Ramapo, Wingfield hold on late to 23-20 win over River Dell by Chris Iseman of The Record

ORADELL — AJ Wingfield did exactly what he needed to do.

Ramapo began its final drive of the game at its own 32-yard line with 4:14 remaining. Hanging onto a three-point lead, the Raiders were determined not to give the ball back to River Dell and David Estevez.

So Wingfield went to work in another excellent performance.

“We kept getting clutch first downs,” Wingfield said. “Our offensive line did a great job of blocking.”

When the final second ticked off the clock, No. 7 Ramapo celebrated a 23-20 win over No. 2 River Dell in an NJSFC crossover game on Friday.

Ramapo began the second half with a 16-7 lead but the teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Estevez, who again was stellar for the Hawks, hit Holden Brodersen for a 30-yard scoring pass. River Dell went for two, but couldn’t convert.

Still, it cut its deficit to 16-13.

Ramapo (6-1) answered right back as Shane Brancaleone ended the Raiders’ ensuing drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to make it 23-13.

But the Hawks got the ball back at its own 37 and marched down the field before Estevez scored on a 1-yard run to make it 23-20.

That’s how the score stayed with the help of Wingfield’s production on Ramapo’s final drive.

He had a 21-yard run on a third-and-7 to give the Raiders a first down at River Dell’s 30. Wingfield then scrambled 22 yards to get to the 8.

Ramapo, which had an 8-yard TD run from Luke Ragone and a three-yard scoring run from Wingfield in the first half, drained the clock from there.

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Key play: River Dell (6-1) was driving in the second quarter and was facing fourth-and-1 at Ramapo’s 35.

The Hawks decided to go for it.

But junior linebacker Matt Wingfield, AJ’s twin brother, exploded into the backfield and batted down a pass to force River Dell to turn the ball over on downs.

“Matt had a great game tonight,” Ramapo coach Drew Gibbs said. “He made a number of big plays. Just a real student of the game.”

Play of the game: Ramapo had first-and-10 at its own 46 early in the fourth quarter when River Dell’s Mike Rizik sacked Wingfield for a loss of eight yards.

But Wingfield shook it off.

On the very next play, he ran 21 yards to get to River Dell’s 41 to keep the drive going. It ended with Brancaleone’s 10-yard score.

Not in the box score: Ramapo junior center Grant Cotugno broke his right hand during a blitz pick-up drill in Wednesday’s practice.

But he didn’t let the injury stop him.

With a cast on his right hand, he learned to snap with his left hand in one day and did an excellent job on Friday night.

What it means: River Dell’s 11-game winning streak, which included a 35-21 victory over Ramapo in last season’s North 1, Group 3 semifinals last season, came to an end with its loss on Friday night.

The Raiders, meanwhile, become the No. 1 seed in North 1, Group 3.

Quotable: “David Estevez on their side is a special player,” Gibbs said. “I think A.J. proved tonight he’s a special player as well in North Jersey. He can run the ball, he can throw it. It was great to see the offensive line kind of dominate at the end there and put the drive away, put the game away like we needed to.”