Gallery • 26 Photos

Curstine Guevarra

PV football players run onto the field before its game against Ramapo

Pascack Valley fell to (1-3) on the year after a 44-8 defeat at the hands of Ramapo. It was PV’s second loss in the last three weeks by 36 points, with the first coming on September 16th against Old Tappan. Coach Len Cusumano praised Ramapo in his postgame comments, “[They have] very skilled players, they made plays. They got drives going at a very high rate. Very fast, very physical up front.”

Ramapo has had PV’s number in recent years, as it has beaten the Indians four straight times. Valley last beat Ramapo in 2013, which was the year that PV won its first of two straight state titles.

PV clearly needs a lot of work in basically every single phase of the game, and special teams stands out in nearly every game. Long snapping was an issue against Ramapo as PV had two bad snaps to senior punter Austin Piorkowski. The first bad snap took place near the start of the second quarter, and Ramapo started their drive at the PV ten yard line. Two plays later, the Raiders were in the endzone for a touchdown. A few minutes later, a snap went over the head of Piorkowski and out of the endzone for a Ramapo safety.

Sophomore Jake Ciocca had another strong game for PV and he impressed in a number of different facets. While he did not attempt a field goal or PAT against the Raiders, he took on a major role in the return game during the second half and made an impact. He had a long punt return to the Ramapo 36 yard line as well as a kick return that he nearly took back for a touchdown. He was tackled at the Ramapo 1 yard line, and on the next play senior tailback Greg Zoll got into the endzone for PV’s only TD.

One memorable play from the game came in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, when Ramapo lined up to punt. The Raider player came into the game for the first time and shanked the punt, as the ball went straight up in the air and landed about 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. A PV player tried to field the kick but lost the ball, and a Ramapo player recovered it at the bottom of the pile. Chaos ensued as the officials threw two flags and coaches yelled at their players and the referees about what had just happened. Eventually, the scene settled down and the officials announced that the flags were offsetting penalties, and Ramapo had to re-do the down. Ramapo then brought in a different punter and a more traditional play followed. It really was a comical moment to see, especially in a game that had lacked excitement as PV had spent the whole night trailing.

PV will play its next game on the road at Wayne Hills (2-2). The game is scheduled for Friday October 6th, with kickoff at 7 p.m.