Old Tappan rallies past Sparta to reach state title game by Jim McConville special to The Record
SPARTA — All season Old Tappan has been chasing the shadow of 2015. The Golden Knights weren’t supposed to be able to make a return trip to the state sectional final; too many contributors had graduated.
Apparently someone forgot to tell the players and the coaches. They just kept going, battling through every obstacle, and today they stand 48 minutes from a second straight championship.
The 34-30 come-from-behind win over previously undefeated Sparta put the spotlight squarely on two seniors who were mainly junior varsity players last year. Quarterback Jack Bilali hooked up with Chris Passante for a pair of second-half touchdowns to wipe out a 30-19 Sparta lead and wrest the game away.
“That seems to be the story of the season,” linebacker Erik Slater said. “Everybody seemed to count us out because we lost a ton of guys, but we have a ton of guys who stepped in. I wouldn’t trade them for anybody in the world.”
The Knights jumped out to a 19-0 lead one play into the second quarter, thanks to some big-play magic. On the second offensive snap for OT, Bilali found Sal DeBenedetto on a post behind the secondary for a 65-yard score.
After Slater scored on a 3-yard run following a DeBenedetto interception, Bilali and DeBenedetto (six receptions, 173 yards) hooked up again on the post route, this time for 56 yards.
After five straight three-and-outs (including the INT), Sparta finally got untracked, as Alex Milliken found a huge hole on third down and raced 61 yards for a touchdown. The Spartans crept to 19-14 on their next offensive play, a 74-yard double pass from Eric Castorina to Rich McDonald, and grabbed a 20-19 lead on a 2-yard Matt Maute pass to Milliken.
Bilali (16 of 30, 313 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs) had an inauspicious start to the second half, throwing an interception, but he did not let it affect his confidence.
“Coach just gave me some wise words that helped me out,” he said.
The turnover led to a Zach Herbert 33-yard field goal that made it 23-19, and the Spartans (9-1) went up 30-19 on a Maute pass to Castorina in the flat that he turned into a tackle-eluding, 69-yard catch-and-run.
“We knew we were going to have to score points on them,” OT coach Brian Dunn said. “They run so many plays and lengthen the game, so it was good to get the early points, but we knew it wasn’t going to be enough.”
Enter Bilali and Passante, who came into the game with five catches for 70 yards and had none in the first half.
“We had Sal [DeBenedetto] going off real well in the first half one-on-one,” he said. “They came out and double-teamed him in the second half, and guys who haven’t gotten the ball much like Chris [Passante] really made some plays.”
Passante had three catches for 33 yards, two on third down, on a drive that ended with him making a shoe-top catch at the Sparta 3 and diving through a pair of defenders for the touchdown. Bilali hit brother Aidan for a two-point conversion to get OT with the score 30-27.
Bilali and Passante hooked up for the game winner with 6:42 left. Bilali was flushed to his right and put up an off-balance throw, but Passante made the catch, dodged a tackle and completed a 54-yard score.
Sparta wasn’t done, reaching the Old Tappan 20-yard line in the final minute, but consecutive sacks by James Kelly and Slater (his second of the game) and a third-down pass to McDonald that he caught just out of bounds in the end zone forced a fourth down. Maute went deep right and overthrew the receiver, sending Old Tappan to MetLife.
“We just did our job in the fourth quarter,” Slater said. “That’s what we live for. That’s when you really have to strap it up and go.”