There was no answer from Old Tappan on Friday night for Jorge Cortes.

“We were ready,” Cortes said.

Cortes carried the ball 45 times for 277 yards and four touchdowns. Cortes credited the victory to great preparation and an always terrific performance from the offensive line, as top-seeded Pascack Valley defeated No. 4 Old Tappan 37-14 Friday in the North 1, Group 4 semifinals at Pascack Valley High School.

“We practiced well and watched films everyday,” Cortes added, “The offensive line (Jake Padva, Max Putterman, Jimmy Alburtus, Joe Schnugg, Joe Figueroa) was great.”

PV (9-2) advances to the title game two weeks from now and will face No. 3 Paramus (10-1), which shut out No. 2 Roxbury (9-2) 21-0 on the road in Friday’s other semifinal. The day, time, and site will be announced by the NJSIAA in the upcoming days. It is the third straight year the Indians have appeared in the final and the second straight matchup against the Spartans in that game. Last year, PV prevailed 32-8.

“We have a lot of time to prepare to win another state championship,” defensive back/wideout Mike Pimpenella said.

Old Tappan (8-3) star Jordan Fuller was kept in check this time by the Indians.

The Pascack Valley defense was fantastic as they were able to keep Fuller under control. Coach Craig Nielsen stated that the team, “defended a little differently” than they had in the teams’ regular season matchup. The defense came up with two interceptions (by Pimpinella and Collier) in this game.

Greg Collier said of his interception, “I was man to man on him the whole game, number 11 against number 11. I just slid underneath and caught it.”

Pimpinella’s interception came late in the fourth quarter.

“It was the cherry on top,” he said.

Although the defense will be given the majority of the credit for stopping the Old Tappan offense and Jordan Fuller, the Indians’ offense also deserves some credit.

“The best way to defend Fuller is to keep him on defense,” Nielsen said.

After a quick two-play drive from Old Tappan that ended with a 63-yard touchdown pass to start the second half, the Indians’ first drive of the second half took significant time off the clock. The offense was able to run over 11 minutes off the clock. All of the plays were runs by either Cortes or Rocco Swatek.

That’s my style, I like to run,” Nielsen said.

Nielsen said that the offense played great and was very proud of his offensive line. He said that the offensive line used “angles to block” and “manhandled” the opposition.