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Curstine Guevarra

Andrew Flores (40) and Paul Catalano (60) high-five after a touchdown drive in the 4th quarter

In every football game, there are turning points. Certain plays that determine the outcome of the game. Often, they are overlooked because they are not scoring plays or gain a ton of yards.

This particular play occurred in the fourth quarter of Pascack Valley’s 34-19 victory over Bergenfield, last Friday night in the first round of the state tournament.

After a touchdown run by Jovani Haskins of Bergenfield, the score was 27-19 in PV’s favor in the fourth quarter. With 8:47 left and an eight point lead, PV then received the ensuing kickoff. But after three quick plays, PV was stopped short of the first down and was forced to punt.

For a moment, it looked as though Bergenfield had a chance to win the game before PV punted the ball away. If Bergenfield marched the ball down the field for a touchdown and had was successful in converting a 2-point conversion, then the score would have been tied 27-27 with a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. At that point, who knows what would have happened.

After senior Mike Pimpinella booted the ball away, it was fielded by the Bergenfield punt returner. After a long return back into PV territory, a Bergenfield touchdown, 2-point conversion, and tie game seemed like even more likely possibility with the great field position.

But then the game changed in an instant. Senior Connor Jones made possibly the game-saving tackle and forced a fumble on the return. Pimpinella then jumped on the ball to recover the ball. This play totally shifted the momentum of the game. PV now had the ball back and their energy rejuvenated by the excitement of the fumble recovery.

“We have experience, and it does help,” Coach Craig Nielsen said of his team in playoff situations.

PV proceeded to move the ball down the field and eventually scored a touchdown from 15 yards out on a run by Andrew Flores. The score put PV up 34-19 with 2:57 left in the fourth quarter and was the final blow to Bergenfield’s season.

Now, #3 PV moves onto the semifinals and a matchup with #2 Ramapo. Ramapo won their first round game handedly, defeating Paramus 40-0. Ramapo has now won eight straight games this season, including a victory against PV earlier in the season, by a score of 42-21.

“Against Ramapo, we can’t come out slow, that’s what we did last time and it was 28-0 before you blinked,” Nielsen explained, “We need to play a lot better.”

The winner of this #2 vs. #3 game would then face the winner of the matchup between #1 River Dell and #5 Sparta in the North 1, Group 3 championship game.

Joe Colasuono returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the second time this season. His first, earlier in the season against Hackensack went for 93 yards. While in the opening round of the playoffs against Bergenfield, he scored after running 83 yards to the end zone.

Mike Pimpinella and Andrew Flores are both closing in on 1,000-yard seasons. Pimpinella needs 33 more yards through the air to accumulate 1,000 total yards receiving for the entire season. Flores needs 165 more yards on the ground to complete a 1,000 yard rushing season.

Predictions:

Writer Rankings:

1st- Jake Aferiat (12 points)

2nd- Mike Zocco (10 points)

3rd- Evan Jones (8 points)

4th- Kyle Comito (7 points)

Celebrity Winner:

Mrs. Cindy Reese