Thursday night in Wayne was a tough test for Pascack Valley as it faced an underrated Wayne Hills team. The Patriots gave the Indians all they could handle, but the Indians prevailed 21-19.

The first half was a defensive struggle as neither team could get inside the other’s 20 yard line. That seemed to be the norm until running back Jorge Cortes broke a 51 yard run for a touchdown early in the second half.

The Valley offense started off slow as well. Quarterback Colin Dedrick only had two completions in the first half. Dedrick played much better in the second half, throwing a seven touchdown pass to Greg Collier. For the day, Dedrick was 7-for-18 with 158 yards and a touchdown.

Valley also used trickery to set up a touchdown. Following a 65 yard pass from Dedrick to Dave Baumgarten, running back Rocco Swatek threw a Tim Tebow-esque jump pass to Greg Collier to make the score 21-13.

The extra point was also a proven theme that worked for the Indians. Jack Madden was 3-of-3 on the day, while Wayne Hills botched a snap on an extra point, which forced the Patriots to go for a two-point conversion on the biggest play of the game.

After a Wayne Hills seven yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-19 in favor of the Indians, Wayne Hills was forced to go for the two-pointer with only 20 seconds left in the game. The conversion was failed thanks to Rocco Swatek, who deflected the pass and won the game for the Indians, 21-19.

The college-like atmosphere at Wayne Hills included the home team’s starting defense being introduced prior to the game as the players emerged one by one through a giant, inflatable Patriots helmet and ran through smoke blasts.

A deafening cannon was also fired after every Wayne Hills touchdown, and an ominous bell chime was played over the speakers prior to every third down play that PV faced.

Ryan Wilson, who recorded four sacks in PV’s previous game, a 35-7 victory over West Milford, left the game during the first series with an apparent ankle injury and did not return.

Dedrick is 10th in the state and 1st in the Big North Independence Division in passing yards, according to maxpreps.com. Dedrick is first in the league in passing touchdowns. For the season Dedrick is 48-98 with 822 yards 8 TDs and 4 INTS.

Cortes is first in the division in rushing yards. Swatek is fifth in the same category. For the season, Cortes has 379 yards on 72 carries and two touchdowns and Swatek has 125 yards on 35 carries and three touchdowns.

Collier leads the division in receiving yards and Jack Madden is third. Through four games, Collier has 18 receptions for 286 yards and four touchdowns and Madden has 14 receptions for 214 yards and a touchdown.

Swatek is first in the division and fifth in the state with 54 tackles. Collier is third in the league with 34 tackles.

Wilson and Collier are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively in the division in sacks. Wilson has four sacks and Collier has three.