Saturday,
November 23, 2013
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Junior Tyler Smith led Paramus to TDs on its first two possessions and then into position for the game-winning field goal on its last as the Spartans beat Old Tappan, 17-16, in the North 1, Group 4 state sectional semifinals. |
PARAMUS – Matt Alpher knew it might come down to this. Even before Friday night's North 1, Group 4 state sectional semifinal even began, the pressure was building.
“Everyone was telling me in school today and before the game that it was going to come down to me and the way the game was going I kind of figured they were right. It was close the whole way,” said Alpher. “And I definitely wanted the chance.”
Here is the scenario when 'The Chance' came: The ball rested on the Northern Valley/Old Tappan 7-yard line, it was fourth down, there were just 37 seconds left in the game and his team was trailing by a single point. A kicker in that situation is either going to rise to the occasion or he is going to shank it horribly. Alpher's track record suggested that the first option was going to be the likely outcome.
Having hit game-winning field goals already this season against Lakeland and Wayne Valley, Alpher did it again, splitting the uprights on 24-yarder that would have been good from 40-plus to give Paramus a landmark 17-16 win. The Spartans had reached this round of the playoffs in five of the last six years only to fall short, but that streak is now history as second-seeded Paramus advances to the section final where it will face top-seeded Pascack Valley most likely at MetLife Stadium in two weeks.
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Sophomore Jordan Fuller scored both of Old Tappan's touchdowns on runs of 9 and 36 yards. |
“It is great to finally get over the hump and win this game. We have lost five of these in the last six years, including four in a row, and we needed this,” said Paramus head coach Dan Sabella. “We weren't going to get over this hump until we got a great defensive effort and the second half speaks for itself.”
Paramus held Old Tappan, which had averaged 37 points per game coming in, to just three points in the second half and won the battle of field position using Alpher and his ability to punt to corners and hang kickoffs high in the air to its advantage all night long. He also kicked two extra points in the first 13 minutes of the game as the Spartans got off to a flying start with touchdowns on its first two series.
Quarterback Tyler Smith hit Michael Mimmo for a 25-yard pickup to set up Steven Regalbuto's one-yard plunge that put Paramus in front 7-0 with 4:14 into the game. Paramus' defense then held on a fourth down to hand the ball back to the offense and on a third-and-8 from near midfield, Smith dropped a lofted ball right over a defender and into the hands of Darius House up the left sideline for a 49-yard score.
Old Tappan put itself right back in the game behind sophomore Jordan Fuller, who shuttled in a quarterback more than he has through most of the season, taking snaps, making fakes and picking his hole. Three straight runs lead to gains of 37, 9 and 10 yards, the last of them the touchdown that got the Golden Knights to within 14-7 after Nicholas Antonucci's extra point with 8:39 to go in the half.
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Steven Regalbuto scored Paramus' first TD and was a part of the Spartans' defense that held Old Tappan to just 3 second half points. |
Old Tappan held Paramus to a subsequent three-and-out, got the ball back and went the distance again. Christian Runza hit Pierce Lukas for a 10-yard gain on third-and-9 to keep the march going and Fuller then scored from 36 yards out with a dash through the middle. But when the hold on the extra point was mishandled and the broken play that resulted ended a yard short of the goal line, Old Tappan was left with a one-point deficit that would come back into play in the waning moments.
The game was crisply played as neither team committed a turnover and possessions were extremely limited. Old Tappan (9-2) got the ball first in the second half and used up 8:37 of the third quarter, getting to the Paramus 7 before settling for Antonucci's 24-yard field goal that gave the Knights the lead for the first time at 16-14. The next four possessions, two for each team, ended in punts including the one with just over six minutes to play that Smith thought might have represented Paramus' last chance.
“In the locker room at halftime I stressed that we are a second half team. I don't think we have lost a battle in the second half all year, but there were some tough times. I didn't look so good at the end, we got stopped with six minutes left, but we came back,” said Smith. “But there are so many games that I look back on now, plays that I should have made, but the defense really has my back and they stepped up once again.”
Old Tappan got the ball on its own 20 with 6:02 to play and still leading by a point, but three straight runs produced only nine of the 10 yards needs to move the chains and Paramus got the ball back at midfield with 4:01 to play and a clutch kicker as a safety net. The Spartans did take a shot at the end zone on a second-and-goal from the 9 with 47 seconds left, but when that pass fell incomplete, Smith ran a keeper to put the ball in the middle of the field and Alpher did the rest with the field goal that gave Paramus (9-2), which has not lost since September 27, the lead.
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Pierce Lukas made a few key plays for Old Tappan, which finished its season with a 9-2 record. |
Old Tappan had no time out when it took over on its own 31. Runza did complete two straight passes to nudge the ball into Paramus territory, but the second catch was made in bounds and just short of the first down marker, meaning the clock continued to run. Runza spiked the ball to stop the clock with two seconds left at the Paramus 46, but there was no last shot into the end zone as Paramus' Alec Polemeni ended the game with a sack.
The fire truck behind the north endzone blared it sirens and turned on its hose as the fans rushed the field and got wet in the process of celebrating Paramus first trip to the section final under Sabella, who has been knocking on the door for a long time now.
“This is the greatest feeling of my life. I have been playing with a lot of these kids since I was in second grade, we are best friends, we are like a family and the five times in the last six years this program has lost this game. We had to get over this hump,” said Regalbuto, a sophomore. “Now we want to go get that ring.”
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