seven stops. That put the onus on golden Knight quarterback Kyle Jansen, who 6 of 19 passing for 106 yards with four interception and one touchdown.

Jeremiah Kayal grabbed three of the interceptions, all in the second half, and Marcin, back at safety with a healthy Waller in at linebacker, grabbed the other and it was likely the turning point of the game.

He took the pick back 19 yards, preserving the narrow 10-7 Hills lead with 10 minutes to go. The Patriots then took six plays to march 45 yards to the end zone, with a Dan DeCicco 16-yard run the big play. Quarterback Mike Giampapa got the final yard on a sneak and Tim Divers added the extra point with 7:43 left in the game.

Quarterback Mike Giampapa snuck in from a yard out to put Wayne Hills up 17-7 with 7:43 left in the game.

“We wanted them to throw the football,” WH head coach Chris Olsen related. “We knew they’d catch a couple, but we wanted them to throw the football.”

DeCicco (13 carries, 100 yards) went 39 yards in the final minute after Kayal’s third INT to close the scoring, a touchdown that served to lengthen the score and one that may stick in the Knights’ craw should they get a second chance at Hills in the playoffs.

“That’s a good football team, and I fully expect we’ll see them again down the road,” Olsen said.

“I think we proved that if you’re going to beat us, you’re going to have to be more physical,” Waller commented, “and work harder, and I don’t think anyone can do that.”

The Patriots got on the board first with a 36-yard Divers field goal on their opening possession. A DeCicco touchdown run was called back and James Falkenstern sacked Giampapa to set up the kick.

Forced to throw more often, OT QB Kyle Jansen finished 6 of 19 passing for 106 yards.

The lead went to 10-0 in the second quarter on a Giampapa to Kayal 12-yard TD pass, with Kayal (5 catches, 42 yards) making the catch at the 2 and stretching the ball just inside the right pylon. The Knights got that score back quickly, as Jansen took advantage of a mixup in the secondary and hit Jordan Scaduto down the middle for a 52-yard touchdown. Ki-Chul Shin added the PAT with 4:01 on the first half clock.

“We came out here and showed them what we can do on defense,” Kayal said. “Without that one mess up, we played perfect defense. Our defensive line stepped it up big time, our linebackers stepped it up and they let us defensive backs do what we had to do.”

They had Jansen on the run many times, and Drake shared two fourth quarter sacks with Waller and Marcin. In fact, the defensive front gave Hills exactly what they needed, keeping Rowe to a long run of nine yards and OT to 179 total yards.

“Those kids really had to step it up, and they did,” Olsen remarked. “We were hard on them (in practice), and we don’t put a lot of praise during the week. They earned a little today.”

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