Did Adeyemi Da Silva and Palisades Park/Leonia come up with this week’s biggest win? (Staff Photo/Mike Karas)
Each week of the fall season, The Record football staff will have an e-mail roundtable. Check out Varsity Aces every Monday for an extra helping of football knowledge, as we offer opinions, analysis and insight on all the weekend’s happenings. Feel free to join in on the conversation in the comments.Â
There were so many momentous wins this weekend. But which one was the most important? Our staff answers that question, and more, below.
Andy Vasquez, Staff Writer: A couple of wins jumped off the page for me: Cresskill beat Pompton Lakes, ending the Cardinals 20-game winning streak. I also thought Palisade Park/Leonia’s win over Waldwick/Midland Park was huge for the Tigers, who have made no secret that their goal is no less than a state title this year. That was a tough early-season test, and they passed it. And let’s not forget Old Tappan. The Knights pulled away late for an impressive win over Pascack Valley.
But, to me, Mahwah’s win over River Dell was the most significant. The Hawks have dominated the Thunderbirds since 2010, when the teams moved to the Big North winning the first three meetings. Last year, Mahwah’s only regular season loss came to River Dell. But with Friday’s win, the Thunderbirds finally exorcized their River Dell demons. It’s a confidence-building win, and one that establishes Mahwah as one of the favorites in a the super-competitive Big North Patriot.
Darren Cooper, Local Sports Columnist: Don’t forget the LSU win over Auburn. I think the Tigers are really the only one who can stop Alabama. But I digress. Yes, the Cresskill win is obviously very big, they stopped the longest win streak in North Jersey. Now, I wonder who has the longest. I bet its St. Joes. Let me check. The Green Knights have won 8 straight dating to last year. Right? It must be them. I can point to the win by Pal Park/Leonia over Waldwick/Midland Park as a pretty impressive win. The Tigers hadn’t beaten the Warriors basically, ever. And rarely have I seen a team celebrate like they did after a regular season win. It was a big deal for them. I will throw a couple more out there, Westwood is 2-0 and basically hasn’t been challenged yet. They get River Dell in two weeks. Anybody else notice that Becton is 2-0? And suddenly, Secaucus is 2-0 with a good game against New Milford next week.
Brian Giuffra, Staff Writer: Creskill, Creskill, Creskill. Anytime you snap a 20-game winning streak, which started the week after you beat the same team, you deserve to be front and center. There were plenty of other big wins (Paramus Catholic, Wayne Hills, Mahwah) but Creskill stands alone to me, not only because they upset the Cardinals, but because they did it in Pompton Lakes. That’s no easy place to win (PL had won 14 straight there before Saturday) but Creskill did it by jumping out to a big lead and holding off PL down the stretch, not an easy thing to do.
Ed Mills, Staff Writer: I think most meaningful win was maybe Cresskill over Pompton Lakes, like Andy said, the winning streak is over, may be a new small school in charge this year. Cresskill could be a big factor in the playoffs.
Keith Idec, Staff Writer: I thought the most meaningful win of the weekend was Cresskill’s 17-9 victory at Pompton Lakes. Not only had Pompton Lakes won 20 straight games, the Cardinals had been completely dominant at home since their last loss at Hershfield Park in October 2010 (also against Cresskill).
Cresskill also snapped Pompton Lakes’ 14-game winning streak at home. During that home streak, Pompton Lakes out-scored its 14 opponents by a combined 519-83 and recorded six shutouts. But Cresskill came to Hershfield Park and jumped out to a 17-0, first-half lead against a program that has won the past two North 1, Group 1 titles and held on to win.
Cresskill’s defense, led by junior linebacker Matt Ferrara and senior defensive back Joe Peluso, limited Pompton Lakes to just nine second-half points. Other than an 84-yard run by senior running back Tony Capobianco in the third quarter, Cresskill essentially neutralized a pretty prolific offense, a group that scored 54 points in its season-opening win at Emerson.