Jorge Cortes and Rocco Swatek carried the load in Pascack Valley’s 35-28 triumph over Old Tappan on Friday night. Cortes carried the ball for 155 yards on 19 carries, mostly between the 20s, and Swatek did the dirty work inside the 20s, carrying the ball for 43 yards and pounding in three touchdowns.

Cortes and Swatek have proven time and time again that they will be hard to stop. Just ask Jordan Fuller, who was forced to push Cortes out of bounds at the one yard line after a monster gain of 65 yards. Swatek of course, was a force in the red zone, as he walked in, almost untouched on all three scores.

Old Tappan (4-2) was to not be counted out though, led by their junior playmaker Fuller. Fuller did all the work for Old Tappan, touching the ball on almost every offensive play. Fuller had not played quarterback all season. As PV defensive coordinator Jim Cleary said, ““He is real different to stop at QB.”

Real different was exactly what Fuller was at quarterback. He never threw the ball that often, using his legs to get Old Tappan yards, breaking out for long runs, often for 15 yards or more.

Fuller was responsible for three touchdowns on the day — one through the air, the two on the ground and rushing for 290 yards, proving how tough he really was for the Indians to stop.

When there was a passing play for the Indians it was a big one. PV coach Craig Nielsen went to the screen pass against Old Tappan. Both passes by quarterback Colin Dedrick led to huge gains, one a 33-yard touchdown pass to Greg Collier, the other a 34-yard gain by Cortes. The other big pass play was a deep connection between Dedrick and Mike Pimpinella for a gain of 48 yards.

The biggest plays of the game for the Indians (5-1) came late in the fourth quarter, the first on a stop on fourth down and the other on a fumble recovery. The fourth down stop came on a Fuller run on fourth-and-short inside Valley territory.

“The best player is going to get the ball in crunch time,” Cleary said of the stop.

The other stopped, which sealed the deal for the Indians was a Jack Madden fumble recovery, with less than three minutes to go.

“I saw the ball pop out and I just jumped on it,” said Madden about the fumble.

The fumble sealed the deal for the Indians, for what was a hard, well-fought victory, 35-28.

In the last 11 years, Pascack Valley and Old Tappan have squared off nine times, with the Indians holding a slim 5-4 edge.

The Indians moved into the top spot in the rankings after the win against Old Tappan. The top four is as follows

1. Pascack Valley (5-1) 97.0 points
2. Roxbury (6-0) 91.0 points
3. Paramus (5-1) 91.0 points
4. Demarest (4-2) 80.0 points

Due to the loss, Old Tappan falls out of the top four into the fifth spot and would play its Northern Valley sister school, Old Tappan, in the playoffs if the standings hold form.

PV’s difficult schedule continues this week, as the Indians host Passaic Valley (4-2), currently sitting in the No. 6 position in the section.

According to maxpreps.com, Dedrick currently leads the Big North Independence division in passing yards. For the season Dedrick has 1,066 yards passing and 11 TDs.

Cortes leads the division in rushing yards. He and Swatek are both tied for the lead in rushing touchdowns as well. Cortes has 770 yards rushing on the season and 6 TDs, while Swatek has 183 yards and 6 TDs.

Collier is the state leader in receiving yards among tight ends. Collier has 375 yards receiving on 21 catches, five of which were touchdowns.