Pascack Valley begins its playoff run in the North 1, Group 4 playoffs with a familiar foe.

The top-seeded Indians, who host No. 8 Passaic Valley tonight at 6 p.m., took on the Hornets three weeks ago. The outcome was in the Indians favor, 49-6. Passaic Valley did not get a good look at many of the Indians best players, as 1,000 yard rusher Jorge Cortes injured his ankle early in the game.  This opened up opportunities for running backs Matt Urrea, Josh Tillis, and Andrew Flores.

It is also to be noted that the two teams played each other last year in the regular season and in the playoffs. In those meetings, the Indians came out victorious.

Elsewhere in the section, in the “Battle for Northern Valley”, No. 4 Old Tappan and No. 5 Demarest will face each other, with the winner taking on Pascack or Passaic Valley. The Indians beat Old Tappan 35-28 this year, but did not play Demarest during the regular season.

If PV makes all the way to the finals, they could possibly play Paramus, whom was beaten by the Indians 32-8 at MetLife Stadium last season, or Roxbury, who beat the Indians in the championship two seasons ago.

The Spartans of Paramus are 8-1, have the best record in the group, and Roxbury is 7-2. Although PV is ranked higher than Paramus in the playoff bracket, the Bergen Record’s Top 25 (Nov 11) has Paramus one spot ahead of PV.

In PV’s half of the bracket, the second round game could be what many thought to be the state championship game, PV vs. Old Tappan. Along with a possible rematch with Paramus and Roxbury in the title game. The story lines will get bigger and bigger throughout the playoffs.

North 1, Group 4 matchups this weekend

No. 8 Passaic Valley at No. 1 Pascack Valley

No. 5 Demarest at No. 4 Old Tappan

No. 6 Nutley at No. 3 Paramus

No. 7 Randolph at No. 2 Roxbury

As of late, PV quarterback Colin Dedrick has had trouble connecting with receivers, which appears to be encouraging opposing defenses to load up against the run. In the last two games, Dedrick is a combined 21-for-45 with two touchdowns and four interceptions. With a thriving run game, Dedrick’s struggles have gone relatively unseen. In the Northern Highlands blowout, Dedrick did not have to throw the ball as much.

The running duo of Jorge Cortes and Rocco Swatek have seemed to be the perfect mix between speed and power. Cortes, the Indians 1,000 yard rusher, has run the ball in between the 20s with great success and has been the team’s go-to player. He has been a player that PV can hand the ball to and have confidence that he will be able to break a long run.

Swatek has been the perfect power back for Valley. Swatek’s carries come in the red zone, where he has scored 11 touchdowns on the season. Although his carries do not go for many yards, Swatek is always able to rumble for an extra yard or two and pound it in for a score.

Steve Farrell could possibly return to action tonight, according to many in the locker room. Steve Farrell was one of the most versatile players on the field. In the state championship game against Paramus, Farrell led the offense in the second at the quarterback in the wildcat formation. That was Farrell’s last game before a collarbone injury has sidelined him for the whole regular season.

Farrell played RB and WR for the majority of last season. At his primary position, WR, Farrell had 25 receptions for 545 yards and 7 TDs.

Predictions :

Jake Aferiat- 56-14

Calvin Ralph- 35-10

Evan Jones- 35-14