DePaul and Wayne Hills advance to the Passaic County final by Sean Farrell of The Record
WAYNE – “The sleeping giant woke up.”
Something that would have seemed nearly impossible just two weeks ago is that simple to coach Jason Reynolds.
DePaul has gone from 2-8 to the Passaic County final.
The seventh-seeded Spartans continued their unexpected run to the championship game on Wednesday.
They earned their fourth straight victory with an 8-6 win over third-seeded West Milford in the semifinals.
It’s the awakening their coach always saw coming.
“I knew it,” Reynolds said. “This team has the potential to play with everybody. That’s the dangerous part. Everybody counts us out. Nobody thought we would do what we’ve done right now. But every kid in our locker room has the heart to be here.”
The Spartans (5-8) have come together at the right time.
They are getting contributions from all around the lineup.
Dom Witham and Max Keenan scored two goals apiece, but no one had more than that for DePaul.
Both players scored almost identical right wing goals into an open net, set up by quick passes.
“We knew the talent we had on our team and we knew we weren’t using it to our full potential,” said Witham, who has a team-high 31 goals. “Once that started clicking, we knew that we could [win]. It’s paying off for us now.”
Expectations were high for the Spartans coming into the season.
They had players committed to Rutgers, Providence and Kean.
But the talent didn’t guarantee success. Their season started with a four-game losing streak.
“I expected great things,” Keenan said. “When we started losing games, I was pretty confused to be honest. In the beginning of the season, we started off being a little selfish. Toward the end of the season, we’ve gotten our chemistry up and passed the ball. Once you pass the rock, that’s when the goals start going in.”
A turning point came after losing to Paramus Catholic.
Reynolds had seen enough. His team kept losing winnable games.
“I challenged them,” Reynolds said. “I said that I’m sick of losing. We don’t like it as a program. We get very angry when we lose and we use that as motivation. We just said that we’re done with it. Enough is enough. We need to show people what we’re all about.”
The Spartans knocked off a tournament favorite in Lakeland, after having to beat Passaic Tech in a play-in game.
The latest win didn’t come easy.
The Highlanders chipped away in the fourth quarter by scoring two of the last three goals.
But the Spartans weathered the storm with a shutout in the last 3:36 of play to pull off another upset.
After surviving rock-bottom, the “sleeping giant” will play for the Passaic County title on Saturday.
“We finally got everything to click, everyone to buy in, everybody to see what we have here,” Reynolds said. “I tell the boys all the time that potential is a dangerous word. We’re just clicking now. But we’re the underdog. We’re going to fight to the end.”
WAYNE HILLS 11, WAYNE VALLEY 3: The Patriots earned a chance to win their first Passaic County title since 2010 after another dominant defensive performance.
“If you think this is satisfying, you have no idea what winning on Saturday would feel like,” coach Marc Jacobson told his team afterward. “It’s going to take even more of an effort than we put forth today.”
Jack Fieggen scored four goals and Jack Coleman had another two in the semifinal as top-seeded Wayne Hills (11-3) avenged a loss to its crosstown rivals from just four days before.
“There’s not many times in life that you get a do-over in four days,” Jacobson said. “They took the do-over and didn’t waste it.”
On to the championship.
Wayne Hills is headed home to play for its first Passaic County title since 2010.
