River Dell wins thriller over NV/Demarest, returns to North 1 Group 3 final by Jim McConville special to The Record
RIVER EDGE – In as entertaining a game as you will find, River Dell and NV/Demarest played like a pair of heavyweight fighters, throwing haymakers at each other for a full four quarters. It came right down to the last play,
A Hail Mary pass into the end zone was nearly caught, was tipped and hung in the air for a split second before finally finding the round. With that, River Dell escaped with a 38-34 win in a game no one deserved to lose.
For the Golden Hawks, it means a return to the North 1 Group 3 championship game, but as much as anything else it adds still another chapter to the amazing story that is David Estevez.
The River Dell senior quarterback once again turned a possible defeat into victory with his never-say-die attitude and uncanny knack to turn disaster into success. It is a trait that Hawk head coach D.J. Nimphius marvels at.
“He’s probably taught me more these last four years than I’ve ever taught him,” Nimphius said. “The incredible part of it is he’s an even better person than he is a football player.”
Facing an improbable fourth and 21 at the NV/Demarest 35 with 47 seconds to go, Estevez calmly waited for Jack Racine to run a deep sideline route, a 25-yard out. He put it right on the sideline and Racine made the catch for a first down at the Norsemen 10.
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“We messed that one up a couple of times before, throwing it out of bounds,” Nimphius said. “The two kids made a tremendous play.”
After getting stopped for no gain on first down, Estevez found Racine again for the 10-yard go-ahead score, with Racine going down and just getting a hand underneath the ball before it hit the ground.
“It was supposed to be a play to the right, but there was nothing there,” Estevez said. “I saw Jack make a cut and just went left and he made the catch.”
NV/Demarest had one last chance, as Kevin McCloskey made a fourth down catch at the River Dell 39 with 8 seconds left. On the next play, NV/Demarest QB Austin Albericci was flushed out of the pocket before launching the bomb to the end zone. Two Norsemen receivers were there, but so were three River Dell defenders. The ball was touched, popped into the air but fell harmlessly.
Prior to that play, the teams traded the lead six times as both teams showed plenty of spark. Early on, River Dell had the only multi-score lead after a Jack Gillies field goal made it 17-7 in the second quarter.
NV/Demarest (9-2) came back and scored twice before halftime, with Albericci running one in and Joe Rotonde grabbing a 13-yard TD pass with 24 seconds left in the half
River Dell (10-1) came out and went 85 yards for a touchdown to open the second half, only to see Rotonde take the ensuing kickoff back 86 yards to regain the lead. River Dell then went 79 yards for a touchdown, with Mike Sirico making a 36-yard scoring catch after Estevez scrambled away from a sack.
Having not run an offensive play in the third quarter and being off the field for nearly an hour, the NV/Demarest offense came right back with Albericci hitting Rotonde for a 28-yard touchdown with 7:33 to go, setting up the final sequence.
Turning point: In a shootout game, it was probably the extra point that wasn’t… After the Rotonde score made it 34-31, Jonah Miller kicked the point but penalty flags flew. There was a double penalty (a hold and a dead-ball personal foul) on NV/Demarest, leaving Nimphius with a choice of taking the points off and making them try the point from the 27 or leaving the point on the board and taking the 15 yards for the personal foul on the kickoff.
“You take the points off whenever you can,” he said, and the ensuing two-point conversion was no good. Because it took about six minutes to sort everything out, the delay helped offset the NV/Demarest momentum, gave River dell the option of a field goal to tie and, after the RD score, meant NV/Demarest could not tie with a field goal at the end.
River Dell stat line: Estevez ran 30 times for 154 yards and two touchdowns and was 9 of 13 passing for 116 yards and three TD. Racine had 5 catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns and added 29 rushing yards on 3 runs. Sirico caught 3 for 51 and a score. David Fletcher added 69 yards on 16 carries.
Norsemen stat line: Albericci was 14 of 25 for 194 yards and three scores with an interception. He also ran 9 times for 54 yards, all in the first half. Rotonde caught 6 passes for 125 yards and two scores and Jake Mottola had 3 catches for 129 yards and a touchdown. McCloskey ran 12 times for 61 yards and Connor Scaglione recorded 15 tackles, including a pair of sacks.