Senior lineman Marco De Croce (right) gives his head coach a hug after NV/Demarest improved to 2-0 with a 14-14 win on the road at Tenafly.
TENAFLY – The Ivy Division could have become a place where weakened high school football programs faded to black. After all, It is the last stop before co-op or outright closure. What the Ivy Division has become instead is throwback to high school football’s roots, a community event and a gathering place more about the experience than the results even though they do still keep score.
Throw in a little local flavor with a matchup between two border towns and Week 2 in the Ivy looked a lot like Week 2 of the state playoffs.
The stands? Packed. The atmosphere? Electric. The result? Northern Valley/Demarest is now 2-0 in its first year in the Ivy and for the first time since 2019 after a 41-14 victory on the road in festive Tenafly.
“It was great. Right now everything is hot. Emotions are positive and everyone is having fun. They are getting a chance to experience success,” said Rob Petrella, who is now 2-0 in his career as NVD’s head coach. “Before the game we talked about the hype, we talked about the crowd and it was a great atmosphere. Tenafly was packed; their side, our side. Honestly this was probably the biggest crowd that any of these kids have ever played in front of. Tenafly/Demarest on a Friday night was awesome.”
Consecutive 1-8 seasons had taken their toll on the Demarest program, but with the new life line there is now an influx of interest in the program instead of an exodus and it took just four plays after receiving the opening kickoff for the Norsemen to go ahead for good. Junior Reed Kauderer covered the final two yards of the drive that covered 79 yards and just 1:13 of game clock. Canefe Dayioglu, one of those newcomers, a soccer player turned place kicker, tacked on the extra point to make it 7-0.
Jaden Croce scored the second of Tenafly's two touchdowns..
Kauderer took a tipped screen press from Joseph Yun 50 yards for a score and added scoring runs of 60 and 5 yards before the first half was over as Demarest took a 27-8 lead into halftime.
“Our whole thing is coming out fast. Our tempo is crazy,” said Kauderer, a junior who finished with 5 TDs to bring his season total to 7. “The offensive line is everything, the whole heart of the team. We are not going anywhere without those guys and they were great tonight.”
The Norsemen, especially for an Ivy Division side, have some big boys up front with two senior captains as anchors. Marco De Croce and Peter Kurys can move opponents forcefully.
De Croce, who has committed to play at Fordham University, missed all of last season with a knee injury. He is healthy now and is a force on both sides of the ball.
“It’s amazing just to be back out here with the boys. We worked out together all summer and it’s great to see it all come together now. It’s been a great experience so far,” said De Croce, who would have been a four-year starter had it not been for last season’s injury. “Tonight was great. It was Friday night lights and everyone loves Friday night lights no matter what league you are in. That was Jersey football right there.”
De Croce and Kurys are just two of the 17 seniors on the roster and they are enjoying the change of fortunes.
Junior Reed Kauderer now has 7 TDs on the year for Demarest, which will host Belleville on Friday night.
“This big group of seniors have been here, been together since Year 1, We have been together since freshman year and we have gotten better and better,” said Kurys. “We train every day, we have been improving and we are not letting the results from the last couple of years have any effect on how we play now.”
Tenafly has been in and out of the Ivy since its inception. The Tigers are now 0-2 on the season after a Week 1 loss to Indian Hills in Oakland, but, despite the early season results in the second season under head coach Alonso Escalante, the program is also heading in the right direction. Numbers are up in the 40s, more than double what it was a few years ago and there are some young players with potential.
One of them is sophomore Alex Kramer, who took over behind center in the first half after starter Troy Knause was banged up on a sack. On his first full drive at the controls, Kramer threw a 4-yard TD pass to get the Tigers on the board. Senior lineman Dmitri Jefferson bulled his way in for the two-point conversion that had Tenafly with 14-8 midway through the opening quarter.
But Demarest had too many answers on both sides of the ball, the fourth quarter was played with a running clock and the Norsemen are brimming with confidence heading into next week’s home matchup against Belleville.
“The good thing about today was that this was the first time we had to play in the third quarter and we came out of the half and finished,” said Petrella. “We have been running the same defense and the same offense for three years, but now the kids are finally getting the payoff and understand why we do the things that we do. We have the buy-in.”
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