Old Tappan dominates West Essex, wins North 2, Group 3 sectional title

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A year ago, standing on its home field, Old Tappan was stunned by what happened against West Morris in the sectional final.

Old Tappan let one slip away, losing in a game most expected the Golden Knights to win as a home favorite.

This year, Old Tappan made it a mission to get back to a sectional final and was going to make sure it wouldn’t let another golden opportunity slip through its hands against a different team.

That opportunity came on Friday, and Old Tappan made the most of it behind its ultimate Swiss army knife in senior Alex Orecchio, senior running back and linebacker Nick Rossi and a fabulous offensive line.

Top-seeded Old Tappan thumped West Essex, 41-13, in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 sectional championship game of the 2024 NJSIAA/Xfinity Football State Championship Tournament.

It’s Old Tappan’s fifth sectional championship in school history and its second in the past three years as it improved to 10-1 on the season. It was also the second time this season that Old Tappan beat West Essex after winning the first matchup, 19-7, back in Week 0.

“We’ve been working so hard for this since January, and this was the goal,” Orecchio said. “We still got more work to do, but this is where we wanted to be.”

Old Tappan will face a familiar foe in Pascack Valley in the Group 3 semis next weekend with a chance to play in the Group 3 championship on the line.

Pascack Valley, which defeated River Dell in the North 1, Group 3 final, handed Old Tappan its only loss of the year on Oct. 25, 27-21.

To get another crack at Pascack Valley, Old Tappan had to handle business first against a good and well-coached West Essex team.

Old Tappan dominated, scoring 41 consecutive points at one point after trailing 7-0.

Orecchio was dynamic catching and running the ball, a role he’s embraced this season after serving as the team’s quarterback a year ago.

He had touchdowns runs of 1 and 4 yards, while catching an 81-yard pass for another score. Oh, the senior also kicked two field goals, a 31-yard boot and a 33-yard kick, and was a perfect 5 for 5 on PATs.

“It feels great. These are hard to get,” Old Tappan coach Brian Dunn said. “Even with the last couple of years with them expanding (the state tournament), it doesn’t matter. These are hard to get. We’ve been through a lot of them and it takes a combined effort of a lot of players, a lot of kids, a lot of parents, a lot of coaches, a lot of people surrounding it.

“They’re not easy, so it feels great.”

Orecchio wasn’t the only star performer for Old Tappan.

Quarterback Zachary Miceli was efficient throwing the ball, connecting on 8 of 13 passes for 171 yards and rushing for 50 yards and a score on eight attempts.

“It was a team effort and the coaches did a great job coaching,” Miceli said.

Rossi had 132 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, while also recording 1.5 sacks on defense and recovering a fumble on special teams.

The offensive line, which featured (left to right) Caden Pemberton, Jack Horgan, Joseph Puccio, Ryan Miceli and Michael Gracey, consistently fired off the ball and pushed the pile for extra yards.

“I give all the credit to them. I would be nothing without them,” Rossi said. “They did their job and they did it with perfection, and that’s what showed.”

Rossi added that he thinks Orecchio is one of the best players in Old Tappan history and Friday’s performance added to his legacy.

West Essex (8-3) was a defending sectional champion and reached the Group 3 final last season. The Knights got off to a fast start, scoring on the game’s opening drive to take a 7-0 lead as Max Garcia ran for a 35-yard touchdown.

But Old Tappan adjusted and cleaned up some mental mistakes defensively after the first drive and hit big play after big play.

“When we get a chance to reflect once the pain goes away, which will be a while, they accomplished a lot,” West Essex coach Chris Benacquista said. “It hurts. Every year when you don’t win your last game, it hurts even worse. But these guys will bounce back.

“I’m very proud of the effort that they gave and they played hard for each other and for me every game.”

Old Tappan’s season continues next week with a chance to get back to the Group 3 championship after winning the first one ever two years ago.

Pascack Valley stands in the way and Orecchio and the Golden Knights will be ready.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work and it’s going to take a lot of focus. It’s going to take everyone,” Orecchio said. “We need to play as a team, and it’s PV. It’s exactly who we wanted.”

Source Link: https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2024/11/old-tappan-dominates-west-essex-wins-north-2-group-3-sectional-title.html

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Final N.J. football Top 20 for 2024: Old Tappan #11

Dec 05, 2024

11-Old Tappan (12-1)Last week: No. 14The Golden Knights put a bow on an outstanding season with a 28-16 Group 3 championship victory over Mainland on Sunday at SHI Stadium. Senior do-it-all athlete Alex Orecchio threw a touchdown to sophomore Shane Small, ran in a score, and reeled in the game’s first touchdown for 21 points for the Golden Knights. Senior running back Nick Rossi added the team’s other touchdown on a 22-yard scamper. It’s the second Group 3 title for Old Tappan in the last three years after defeating Delsea in the 2022 final. The lone loss for the Golden Knights came in Week 8 of the regular season to Pascack Valley, which it went on to defeat in the North Group 3 semifinal 43-14.

