Shane Small caught the TD pass that put NV/Old Tappan up 30-0 in the Golden Knights' 44-13 win over River Dell.
ORADELL – Northern Valley/Old Tappan overcame a slow start by utilizing an offense that put “the best kids on the field” then rallied to overwhelm River Dell, 44-13, Friday night in Oradell.
“I think we started slow,” said Old Tappan coach Brian Dunn. “I don’t think we warmed up properly. I don’t think we were playing fast at the beginning. The other team came to play and they had some kids who were getting off the ball. Once we realized we had to jack up our speed a little bit we got our wits about us and did the right thing.”
River Dell took the opening kickoff and marched 42 yards down to the Knights 24 in 9 plays, but two incomplete passes ended the drive and gave Old Tappan the ball. The Golden Knights kept the ball on the ground with senior quarterback Alex Orecchio gaining 27 yards on 2 carries and senior running back Nick Rossi rushing for 28 yards on 4 carries.
On first down from the Hawks’ 19-yard line Orecchio connected with senior wide-out Ronan Malady for 5 yards and Rossi took the ball in from there to give Old Tappan an 8-0 lead. River Dell put together another drive, making it down to the Old Tappan 20 before Knights junior Aidan Nally intercepted a pass at the 5-yard line and ran it up to the 19.
Part of the offensive strategy for Old Tappan this season is to employ a two-quarterback rotation. So it was not a surprise when sophomore quarterback Zach Miceli entered the game to call signals.
“Coach Dunn puts us in a position to win no matter where he wants to put us on the field,” Orecchio said. “Having two guys who are able to throw the ball makes us a very versatile offense, hard to stop and I think that’s something he realized coming into this year. Age doesn't matter - he’s just going to put the best guys on the field. We’re winning and that’s all that matters.”
River Dell got in the end zone twice in the second half.
“It extends the offense a lot,” added Miceli. “Alex can make plays anywhere on the field and it makes it hard for other teams to stop. That’s great for us. Whatever the coach wants to do. It works and I think it’s great.”
After a 2-yard loss, a false start and a short gain Miceli faced a 3rd-and-9 from the 12-yard line. He dropped back and lofted a pass down the right sideline, which led Malady perfectly. Malady made the catch before being knocked out of bounds at the River Dell 37. Runs by Miceli and Rossi gave Old Tappan a first down at the 26 and then Miceli connected with Orecchio for 6 more yards.
Rossi ran it in from there, breaking a tackle at the 14 and rumbling into the end zone for a 16-0 lead.
“You don’t want to meet that guy in the hole,” Miceli said of Rossi. “He’s a big guy and he works hard every day. He brings the juice and we need that guy on the team.”
“He’s a tank in the backfield,” added Orecchio. “He’s like a bulldozer. He comes to practice and he works so hard - he’s probably the hardest worker out here. It’s always a safety valve to hand him the ball and let him churn.”
The next Hawks drive ended when Orecchio intercepted a 3rd-down pass. That led to Old Tappan increasing its lead to 23-0. After Rossi gained 3 yards, Orecchio hit junior receiver Joe Crescitelli for 8 more. Next Miceli connected with Malady for 29 yards and a first down at the Hawks 20.
Damian Du Toit scored a TD for Old Tappan, which has a short week ahead of Thursday's game against Bergenfield.
Miceli took the snap and pitched the ball to Orecchio, who rolled left and zipped a sidearm throw to Nally who sprinted into the end zone.
“It’s a great designed play to spread out the offense and have a lot of different options,” Orecchio said. “Zach and I have the ability to run or throw and we have receivers who can go out and catch the ball. That’s what an explosive, versatile offense looks like. That’s something we have and something that’s going to be hard to stop.”
In the game Orecchio was 2-of-3-for 30 yards and a TD passing, 2-for-27 yards rushing and 1-for-6 yards receiving. He also kicked three extra points and intercepted a pass.
“This is a game I love,” said Orecchio, who will play at Johns Hopkins University next year. “I come out and play it every day. Just being on the field is what I live for. If that means having to play every snap and being gassed Friday night so be it. This is what I love to do.”
“Last year he (Orecchio) didn’t play any defense,” said Dunn. “As a sophomore he played receiver and came in as a quarterback (where he threw the clinching touchdown pass in the 24-14 Group 3 state final win over Delsea). He’s always been multi-talented. He’s one of those kids who can play anywhere on the field. When you have rare kids like that you have to use them. And we also have a kid (Miceli) who is going to be really good. You don’t want to keep him sitting on the bench so we get our best kids on the field.”
On its next possession River Dell lost a fumble that Malady scooped up to give the ball back to Old Tappan at the Hawks 30. Miceli found Crescitelli over the middle for 13 yards and tossed a 17-yard pass to tight end Shane Small to make it 30-0.
Old Tappan got the ball back with 1:24 to go in the first half and went right to work. Miceli scrambled for 19 yards and three plays later hit Crescitelli for 15 yards and a TD to close out the half with a 37-0 lead.
“There are a lot of receivers out there,” said Miceli, who completed 10-of-12 passes for 201 yards and 3 TDs. He also rushed for 23 yards on 3 carries. “We can rotate guys and they make plays. There is a lot of speed out there so if I get them the ball in space they can make plays.”
Knights junior running back Damian Dutoit opened the second half with runs of 3 and 8 yards before Miceli hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Leo Etter for 54 yards and a touchdown to make it 44-0.
After that the Old Tappan subs went in to finish the game. Hawks junior quarterback Zion Yoon scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter and sophomore backup QB Jayden Kim raced to a 50-yard score with 1:35 to go in the game.
Old Tappan improved to 2-0 while River Dell’s record evened out at 1-1.
“We’re using personnel a little bit differently,” said Dunn. “It’s about getting our best kids on the field and figuring out the best way to do it.”
“It feels great tonight,” Orecchio said of being 2-0. “Tomorrow we’re back to 0-0 and the next game [against Bergenfield Thursday]. We’re going to get into the film room tomorrow and fix our mistakes from today. [There are] a lot of things to fix and we’ll get at it and try to progress.”
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