Wednesday Morning Quarterback: PV runs through Ridgefield Park for second straight year
Indians improve to 2-5 behind strong running game
With 357 total yards on the ground, including 138 from Greg Zoll, 89 from Mike Gulino, and 80 from Jake Williams, PV won for the second time this season on Saturday afternoon. Valley defeated the Ridgefield Park Scarlets by a score of 26-7, on the day of the homecoming barbeque.
“Being able to move the ball effectively in our run game, I thought was great. It was just good to get back to business in what we do… running the football well,” said PV Coach Len Cusumano.
PV beat Ridgefield Park for the second consecutive season, with this contest being a very similar game to last year’s. The Indians scored 26 points last year as well, and save for a fourth quarter Ridgefield Park touchdown, the score would have been the exact same.
PV displayed a run centric offensive attack on Saturday. With an effective ground and pound style, Valley wore down the Scarlet defense. With an inexperienced group of quarterbacks, including Jake DeMilia and Gio DeGiglio, Valley passed the ball just twice all game with one completion. The Indians finished with 12 yards through the air.
Even though the PV signal callers did not see much action, Cusumano was happy with their performance. “They stepped in and did what we needed to do to get the job done,” he said.
For this week’s game, PV will once again play a game of wait and see, in terms of who will be starting at quarterback. According to Cusmano, Stephen Begen is “day to day, week to week” with a shoulder injury and his status for Saturday against New Canaan is currently unknown. If Begen cannot play, DeMilia will get the start again under center for the Indians.
One area of concern going forward might be on special teams, especially in terms of placekicking. Sophomore Jake Ciocca had done a great job of making PAT’s throughout the season, but missed twice against Ridgefield Park. He was just 2/4 on Saturday afternoon, but had missed just once the rest of the season.
This week, PV will travel to New Canaan, Conn. to play New Canaan High School. This will be PV’s first out of state football game. The Rams (4-2) are led by quarterback Drew Pyne and Coach Lou Marinelli. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at New Canaan High School.
