Shane Small tipped a fourth down pass at one end of the field and scored at the other for NV/Old Tappan, which won the North 1, Group 3 state sectional title with a 42-14 victory over Wayne Hills.

OLD TAPPAN -- One play from scrimmage in and it was pretty much game over. Old Tappan's Christakis Nicolaou's 'Pick Six' on Wayne HIlls' first offense snap put the defending champion Golden Knights on the road to a running clock in Friday night's North 1, Group 3 state sectional final. It only took only 15 seconds for Old Tappan to take the lead for good in a 42-14 win in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional final Friday night.

Nicolaou picked off a pass and sprinted 31 yards for a touchdown. Senior kicker Matteo Morrissey booted the extra point and the Golden Knights led 7-0.

“We called the coverage,” said Nicolaou, “and I saw it was a slant by the outside receiver, and a quick out from the inside receiver. So I knew the quick out was coming and I played in between it. I undercut the route and from there, there was only one place to go - and that was the end zone. It felt great - it’s like a rush through your body. It’s like, ‘I need this, I need this.’ You’re just pumping your arms, trying to get there. And I was lucky enough to get there. I wasn’t expecting it, but you always have to be ready for anything. And I was ready.”  

Knights coach Brian Dunn said Nicolaou’s play made a big impact on the game.

“It plays a lot into the game,” Dunn said. “There is a little bit of uneasiness for the coaches more than the kids [at the start of the game]. That took a little bit off. It’s something we practiced - drilling that quick route they have. The kid just did what we’ve been working on. When you see that - the thing you’ve been working on really hard - and you see it work - it really jumps out and does a lot for everybody’s spirits and confidence.”

“We knew they were going to have to come out with something because we played them before (a 47-28 win for OT Oct. 17).” Nicolaou added. “They were a great team. It was the most points put on us all year the first time we played them. All week I was working on it - seeing what plays they run and being where I had to be, knowing the coverage.” 

The Old Tappan confidence was evident in the next offensive series for the Patriots as they went 3-and-out, gaining only 2 yards in total against a pumped up defense. The Golden Knights took over at their own 33-yard line and three straight runs by senior running back Devyn Radoian gained 12 yards. A couple of passes from junior quarterback Zach Miceli to senior Joey Crescitelli gained 19 and 13 yards, down to the Hills 23-yard line. After an incomplete pass in the end zone Miceli scampered for 17 yards for a 1st-and-goal at the 6-yard line. 

Chemoh St Paul scoring on his 81-yard kick return for Wayne HIlls.

After a few offensive miscues, including a false start penalty, Miceli saw junior wide receiver Leo Etter cutting across the back of the end zone from left to right and he led Etter perfectly for a 9-yard touchdown play - the 8th TD reception for Etters this season to make it 14-0. He also upped his receiving yardage for the season to over 770 yards in the game.

Wayne Hills junior Chemoh St Paul grabbed the ensuing kickoff, ran up the middle cut left and hustled down the left side line. As he got to around the 15-yard he slid toward the middle and pranced into the end zone untouched to complete an 81-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 14-7.

“Obviously we don’t want to give up a kick return for a touchdown where we were dominating the game but at that point the score didn’t indicate it,” Dunn said.

A holding call wiped out a huge gain on a Miceli to Etter pass completion on the Old Tappan offensive possession after Wayne Hills scored. But when the two hooked up for a 12-yard pass on the next play and Radoian gained 12 more yards on the ground it kickstarted the Golden Knights to go on a 13 play, 76-yard drive that put them up, 21-7. Miceli connected with junior tight end Shane Small, Crescitelli and Etter and Radoian ran for 37 more yards, including a 1-yard touchdown run as Old Tappan regained a 14-point lead. For Radoian it was his 14th rushing TD of the season.

Less than 2 minutes later Old Tappan got the ball back deep in Patriots territory when a low snap to the punter caused the ball to be downed at the 26-yard line.

Miceli went right to work connecting with Etter for 16 yards to set up a 1st-and-goal at the 10-yard line. Two plays later the Knights lead grew to 28-7 when Etter took a pitch and ran for an 8-yard touchdown.

Marco D'Amore celebrating a turnover for Old Tappan, which will play West Morris in the Group 3 state semifinals.