Old Tappan Group 3 Football State Champions

Dec 01, 2024

In the 2022 Group 3 final, a 5-foot-6 sophomore quarterback came off the bench and threw a touchdown to give Old Tappan a two-score lead in an eventual championship victory.Fast forward two years later, and on the same field and on the same NJSIAA/Xfinity Group 3 championship stage, Alex Orecchio was the hero again for the Golden Knights.The senior threw a touchdown to sophomore Shane Small as part of a three-score day to lift NJ.com No. 14-ranked Old Tappan to a 28-16 win over No. 16 Mainland on Sunday at SHI Stadium on the campus of Rutgers University.“This says that we have a lot of men and women who do a lot of work to put these kids in a good position to win,” Old Tappan head coach Brian Dunn said. “We have kids who are just really committed and dedicated to each other. It’s a total group effort.”Orecchio was a quarterback in his first two varsity seasons – the backup to Tommy Caracciolo in 2022 and the starter last fall – but Dunn opted to make him his do-it-all athlete in his senior campaign.The Johns Hopkins commit threw the 14-yard touchdown to Small on his lone passing attempt to go with eight catches for 140 yards and a score receiving and 15 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown rushing. He also had five tackles, a 19-yard punt return and four extra points on defense and special teams.“I just leave it to the coaches,” Orecchio said. “They put us in a position to win. They did a great job today. If I was double-covered, someone else gets open and vice-versa. It’s just how this team has been playing. Everyone is able to make plays and execute. That’s what’s so special about this team.”Just like in the team’s state championship win over Delsea two years ago, Old Tappan was tasked with having to contain a volatile Wing-T attack.Mainland was the reigning Group 4 champion and carved up Ramapo in last year’s final in ridiculous 56-0 fashion. The Mustangs held their own against a grueling schedule this season and even though many pieces from last year’s team had graduated, their offense had long proven to be high-octane.Enter Old Tappan’s Joe Claus – the brains behind the Golden Knights’ defense and a known Wing-T destroyer. Aside from one run – a 73-yard touchdown scamper from senior Rocco DiBiaso – Old Tappan held Mainland’s offense in check and did the terrific job defensively it had done for all but one game this season.“All our coaches are great, but Joe is tremendous,” Dunn said. “He once again had a great plan. Most importantly, he gets the kids enthused. He has a great rapport with the kids and he’s a great teacher. I have a bunch of them on my staff, but I can’t say enough about Joe as a coach.”“He’s one of the best coaches there is if not the best coach,” added senior running back/linebacker Nick Rossi, who had Old Tappan’s other touchdown. “I give all my credit to him. I’d be nowhere without him. He has believed in me since I got here and I owe it all to him.”The game caps an incredible two-year run for Mainland, which included a 24-4 record and video game numbers on both sides of the ball.With just 13 seniors rostered, the Mustangs could very well find themselves back on this scene in 2025.“They ran the ball and did a great job of executing their game plan,” Mainland head coach Chuck Smith said of Old Tappan. “They milked the clock [and] they shortened the game up. They did a nice job being able to run the football when they had to and they were effective with their passing game. They stole the possession to start the second half [on a fumbled pooch kick], which was big because then they scored on that with a tied ball game. They took the lead and we just couldn’t get back from that.”“It’s tough one right now to swallow, but I’m very proud of the kids, the team, the coaches. We have a lot of kids coming back next year. I don’t think anybody expected us to be in this situation this year, and it’s a tribute to the kids, our work ethic and dedication, and the coaches. We had a tremendous run and just came up a little short today.”The touchdown from Small wasn’t his only highlight of the game. The 6-4 sophomore and younger brother of Duke freshman Jack Small compiled two sacks on Mainland’s final drive of the game to put a bow on the win.Orecchio was the sophomore hero in 2022. Could this be the blossoming of a potentially illustrious career for the Northvale native?“Shane has been hurt the last couple of weeks with a high-ankle sprain,” Dunn said. “We played really well without him, but he worked hard to come back and get healthy. The fourth quarter he had was tremendous. He had two big catches and two sacks. He was fantastic.”It all comes back to Old Tappan’s seniors though – the ones who had been around for both championships. It’s a tiny 2025 class for the Golden Knights of just 10 kids. It’s 10 kids who poured their heart and soul into the program and symbolized exactly what Dunn and his staff expect out of Old Tappan football players.Perhaps none achieved more than Orecchio, who wore an enormous smile below the dried-up blood on his nose and cheek.Perhaps there wasn’t a more fitting end to his high school career, and to Old Tappan’s 2024 season.“The kid has been spectacular for us for three years,” Dunn said of Orecchio. “That’s not easy to put into words. He does everything. We weren’t coming into this game without him being a huge part of what we were doing. We were going down with him or winning with him no matter what.”“This has been full circle and I’m forever grateful to be a part of this program,” Orecchio added. “It’s a special program. It’s an amazing coaching staff and culture. I bleed gold.”Full Articles, Box Score, and Photos

Shane Small earns 5 stars from Old Tappan vs. Mainland in the Group 3 state football final

Dec 01, 2024

Shane Small, Old Tappan, So. TE/DESmall finished with four tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss and also hauled in two passes for 43 yards, including the game-sealing 14-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.