Indians hang tough, come up short
Valley falls below .500 as Ramapo remains undefeated
The Ramapo center prepares to snap the ball against Pascack Valley. The Indians fell to 3-4 with the loss on Friday.
On Friday night, Pascack Valley was the clear-cut underdog against undefeated Ramapo, the No. 5 team in New Jersey. Valley hung tough throughout, but the offensive firepower and defensive will of the Raiders proved to be too much.
Ramapo ultimately defeated the Indians 35-20, dropping Valley’s record to 3-4 on the year.
“I thought our guys came to play,” PV coach Len Cusumano said. “That’s an outstanding program, outstanding team.”
The game started as a defensive showcase, as the first points weren’t scored until a 17-yard rush by Ramapo running back Max Baker with 7:32 to go in the first half. The Indians responded late in the second quarter with a highlight reel touchdown catch by Andrew Martinez near the side of the end zone. The catch was originally ruled incomplete, but was overturned upon further review.
“I knew I dragged my foot,” Martinez said. “When I saw [the officials] come out with their hands up, I was very excited.”
PV was helped by the technology again later in the game, when Jake DeMilia’s 4th quarter score was confirmed via instant replay.
Ramapo followed up Valley’s touchdown with a last minute drive downfield, capped off by an AJ Wingfield touchdown pass with three seconds left in the half.
Though the Indians trailed by just eight at halftime, the Raiders began to pull away in the third quarter when Wingfield connected with Ty Jaten on a 49-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing Valley possession the Indians drove into the red zone, when a Stephen Begen pass was intercepted and returned 85 yards to put Ramapo up 28-6.
“I thought we had a great first half,” Cusumano said. “There’s a couple plays in the game that are gonna mean the difference in the game, and they made a few more.”
Begen hit DeMilia and Jake Williams for touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the comeback fell short and the game ended with a score of 35-20.
Some of Valley’s offensive success can be attributed to a notable change in style, running the offense exclusively out of the shotgun. In the Indians’ first six games, signal caller Stephen Begen took the vast majority of offensive snaps from under center.
“I thought we could expose some things on the outside, and kinda get out of the box a little bit, so we took advantage,” Cusumano said of the new offensive approach. “I thought our guys executed well on certain plays, but we gotta to play mistake-free, penalty-free, and I thought we didn’t do enough of that.”
Junior running back Williams was once again the focal point of the rushing attack, finishing the game with 18 rushes for 166 yards and a receiving touchdown. Senior Ricky Mizzoni also got involved in the running game for the first time after coming back from injury.
Begen had another successful game throwing the ball, as he completed 16 of his 22 passing attempts for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think we showed that our passing game can have an effect on our offense,” Martinez said. “It opens up our running game later in the season, especially when the playoffs come around.”
For Ramapo, Wingfield had a standout performance. He completed 13 of his 21 passing attempts for 198 yards while throwing three touchdowns to secure the win.
Next week, PV (3-4) will host New Canaan (4-2) with potential playoff implications on the line. New Canaan, led by Notre Dame commit and star quarterback Drew Pyne, defeated the Indians 33-14 at their home field in Connecticut last season.
“Another outstanding program,” Cusumano said of New Canaan. “We’re gonna get back to work and continue closing the gap.”
