Sunday, December 2, 2012

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Danny Foote is carried off the field after catching the game-winning pass as time expired in Pompton Lakes' 39-33 win over Saddle Brook in the North 1, Group 1 state sectional semifinals.

SADDLE BROOK – Whether tossing the football around the backyard or going to a local school to play a pick-up game with friends, every single football player has had the dream, the one where the ball ends up in your hands in the end zone as time expires. The game-winning catch against all odds is the one that every kid has thought about, but few ever get a chance to truly experience that moment. Pompton Lakes’ Danny Foote is now amongst the privileged few.

As the prospect of overtime loomed against rival Saddle Brook with the score tied and just two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Foote got the chance he has been waiting for his entire life. As he fell to the ground with the ball in his hands, Foote not only realized that his catch had just won the game and kept his senior season going, but he will now be forever linked with the single greatest play in the single greatest game in the history of Pompton Lakes football.

With two seconds left, quarterback Robbie Meyers heaved a 'Hail Mary' up the left side and into the end zone. The ball was tipped in the air and Foote somehow came down with it through a sea of players as time expired. His improbable grab lifted third-seeded Pompton Lakes to a victory in a game for the ages, as it advanced to the North 1, Group 1 section final with a wild 39-33 semifinal triumph over second-seeded Saddle Brook in what will go down as one of the greatest New Jersey state tournament games ever played.

Chris Jacobson finished with 200 yards of total offense for Saddle Brook, whose season ended with a 9-2 record.

“Everything happened really fast and I just reacted to the ball when it was in the air,” said Foote. “I just wanted to make sure I came down with it. When I saw the referee put his hands in the air, I went completely crazy. The weirdest thing is that play never works in practice. But you keep practicing it every day hoping that you’ll be ready when the time comes to try it in a game. I just can’t believe it actually worked out the way it did.”

The game was a seesaw affair from the start as Pompton Lakes muffed the opening kickoff and Saddle Brook recovered deep in Cardinal territory. The Falcons took advantage of the miscue and junior tailback Chris Jacobson scored from seven yards out to make it 7-0.

Meyers answered right back by leading his team down the field and hooking up with Drew Rayford on a 22-yard scoring strike to tie the game at 7. Saddle Brook then drove 80 yards on 13 plays, capped by a Jacobson 2-yard TD run, but the extra point was blocked by Pompton Lakes’ Myles McMahon, who had an outstanding game both on the offensive and defensive lines, and Saddle Brook held a 13-7 lead that lasted for just a matter of seconds as Rayford took the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a score and Tony Capobianco booted the PAT for a 14-13 Pompton advantage.

The lead traded hands again when Saddle Brook quarterback Jon Gelenius saw Jacobson in single coverage and hit him with a deep ball for a 49-yard TD pass and Saddle Brook elected to go for the two-point conversion. Pompton Lakes linebacker Brandon Torres broke up the conversion pass, which proved to be huge later on with Saddle Brook holding a 19-14 lead before Capobianco kicked a 25-yard field goal to slice the lead to 19-17 at halftime.

Robbie Meyers threw for 139 yards in the fourth quarter alone to lead the way for Pompton Lakes.

The Falcons received the ball to start the second half and went for a gutsy call on a fourth-and-goal from the Cardinal’ 7 yard-line to regain control of the game. Jacobson swept around the left side and drew the entire defense toward him before lofting a pass to the sideline. Alex Fernandez was able to haul it in and drag his feet in bounds. Kevin Bottine booted the point-after to make it a two-possession game midway through the third quarter. It was a crisis moment for the Cardinals. With a quarter and a half left to play though, they showed no signs of panic and the offense went right back to work.

The entire Pompton Lakes’ student body ran over from the stand on the opposite side of the field, around the track and stood behind the Cardinal bench at that point to give t hem some much needed support. It worked as Pompton put some points on the board. Capobianco went right in between the uprights with a 32-yard field goal to make it a one-possession game again, 26-20, with 3:10 left in the third quarter.

“We needed to get points there and Tony came up big for us,” said Meyers. “I think being down to Verona by 10 last week (in the North 1, Group 1 quarterfinals) definitely helped us for this game because we knew would could overcome being down by more than one score. We had to raise our level of play and start executing better as a unit.”

The score remained that way into the fourth quarter when the Cardinals got the ball back thanks to a third-down sack by McMahon. Meyers kept the drive going on a fourth-and-one by hitting Torres on a quick hitch route for a two-yard gain. Capobianco capped the drive with a one-yard plunge, but had a rare miss on the extra-point and the score was deadlocked, 26-26, with 8:26 to play.

Saddle Brook QB Jon Gelenius threw a TD pass with 1:39 remaining to tie the game at 33.

