Pascack Valley Record: 5-1

Montclair W, 29-14

DePaul L, 35-14

@West Milford W, 35-7

           @Wayne Hills W, 21-19

Bergenfield W, 49-7

@Old Tappan W, 35-28

Passaic Valley Record: 4-2

@DePaul L, 27-0

Wayne Hills W, 35-14

@Bergenfield W, 14-6

           Ramapo L, 27-17

@West Milford W, 33-14

Lakeland Regional W, 35-28

Pascack Valley Rankings: No. 6 in North Jersey (Bergen Record), No. 11 in NJ (Star-Ledger), No. 9 in NJ (MaxPreps)

Passaic Valley Rankings: No. 20 in North Jersey (Bergen Record), No. 57 in NJ (MaxPreps)

Key Matchups:

Passaic Valley Passing Offense vs. Pascack Valley Passing Defense– The Pascack Valley defense held Old Tappan to just 49 yards passing yards last week. Old Tappan QBs only had nine pass attempts, and were successful on only three of those attempts. Passaic Valley QB Zach Mazalewski threw for 230 yards and four TDs against Lakeland Regional. Mazalewski’s brother, Anthony, plays WR for Passaic Valley. Anthony Mazalewski caught 11 of his brother’s 17 completions, which went for 118 yards and three TDs. Last week Pascack Valley’s defense had to focus on stopping Old Tappan’s running game. This week Pascack Valley will have to focus on stopping the passing game.

Pascack Valley Clutchness vs. Passaic Valley Clutchness– Last week, both teams won their respective games by a touchdown. Each team had great fourth quarters to win. Pascack Valley forced and recovered a late fumble to seal their victory over Old Tappan. If this game comes down to the 4th quarter, whichever team has the biggest heart at the end of the game will win.

PV Perspective: After its win against  against Old Tappan, PV is guaranteed the top seed if it wins out through the rest of the regular season. Passaic Valley is not quite Old Tappan, but it does have a QB-WR combination of playmaking brothers, similarly to Bergenfield. These explosive players for Passaic Valley will keep the PV defense on their toes. Interestingly, Passaic Valley had a much easier time against Wayne Hills than Pascack Valley but a far tougher go at it against Bergenfield. The Indians should reward its Homecoming crowd with an easier win than last week and should help to build their confidence into the playoffs.

Predictions-

Evan Jones: 35-14 Pascack Valley

Calvin Ralph: 42-17 Pascack Valley