Survive and advance. The saying is usually used in March when 68 college basketball programs duke it out until there is one champion. The saying is also true in the New Jersey North 1, Group 3 State playoffs, no matter how good or bad the victory, the goal is to survive and advance.

That’s all Pascack Valley had to do on Friday night against Bergenfield in a 34-19 victory in the first round of the state playoffs.

The two teams met earlier in the season, in a regular season matchup at Bergenfield, one in which Pascack Valley won 49-13.

“We have experience in games like this,” said Pascack Valley head coach Craig Nielsen about his team in the playoffs.

Offensively, the Indians relied on the passing game for most of the first half. Just after the halfway point, in the first quarter senior quarterback Colin Dedrick hit senior wide receiver Mike Sorvilla on a 45 yard touchdown pass to give the Indians a 6-0 lead.

Bergenfield was ready to answer as they went down the field in 5 plays to tie the score with Carlos Macon running one in from 32 yards.

On the ensuing kickoff, senior Joe Colasuono was ready. The ball took a couple of high bounces and Colasuono took off, found a hole and took it 83 yards to the house, his second kick return touchdown of the season and gave the Indians a 13-6 lead.

The Pascack Valley defense once again forced the Bears to use their run game as they took out the Bears’ best player, Jovani Haskins.

Haskins, as mentioned earlier in the season is a division 1 recruit that has multiple offers and plays multiple positions on the field for Bergenfield. And the Indians held Haskins to 33 rushing yards and kept the Bears passing attack in check to 85 yards.

But with the running game struggling, the Indians went to the combo that has worked for most of the season: Dedrick and senior wide receiver Mike Pimpinella, connecting 6 times for 109 yards.

“We know to keep pushing,” Dedrick said, who finished off the day with 10 completions on 15 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown.

“We did not get off the ball well up front [in the first half],” Nielsen said. “The second half was much better.”

The second half was much better for the running game, senior Andrew Flores found his groove en route to a 23 carry, 136 yard performance.

After a Bergenfield touchdown to make the score 27-19, the Indians went three and out. Pimpinella punted the ball, Bergenfield returner Jamal Williams broke a few tackles and looked as if he was going to break free, senior Conor Jones came from behind and knocked the ball out and Pimpinella fell on it, giving the Indians ball gaining the 6 yards they needed to get the first down. The crazy play gave the Indians the momentum and set up Flores’s touchdown run, a 15 yard carry, to give the Indians a 34-19, which ended up being the final.

“I saw the kid break a couple of tackles and I wanted and needed to stop him and the ball popped out and I just jumped on it,” Pimpinella said.

Looking ahead to next week, the Indians will face off against Ramapo, with a chance to go to their fourth straight state title game. The Indians also faced Ramapo earlier in the season losing in a 42-21 effort. The Indians have won 9 of their last 10 playoff games.

“I believe we can beat them,” Nielsen said of Ramapo. “It matters if the guys in [the locker room] believe as well.”