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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.”
