Pascack Valley upsets No. 15 Old Tappan

Photo Credits:

Bergen County’s top-ranked public school has been toppled in the final week of the regular season.

Pascack Valley and Old Tappan, ranked No. 15 in the NJ.com Top 20, clashed at Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale with as high of stakes as any regular season game can have. The Super Football Conference’s Patriot Blue division title was up for grabs, and playoff seeding in North Jersey Group 3 was still to be determined before top-ranked Old Tappan and third-ranked Pascack Valley squared off on Friday.

Senior quarterback Adam Shaw accounted for three touchdowns, two passing and one rushing, and senior running back Kevin Regula paced a Pascack Valley ground game that converted a key fourth down late in the game to keep the ball away from Old Tappan and nail down a 27-21 victory.

Pascack Valley’s offense spent the night moving the ball up and down the field, gaining 50 or more yards on five of its seven drives, with the other two drives being a kneel down at the end of the fist half and the final drive of the game for Pascack Valley (7-1).

Shaw sandwiched his rushing touchdown between passing scores to junior Marc Dellaquilla and Regula to stake his team to a 20-7 lead midway through the second quarter, a lead Old Tappan cut into in the dying seconds of the first half with a Zach Miceli touchdown pass to Ronan Malady.

Pascack Valley head coach Len Cusumano knew his team would have its hands full with Old Tappan entering the night. Carrying a three game shutout streak and seven game overall winning streak into play, Cusumano discussed the challenges Old Tappan presented to his team in a game that came down to the wire.

“I give Old Tappan a great amount of credit, they’re the standard in Bergen County,” Cusumano said.

“Our kids made the plays when they needed to. Our defense bent but didn‘t break, we had a few calls go our way, they had a few calls go their way so it was a game of momentum shifts. I’m proud of all of our coaches and players for accomplishing one of our goals of winning the division.”

Cusumano‘s players are the ones that scored the points on offense and made the stops on defense, but it was a critical late game decision from Cusumano that proved to be the difference maker. A five yard rushing touchdown with 7:38 left in regulation to extend Pascack Valley’s lead to 27-14, but Old Tappan answered with a quick touchdown drive of its own to make it a one-score game once again.

Three straight runs out of the Pascack Valley offense set up a fourth and two at its own 19 yard line. Deep in its own territory and having been stuffed for a loss of one on third down, punting the ball away and attempting to secure the win with a defensive stop would have been a reasonable choice.

When the ball was set for the fourth and two play, Pascack Valley’s offense remained on the field. Shaw took the snap and handed off to Regula, who plowed ahead for the necessary yardage to move the sticks and all but secure the victory.

Shane Small had a great game on both sides of the ball. Recording 2 receptions for 35 yards and 10 tackles.

Source Link: https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2024/10/football-pascack-valley-upsets-no-15-old-tappan-shakes-up-group-3-playoff-picture.html

Athlete's Latest Article

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.