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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.
