There was plenty of incentives to have a big week for the Hasbrouck Heights football team as they took on St. Mary on Saturday.
Not only did they get hit hard by Saddle Brook, 27-7 last week in the season opener, but last season the Aviators lost a heartbreaker 22-21 to St. Mary at Depken Field.
Two of the Heights players at last season's game were David Im and Mike Pikowski team and remembered it well. "That's what the coaches were talking about that we were right at the same spot last year," said Pikowski about the talk at halftime on Saturday.
Well, the tables were sort of changed. At halftime last season Heights was leading 21-7 while on Saturday the Aviators were down 14-7.
In the 2010 game St. Mary scored on a two-point conversion with five minutes remaining in the game and Heights led by Pikowski at quarterback could not come back.
But this time the Aviators defense led by Im, Pikowski (who is at running back this year), senior Mike Pasqualone, junior Matt DeSimone and senior Chris Connors held strong and stopped the Gaels running back Jonathan Diaz on a two-point conversion with a little more than two minutes left in the game.
And that stop would hold up as Hasbrouck Heights would avenge last season’s loss with a 21-20 victory over St. Mary on Saturday at Tamblyn Field in Rutherford.
"Everybody came together as a team," said Im (10 carries for 43 yards) and Pikowski (2 receptions for 59 yards) added, “All 11 of us worked well together on the field.”
The win evens Heights record at 1-1 overall and also in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Meadowlands B division. St. Mary dropped to 1-1 on the season. The Aviators take on neighborhood rival, Wood-Ridge, on Friday at Depken Field at 7 p.m.
Offensively for Heights, it was possibly a breakout game for sophomore Darren Iurato who has won the battle at quarterback. Iurato completed 6-of-7 attempts for 123 yards and the biggest one came on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Pikowski got behind St. Mary cornerback Asun Muckle and Iurato hit him on a 49-yard touchdown pass. Iurato also connected with Im on a two-point conversion to give the Aviators a 21-14 lead.
"There was a new cornerback on the field and somebody on the sideline noticed it," said Pikowski about the play called the Texas Draw.
Heights also received a quarterback sneak from Iurato for a touchdown in the third quarter and Anthony Seidel’s 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Defensively Heights played much better in the second half. Overall, St. Mary running back Jonathan Diaz ran for 207 yards and all three of the Gaels touchdowns. But in the second half the Aviators kept Diaz to 57 yards on the ground.
In the second half the Heights offense got in gear and the defensive line led by Chris Golio, Dan Mangieri, Mike Pasqualone, Matt DeSimone and Chris Connors, shutdown Diaz for the most part.
The lone touchdown that the Aviators defense allowed was a Diaz five-yard run, but that was set up by a Heights turnover deep in their own territory.
In the first half St. Mary was playing their game by pounding the ball with Diaz and keeping the Aviators defense on the field.
Despite the Gaels domination, Heights was only down 14-7.
Hasbrouck Heights 21 St. Mary 20
2nd quarter
St. Mary, Johnathan Diaz, 9-yard run, (Jason Freeman Smith point after kick), 7-0
Hasbrouck Heights, Anthony Seidel, 95-yard kick return (Darren Iurato point after kick), 7-7
St. Mary, Diaz 59-yard run, (Smith point after kick), 14-7
Third quarter
Hasbrouck Heights, Iurato 1-yard-run, kick blocked, 14-13
Fourth quarter
Hasbrouck Heights, Iurato 49-yard pass to Mike Pikowski (David Im two-point conversion pass from Iurato), 21-14
St. Mary, Diaz 5-yard run (Two-point run failed), 21-20