Leo Etter setting up an early TD for Ol Tappan, which opened the North 1, Group 3 state sectional playoffs with a 37-0 win over River Dell on Halloween Night.
“In the first half we played really efficiently,” said Old Tappan coach Brian Dunn. “We executed at a high level on offense. Obviously there are always things we want to clean up with blocks and tackles, but in all three phases we played pretty efficiently.”
The wind seemed to have no effect on the Old Tappan offense as it scored a touchdown the first five times they had the ball in a variety of ways.
“We have a kid (junior Zach Miceli) who can sling it - it didn’t affect him,” Dunn said with a laugh. “He played great. The wind didn’t bother him at all.”
“Obviously we knew wind was a factor and weather is different as we get deeper into the season,” said Miceli, who tossed a pair of touchdown passes, giving him 21 for the season - the most in Bergen County. “But we are going to stick to our plan and see how things go. We’ll keep working. We were able to throw the ball well but we were also able to run the ball well.”
Knights senior running backs Devyn Radoian (11-72 yards) and Damian Du Toit (2-10) each scored a touchdown. So did junior wide receiver Leo Etter, who tallied on an end around off a pitch from Miceli.
“We added that play a few weeks ago and we’ve been working on it,” Etter said. “It was tough for me at first running through the hole but they coached me up well so I knew where to run.”
Old Tappan's defense let up little against 6-win River Dell, the No. 8 seed.
The defense also scored a safety late in the second quarter when River Dell botched a punt attempt from deep in its own territory as the ball rolled in and out of the end zone.
It only took Old Tappan a little more than 4 minutes to drive 60 yards on the opening drive. On third down Miceli zipped a pass around Golden Hawks defenders into the end zone where senior Joe Crescitelli made a diving catch. Senior Matteo Morrissey booted the first of his 5 extra points and Old Tappan led, 7-0.
Just over a minute later the Golden Knights took over at their own 28-yard line and after an 8-yard gain by Du Toit on 4th-and-1, Miceli hooked up with Etter for 53 yards and a first down at the River Dell 2-yard line. Du Toit ran it in from there to boost the lead to 14-0.
River Dell earned its initial first down on a 5-yard run by senior running back Cain Lanza. But the Hawks were forced to punt and Old Tappan began an 80-yard scoring drive. Miceli and Etter hooked up for 18 yards and three plays later Miceli gunned the ball to junior tight end Shane Small, good for a 36-yard gain. Then Miceli pitched the ball to Etter and he ran it in from 8 yards out to make it 21-0.
On River Dell’s next possession Knights senior defensive lineman Ekin Yucel knocked down a 3rd down pass and after junior Jayden Kim boomed a punt downfield Old Tappan had the ball again.
Radoian took a handoff, rolled around right end, cut back and spun for a 24-yard gain, down to the Hawks 12-yard line. Three plays later Radoian finished the job with a 1-yard run and with 5:04 left in the first half the defending champs led, 28-0.
Damian Du Toit scoring the second TD for Old Tappan, which will host West Milford in the semifinals..
Two minutes later a safety gave Old Tappan two more points and possession of the ball after a free kick. A holding call on the kick negated an amazing 61-yard TD scamper by senior Christakis Nicolaou, in which he cut through defenders and sprinted down the right sideline into the end zone.
The score was wiped off the board but no matter. On 2nd-and-5 Miceli launched a pass downfield toward Nicolaou, running ahead of the defense. He caught the ball before being tripped up at the 3-yard line. A Miceli to Nicolaou pass play followed and Nicolaou had his touchdown back. As a result Old Tappan scored its final 7 points to head into intermission up 37-0.
In all, Miceli connected with four different receivers for more than 200 yards and those two touchdowns.
“It’s amazing because other teams don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Small. “It’s an element we have - like we’re a step ahead. If something doesn’t work we always have something else we can use.”
“We know on any play we can go to anyone on our offense - we have so many weapons,” Etter added. “We know we’re going to get someone open. We just have to make the right play. We want to try to get all of us involved because we can all make big plays.”
Old Tappan moves on to play West Milford next Friday at home. But as good as they played against River Dell they know they have a long way to go to repeat as champions.
“At this point, in the playoffs every day is a new start,” Dunn said. “We get to start over again tomorrow. We can’t carry over any points. We have to stay on that level and keep improving.”
“It’s a long way ahead but we can’t focus on that,” Miceli said. “We have to worry about the next day, practice, fixing our mistakes and getting better. That’s what we have to worry about right now.”
TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY PLEASE VISIT 4-FeetGrafix.com.
