Ridgewood captures North 1 Group 5 title by JJ Conrad of The Record
EAST RUTHERFORD – MetLife Stadium had been something of a house of horrors for Ridgewood. The Maroons seem to struggle mightily in the big arena.
The third time was a charm, though, thanks to a defense that once again played to its signature.
On a day when the offense struggled to find consistency, the Maroons defense set it up with a pair of turnovers deep in the Passaic Tech end. Those two takeaways led to all of Ridgewood’s points and eventually a state championship.
The Maroons had to survive an extra point try to tie with 1:24 remaining, and when the kick sailed wide to the left, destiny and fate had struck a blow in favor of Ridgewood. With a 14-13 defeat of the Bulldogs, the Maroons completed their first-ever 12-0 season and first perfect campaign since 1956.
It also marked the fifth state sectional championship for the Maroons and the first since 2004, while exorcising the demons of 2013 and 2015, when they came to MetLife only to be shut out.
“This is very surreal right now,” Ridgewood coach Chuck Johnson said. “These kids, they have been so great all season. They’ve done everything they had to do and more, and I can’t think of a better group to be 12-0.”
PASSAIC TECH: Bulldogs hold heads high
UPDATES: Complete updates from championship weekend
Trailing 7-6 following an extra point try that clanged off the left upright and a missed field goal by Wylie Sherman, the senior cornerback more than atoned for those misses with two huge plays.
He came up on a run and crunched the running back on the Passaic Tech possession following the field goal miss from 32 yards, forcing a fumble that Dan Gioia recovered at the Bulldogs’ 43-yard line.
“I just knew I had to do something to give back to these guys after the missed kicks,” Sherman said. “I saw the runner coming, and Coleston Smith forced him to the outside. I don’t think he ever saw me coming.”
A roughing the passer penalty moved the ball to the 28, and Paul Calvetti made a big third down sweep of the left side, only to see Jermaine Wilder knock the ball out of his hand. Sherman was there to make the recovery and keep possession for Ridgewood.
“He makes those kinds of plays because he is always around the ball,” Johnson said. “There isn’t anyone with a more competitive bone in his body. He is tough as nails, and he made it happen.”
From there, it was all Zach Feagles. The senior fullback (28 carries, 92 yards) bulled his way in from the one on third down. Smith then caught a two-point conversion to put the Maroons ahead, 14-7, with 3:01 to go.
Passaic Tech (9-3) went down the field, with Vincent Mariana catching four passes for 59 yards, including the 15-yard touchdown strike from Derrick Cuavers with 1:24 left. The extra point was well wide, and Feagles followed with back-to-back 6-yard runs after the onside kick attempt went out of bounds to send Ridgewood to the North 1, Group 5 crown.
“There was no way we were going to be denied,” Feagles said of the winning score. “You can’t say enough about guys like Wylie. He’s one tough son of a gun, and once he made that play we knew we were going to score.”
Jack Simpson had forced a first-quarter fumble that Smith recovered at the Bulldogs 4-yard line, setting up a Feagles 3-yard score and the 6-0 lead. Passaic Tech used a Rhazeer Jones blocked punt that put them at the Ridgewood 17 to score eight seconds before halftime to go ahead, 7-6.
Amado Rodriguez got behind the secondary in the left back corner for the 22-yard touchdown catch.