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Wayne Valley football holds on for much-needed win over Passaic Valley

NorthJersey.com

LITTLE FALLS – It was fitting that a game that saw not one, but two, comebacks. The biggest play was a double pass.

Wayne Valley senior Brian Blake connected with Bryce Flower on a go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter as the Indians won their third game in a row with a 30-21 win over rival Passaic Valley on Friday night.

The Indians had jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half by taking advantage of Hornets mistakes on special teams, only to see the Hornets roar back and take a 21-17 lead. Indians coach Roger Kotlarz then dialed up the double pass, enlisting the services of Blake, a former quarterback.

“They introduced it this week,” said Blake, who also ran for a score and caught two passes. “We practiced it a few times and our wide receiver just made a great play on the ball. I played quarterback my whole like and they switched me this year to… everything else.”

The Indians used three different players at quarterback. Sophomore Danny Ferrauilo got the bulk of the snaps and went 9 for 11 for 144 yards and two scores.

“I think the biggest growth during our winning streak here is we are finally making big plays on offense,” Kotlarz said. “We went into this week saying we had to be more aggressive and take some shots and the big one was the double pass.”

What it means

The Indians entered the week ranked No. 16 in North Group 4 in the United Power Rating, which is used to seed the public-school playoffs. The top 16 teams in each group qualify. Now 3-4, the Indians greatly improved their chances with the win, and could possibly even earn a first-round home game with two more wins in their last two games.

“We really have tried to take it one at a time, but we’ve got ourselves to this point where we are back in the hunt,” Kotlarz said. “I think this one will give us a shot no matter what we do down the stretch.”

The loss was a disappointment for Passaic Valley, which had a chance to sweep rivals Wayne Valley and Wayne Hills for the first time since 1975. The Hornets are 3-2 and still in good position in North Group 3 to qualify for the playoffs.

The turning point

After taking a 23-21 lead on the Blake-to-Flower pass, the Wayne Valley defense forced a three-and-out and got the ball back at the end of the third quarter.

Ferrauilo led a long game-clinching drive, connecting with Flower on a perfect throw with 4:29 left on a 16-yard touchdown pass. It was third-and-goal for the Indians after a penalty, so the pass was clutch.

“What a crazy emotional game,” Kotlarz said. “We came out like gangbusters, they settled in and did some stuff to give us problems. I thought [Danny] showed some real character and made some huge throws.”

“We had to bounce back,” agreed Blake. “Everyone made plays. It was a team effort. It feels amazing. I can’t wait for next week.”

Game balls

Flower caught two touchdown passes and also made an interception in the final minute to snuff out the last Hornets drive.

The game featured a fumbled snap on a punt by Passaic Valley, a blocked punt by Wayne Valley and muffed punts by each team.

Up next

Wayne Valley takes on Nutley at home Friday. The Raiders are 0-6 heading into Saturday’s game with Belleville.

How Wayne Valley football used clutch defensive stops for win over Wayne Hills

Robert Aitken Jr.

NorthJersey.com

WAYNE − A series of defensive stands guided Wayne Valley to its first win of the season, defeating rival Wayne Hills, 14-6, on Friday night.

The Indians forced a fumble, recovered by Aiden Kindler, that set up Wayne Valley with its best field position of the night. A 36-yard touchdown grab by Darrius Rivers gave Wayne Valley a 7-0 lead after one quarter.

In the second, Wayne Hills responded with a touchdown drive of its own. Andrew Pierce’s 6-yard touchdown run pulled the Patriots within a point but the extra point clanged off the right goal post.

The Indians took that one point lead into halftime and came out with another touchdown drive to open up the second half. Justin Mondestin’s 21-yard touchdown grab extended the lead to 14-6 with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

What it means

Friday night was as close to a must-win situation for both schools as you could see in late September.

With a combined record of 1-7 entering the game, postseason chances looked slim for both schools as they came onto the field. Now, the glimmer of hope for the Indians gets a little bit brighter heading to the halfway point of the regular season.

"The reality is that it was [a must-win game]," Wayne Valley coach Roger Kotlarz said. "The truth is that we still need to get better. I thought we did some good things in the second half adjusting to the beginning of the game. I thought we played a much cleaner second half."

Rivalry renewed

The rivalry between Wayne Hills and Wayne Valley always exists regardless of the records of the two teams. One of North Jersey's top rivalries, the dueling schools did not split until Wayne Hills opened in 1966. It still took a quarter century for the two teams to play for the first time, which came in a championship game to end the 1991 season.

Friday night marked the 21st time the Indians and the Patriots faced one another, and Wayne Hills has the upper-hand historically with 15 victories. However, recent history has favored Wayne Valley as Friday's victory gave the Indians a third straight win over their rivals for the first time in the history of the series.

One town, one heart

Rivalries aside, the look of the Wayne Hills-Wayne Valley football game has changed in recent years. Instead of dueling fanbases in maroon and blue, nearly everyone in the stands on Friday night wore orange.

For the second straight season, the night was used to honor Rocco Sivolella, who was a freshman on the Wayne Valley football team when a battle with acute myeloid leukemia took his life at 15 years old.

"The rivalry is big, it's always there, but the unity being there is huge," senior Justin Mondestin said. "Unfortunately, both teams lost a player. He had a lot of friends on both sidelines and we share his loss."

Sivolella's jersey No. 78 was all over Wayne Valley High School on Friday, the first time the rivalry game had been played there since his passing. He would have been a junior this year.

Key play

Wayne Valley had a pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter to seal the deal. One of them, hauled in by senior Brenden Immediato, allowed the Indians to head back on offense and drain precious minutes off the clock late in the game.

"Early on in the season, we were tired on defense and things weren't going our way," he said. "Today, we were able to step it up. Everyone was good and everyone was healthy. We were able to make some stops on defense and that was a huge part of the game."

They said it

"That's where we've fallen short this year. We've been in every game heading into the fourth quarter and then we've kind of unraveled, so it was great tonight to see us step up on both sides of the ball." − Kotlarz

"We can't look ahead. Coach tells us to win the day and that's all we can control. We can't look too far ahead and just have to try and be 1-0 every week." − Mondestin.