McMahon made another huge defensive play on the next series, batting down a third-down pass at the line of scrimmage to force a punt and get the ball back in the hands of Meyers. The Cardinals needed just four plays to march 70 yards to the end zone. After hitting Corey Flynn for a nine-yard gain, he hit a streaking Rayford for 43 yards up the seam. Dane Torres followed with a 17-yard run to the 1 before scoring on the next play for a 33-26 Pompton lead with 3:50 to play.

Saddle Brook answered back with a picture-perfect deep ball from Gelenius. Bottine lined up in the slot and ran a post route splitting the two safeties. He got just behind them and Gelenius dropped in a pass just over the outstretched defender and into the arms of Bottine, who went untouched the rest of the way for a 59-yard touchdown and kicked the PAT to knot the score again at 33 with 1:39 to play.

The ending was reminiscent of last year when a one-loss Pompton Lakes team got a field goal from Larry Gelok with 1:14 left to end previously undefeated Saddle Brook’s season, also in the North 1, Group 1 semifinals.

“We kept coming at them and they were coming right back at us,” said McMahon. “I’m not going to lie, it was a little scary in the second half because our season could have been over just like that. But we hung tough and kept doing what we’ve been doing all year. Our number one goal was that everyone was on the same page. As long as there was time on the clock, someone would step up and make a big play.”

After three straight incompletions, Pompton was forced to punt and the Falcons got the ball back on their own 28 with 1:05 remaining and all three of their timeouts. They got the ball into Cardinal territory before Jose Arroyo made the biggest defensive play of the game. He dropped into zone coverage and picked off Gelenius over the middle. More importantly, he returned the pick 31 yards to the Falcons’ 41 with eight seconds left to give Meyers at least a crack or two at the end zone.

Myles McMahon led the Pompton defense with 10 tackles, two passes defensed, and a sack.

Meyers lofted one up the right sideline for Flynn but it was too long. There were now just two seconds on the clock and one last chance before the teams headed to overtime. Tall athletes like Rayford and Flynn ran up the field as Meyers' main targets, but in a tip drill, the most crucial player is the receiver who is slightly trailing the play. That job belonged to Foote and he knew his only role was to be in the right place at the right time.

Though the Cardinals’ prior success, or lack there of, to execute the tip drill in practice should have given Foote some concern, he only had time to focus on the task at hand and the one thing that has not worked for the Cardinals all season finally did at the most opportune time.

With the three receivers flanked to his left, Meyers rolled that way and his line gave him plenty of time to square himself and heave one towards the end zone. Rayford for Pompton Lakes and Jacobson for Saddle Brook went up for the ball at the same time. The ball glanced off of both of their hands and popped straight up in the air. Foote was exactly where he was supposed to be, at the goal line, and was rewarded. As several players looked up to see where the ball was going to land, Foote was already in position and hauled it in for the game-winning TD reception with no time left on the clock as the Pompton Lakes players, coaches, parents, and fans broke into celebration mode.

“This is just crazy! What a great, great win for this team,” said Meyers. “We had to fight some major adversity. The key was that we never stopped believing in each other and we kept fighting until the last play. In the huddle I just asked my line to give me enough time to get one down there. I threw it up and when Danny came down with it, I went numb. I still can’t believe what just happened.”

Meyers threw for 139 yards in the fourth quarter alone to lead the way for Pompton Lakes (11-0). Rayford had nearly 200 yards of total offense. Defensively, McMahon had 10 tackles, two passes defensed, and a sack.

Jacobson finished with 200 yards of total offense for Saddle Brook, whose season ended with a 9-2 record and in heartbreaking fashion at the hands of the Cardinals for the second straight year. Jacobson pulled off the rare trio of throwing a TD, running for one and catching one all in the same game.

Pompton Lakes now is one game away from defending their North 1, Group 1 crown and becoming the first team in school history to ever win back-to-back section titles. They will face off against top-seeded Cedar Grove, a 27-24 winner on Friday over Hasbrouck Heights. That game will be play at MetLife Stadium on Saturday with a 1 P.M. kickoff.

In the annals of Pompton Lakes football, this will forever go down as ‘The Game’ and Foote’s grab will go down as ‘The Catch’. While there is still a game left to play, even just moments after his game-winning grab, Foote was able to put both what is ahead and immediately behind in context.

“As far as our season goes, this game is only one game if we don’t win it all. It’s not enough just to get there, we want to be the first team at Pompton to win back-to-back section championships,” added Foote. “This game will go down as something all of us will always remember. I know I will never forget how this feels. To catch a touchdown on a Hail Mary on the last play of the game, this is what you dream about when you first start playing football. It’s crazy that I’m actually living out that dream right now. When we all get together when we’re 30, 40, 50 years old, we’ll always talk about this game and how much it meant to us. The only way to top it is to go out as state champs.”

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