When: Friday, September 30

Location: Pascack Valley High School

Time: 6 p.m.

2016 Records:

Pascack Valley: 0-3

Ramapo: 1-2

PV Perspective: After a rocky start to the season, the Indians are home against Ramapo to try to change that zero to a one in the win column. They are 0-3 and coming off a devastating 31-14 loss to Nutley. Their running game takes a significant hit, as the Indians suffered an injury to Senior running back Jack Jankowsky last week. Jankowsky has a total of 127 yards and one touchdown on 33 carries through three games. With Jankowsky out or limited, the Indians must lean heavily on fellow Senior running back Matt Urrea. Urrea has gotten the bulk of the workload as he has accumulated a total of 361 yards and three touchdowns on 63 carries. Last week he posted a fantastic 22-114-2, scoring the only two touchdowns PV had. Valley has still relied almost completely on their run game, as says the total of 45 passing attempts that have come from Sophomore signal-caller Joe Campagna (42) and Urrea (3). Campagna gets his fourth shot under the spotlight after putting up a much improved outing against Nutley, where he started his first varsity game without throwing an interception. This also serves as a redemption game for the Valley, as the Raiders chewed up the Indians’ defense last year in the sectional semi-final game en route to a 45-13 victory. With a lot of players most likely sidelined for this coming week, it may prove to be an uphill battle for PV. 

Ramapo Perspective: Coming off their first win of their 2016 season against Snyder, the Raiders come into a Pascack Valley crowd that so desperately awaits a victory. Leading the offense is Senior quarterback Tommy Jaten, who is coming off a three touchdown game. Through three games, Jaten has compiled 662 passing yards, five touchdowns, 52 completions, and four picks on 86 attempts. Jaten has also proved he can roll out of the pocket and scramble for a good chunk of yardage and touchdowns. On the ground, Jaten has 75 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Four of the five touchdown passes that he’s thrown has gone to Senior wide receiver Jack Scordato, who also has racked up 180 receiving yards. Leading the rushing game next to Jaten is Senior back Stephen Hoover. In a span only two games, Hoover has rushed for a stat line of 15-128-2. He is currently averaging a superb 8.5 yards a carry. Behind a strong core of offensive and defensive players, the Raiders look to topple the Indians on the road. 

Key Matchups:

Matt Urrea vs Ramapo Defense: Leading PV rusher Urrea awaits a tough run defense. The Raiders have an accumulated total of 159 tackles. The bulk of them come from Sophomore Anthony Sargenti (17), Hoover (24) , Jayson Gilsinger (19), and Nicholas Demarco (18). Gilsinger and Demarco are seniors. Ramapo also has seven total tackles for loss. Through three games, Ramapo’s defense has averaged 53 tackles a game. With an inexperienced Campagna under center, Ramapo could figure to just stuff the run and therefore limit the productivity of Urrea. Ramapo also allows 21 points per game, compared to PV, which scores just an average of 16 points per game.

Ramapo Run Game vs Pascack Valley Defense: Jaten and Stephen Hoover boast a solid offensive rush attack. The Valley defense outnumber the Ramapo defense in tackles, tackles per game, and tackles for loss. Leading the defense for Valley include Senior Tommy Uhl (22 tackles), Junior Austin Piorkowski (22 tackles), and Senior Tyler DiLorenzo (21 tackles). All of them have at least 0.5 tackles for loss. Leading Valley with tackles per loss is Senior Phil Wong with 5.5, two of which were sacks. It is up to Valley’s strong core of run stoppers to stuff Hoover and prevent Jaten from scrambling for too many yards.”Defensively we need to get better making tackles, but guys are starting to learn their positions and fit into certain roles,” said Cusumano.