Wayne Hills threatened to cut into the lead when senior quarterback Mike Fitzsimons completed a deep pass good for 45 yards down to the Old Tappan 20-yard line. But the drive stalled and a 4th down pass was knocked down by Small. 

“All week we were working on getting hands up to get in the vision of the quarterback,” Small said in a published report. “I was able to make a play and it was a momentum shift.”

“It was huge,” Dunn said of the defensive stop. “You want to make sure you are not letting them back in. They completed a deep post because of a blown coverage. Being able to recover - that’s what great teams do. You have to be able to recover and bounce back.”

The Golden Knights took possession at the Hills 15-yard line and drove the length of the field in less than a minute to make it 35-7 28 seconds before intermission. 

Radoian busted through a hole and rumbled downfield for 20 yards and a Patriots penalty moved the ball to midfield. Miceli hooked up with Etter for 17 yards and Small for 20 more on consecutive plays. On a 1st-and-goal senior running back Damian DuToit ran it down to the 4-yard line and on 2nd down Miceli faked a handoff to Du Toit, rolled out to the right and flipped a 4-yard TD pass to Small, his 8th touchdown catch of the season.

“He can spin it - no question about it,” Dunn said of Miceli, who’s 2 TD passes added to his North Jersey-leading 26 for the season. “He’s got great composure in the pocket, keeps his eyes downfield and never gives up on a play. When we go into a game with him we’ve got a chance.”

Old Tappan opened the second half with a 13-play, 67 yard touchdown drive that consumed 8 minutes off the clock and consisted of running plays only. Radoian ran twice for 18 yards and then Du Toit took over from there gaining 54 yards on 11 carries including a 1-yard TD, to make it 42-7.

“We both bring different things to the table,” Du Toit said. “He’s definitely more of an agile type of guy and I’m more of a power runner. I did a lot of work in the off season. At the beginning of the summer he was injured so I got most of the reps at running back. He came back and was performing very, very well and he got hurt and missed the Northern Highlands game and I had to fill his spot.” 

Du Toit was particularly effective inside the 10-yard line, bulling his way through the Hills defense for positive yards. From the 8-yard line he pushed forward gaining extra yards with a spin move at the 5.

“I love contact,” he said. “I don’t like to run around people. I like to run straight through and get as many yards as I can.”

The subs came in after that and Wayne Hills sophomore running back Ethan Zacharski broke through the middle and outran the OT defense for a 33-yard touchdown to close out the scoring.

After the game Dunn was asked about Old Tappan’s run of having won a state title in 2024 and with today’s victory, being a game away from another championship game. So he spoke at length  about public school high school football.

“We’ve been on a good run but it’s been years of work,” he said. “The kids who played tonight have put in years for this. Even though we were good last year a lot of kids weren’t on the field last year. Now they’re putting in their years of work, and are getting their chance this year. It goes through waves. We just happen to have tremendous talent in our junior class and that helps a lot. You have to go through cycles and just stick with it. It takes some support from people who are ok with some failures and some struggling times. You have to have good people behind you making sure you still get the opportunity to ride the wave out and keep people in the same directions. It’s not easy to do today.”

Dunn also had an opinion about coaching high school football in general.

“Coaching public school high school football might be the last sport in America where you are actually building a team for 4 years,” he said. “You are starting from scratch. There are no trainers, no AAU, no club. There are no transfers, there is no building a roster. We take the guys and it’s development and it’s building a team. So we’re building a team and I’m proud that it has had staying power and we’ve been able to keep kids on the same path. We’ve been working with them from 8th or 9th grade all the way up through 12th grade. There is no other sport you can do that. In public high school football you can do it. As a coach, an old school coach or coaching purist, that’s what you want to do - build a team and be able to work with kids for years putting it together. I have great respect for the guys who stick with it and keep plugging. [Wayne Hills coach] Wayne [Demikoff] keeps plugging and grinding. He went through some tough years and he’s got a great team with all young kids playing. We were too much for them tonight but they’re going to be back and pounding it, and they’re going to have a great team next year.” 

Old Tappan moves on to play at home against West Morris Central Nov. 21 for a shot at the Group 3 title game.

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