On Friday night, the underdog Pascack Valley Panthers took on the undefeated Old Tappan Golden Knights, who were ranked No.11 in the New Jersey Super 25 Rankings. The Panthers won the game 27-21, snapping a ten-year losing streak against Valley’s crosstown rivals.
Valley Starts Strong
Old Tappan started the game with the ball but punted after being stopped by Valley. After two short passes to Valley RBs Colin McMorrow (Jr.) and Kai Smith (Jr.), QB Adam Shaw (Jr.) ran 28 yards to the 28-yard line.
Just two plays later, Shaw connected with WR Marc Dellaquila (Jr.) for a 23-yard touchdown pass, giving Valley a 7-0 lead, as K Evan Starr (Sr.) converted the PAT.
Shaw believes that PV’s defensive stop and Valley’s first touchdown of the game gave the Panthers the momentum needed to win.
“The first stop and the touchdown showed everyone that [we] were not going to be stopped in the game,” Shaw said. “We knew we were better, and scoring on the first drive only got us more hyped.”
On the next drive, Old Tappan took the ball down the field, and NVOT “Utility Man” Alex Orecchio (Sr.) scored on a 13-yard run. The game was then tied 7-7.
Valley’s second drive was highlighted by two fourth-down conversions. Shaw ran for 19 yards on fourth-and-three and then passed to TE Colin Krause (Sr.) for nine yards on fourth-and-six. Shaw capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run, and Starr added the extra point to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead.
A penalty on Old Tappan forced them to punt after only four plays, giving the ball back to PV.
Valley relied on RB Kevin Regula (Sr.) for this drive. Regula ran for ten and 18 yards, then caught a seven-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was missed, giving Valley a 20-7 lead with 5:02 left in the first half.
Touchdown or Incompletion? Fumbled Fate for Valley
Trailing 20-7, Old Tappan drove down the field. The Panthers stopped the Golden Knights on third-and-twenty, and Old Tappan faced fourth-and-nine at Valley’s 18-yard line with 15 seconds left in the half.
Old Tappan called a timeout and decided to go for it instead of attempting a field goal. QB Zachary Miceli (So.) threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to WR Ronan Malady (Sr.), but Valley did not agree with the call.
Smith and Shaw both insisted to the referee that Malady did not maintain possession all the way through and that the ball hit the ground. The refs stood by their call. (After the game, North Jersey Sports had a frame-by-frame that showed the ball did indeed touch the ground.)
The touchdown reduced Valley’s lead to six points, making the score 20-14 going into the half. In a postgame interview, Valley WR Dante DaCosta (Jr.) spoke about Coach Cusumano’s message to the team at halftime.
“Coach Cus said to keep our heads in the game and control what we can control,” DaCosta said. Coach Cusumano encouraged the team to “‘Just do your jobs and play hard.’”
Valley received the second-half kickoff and marched down to Old Tappan’s 29-yard line. Shaw’s 29-yard touchdown run was called back for offensive holding.
A false start penalty pushed Valley back even more to first-and-twenty-five from the 44-yard line. Shaw completed two passes: a 13-yarder to McMorrow and a 25-yarder to WR Michael Fronzaglia (Sr.). The Panthers had first-and-goal at the six-yard line.
After a five-yard run from Regula, Shaw tried a run for himself from the one-yard line. He fumbled, and Old Tappan recovered the fumble. The Panthers argued that Shaw broke the plane of the goal line, but the referees did not change the ball, giving possession to NVOT.
These two controversial calls resulted in a 14-point swing, in favor of Old Tappan.
When Adam Shaw was asked about these two plays by northjersey.com reporter Greg Mattura, he said, “You can’t really argue about it. You’ve just got to play the game and live with it.”
Panthers Respond to Calls Not Going There Way
Valley stopped Old Tappan on third-and-ten, but a holding penalty on the Panthers gave the Golden Knights a first down. Old Tappan continued their possession into the fourth quarter.
Valley stopped Old Tappan again on third-and-three. Facing fourth-and-one at Valley’s 45-yard line, Old Tappan went for it. Orecchio had a wide-open WR in Shane Small (So.), but his pass was overthrown, giving the ball back to Valley. The Golden Knights’ golden opportunity was missed.
Valley capitalized on the turnover, driving down the field with five runs by Regula and a reception by DaCosta. K. Smith scored on a touchdown run, extending Valley’s lead to 27-14 with 7:07 remaining in the game.
Valley got Old Tappan in another fourth-down situation, as NVOT faced fourth-and-goal at Valley’s one-yard line. Orecchio scored on a one-yard run, cutting Valley’s lead to 27-20 with 3:47 remaining.
Do or Die? Valley Faces Crucial 4th Down Situation
Valley needed just a couple of first downs to seal the game and upset Old Tappan. Valley started on its own ten-yard line.
Valley ran three straight times but came up short on fourth-and-one at the team’s own 19-yard line with 1:57 left.
Do you go for it and risk giving Old Tappan good field position if you do not convert, or do you play it safe and punt the ball, making Old Tappan drive down the field?
Coach Cusumano put his trust in his captain, Kevin Regula, and he delivered. He ran for four yards on fourth down, giving the Panthers a first down.
Regula commented on realizing the amount of trust his head coach has in him.
“Looking back on it makes me realize how much trust Coach Cusumano has in me along with my teammates,” Regula said. “He not only trusted me, he also trusted the 10 other guys on the field that also made the play happen,” he added.
Regula sealed the game with a 24-yard run, giving the Panthers the victory. He finished the game with 107 rushing yards and one receiving touchdown.
Coach Cusumano elaborated on this decision of his, to go for it on fourth-and-one in their own territory, when asked by northjersey.com reporter Greg Mattura.
“We weren’t getting much on defense there, they were really shredding us there. So we had to take a chance, and I’m just really proud of our guys for executing.,” Coach Cusumano said.f
What Does this Mean for Pascack Valley?
The Panthers won the Super Football Conference Patriot Blue Division title. Their last division title was in 2019 when they won the Super Football Conference Patriot Gold Division with an 8-3 record.
This win for PV was the first against NVOT in 10 years. The last time the Panthers beat the Golden Knights was in 2014, when Valley won 35-28 in the regular season, and 37-14 in playoffs.
This has been the best regular season under Coach Cusumano, as they finished 7-1. Valley averaged 30.6 points scored and only allowed 11.8 points on average. Valley scored four or more touchdowns in six of their games and held four opponents this year to one touchdown or less.
Dante DaCosta has emerged as Adam Shaw’s number-one option in the passing game. In the past two weeks, he has seven receptions for 132 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Dante would talk about what has clicked between Shaw and himself.
“All of our hard work that we put in is coming into the light at just the right time,” he said.
Over the past two weeks, Adam Shaw has been 19/25 with 307 passing yards, six throwing touchdowns, 193 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns. Shaw would talk about what has changed for him in the past two games and how he needs to keep it going for the playoffs.
“It’s how big these games are. I know that these last two games were games we needed to win,” Shaw said. “As the quarterback, I need to bring my game to another level now if we want to compete in the playoffs,” he would add.
This win gave Pascack Valley the number one seed in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 Tournament. Their last number-one seed was in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 Tournament in 2014, which they won against Paramus 22-6 at MetLife Stadium.
A Big Win for the Panthers: What’s Next?
Valley looks to ride the momentum of their four-game winning streak. They are set to take on No.8 seed West Milford on Friday, Nov. 1, at 6:00 p.m., at PV.
