Division 3 Penn State Jr. Raiders Go 9-0; Win Super Bowl

The Division 3 (ages 8-10) Penn State Nittany Lions took the field looking to go 9-0 for the season.  Facing a tough LSU Tiger squad, Penn State started out on defense.  After big runs by Tommy Ramsey the Lions defense led by linebackers Alex Marsh, Matthew Michinard and linemen Anthony Shields, Andrew Rygiel and Justin Dietrich held the Tigers on 4th down.  Taking over on their own 30-yard line, the Lions offense led by center Michael Marvosa, guards Anthony Shields, Matthew Kent, and tackles Dylan Valis and Matthew Conlon opened up with long runs by fullback Dietrich and halfback Michinard.  With the ball at the 50 yard line, halfback Marsh swept around the right end with a key block by Kyle Clark for the first score of the game.  Michinard scored the extra point for a 7-0 lead. 

On the next possession for LSU, the Nittany Lions defense once again came alive this time with strong play by defensive ends Loukas Ganas and Kyle Clark as well as cornerbacks Ryan Diaz and Josh Quick.  Forcing LSU to punt, Penn State took over at the fifty-yard line.  With the Tigers defense holding strong and Penn State facing a 3^rd and long, quarterback Rygiel handed the ball off to Michinard and with key blocks by Valis and Nick Klementowicz he raced 35-yards down to the LSU 10-yard line.  After 2 short runs, Rygiel pitched the ball to Michinard and he took it in for the Lions 2^ndscore of the game.  Rygiel then found Clark in the end zone on a short pass for the extra point and a 14-0 lead.

Forcing another LSU punt, the Nittany Lions took over at their own 35-yard line with less than a minute left in the half.  After a short run and an incomplete pass and with only 11 seconds left in the half, Rygiel once again put the ball in the hands of Michinard and he took it 60-yards for a touchdown.  Marsh scored the extra point to make the score 21-0 at halftime.

Penn State opened the 2^nd half with the ball, but the LSU defense led by Ramsey forced a turnover on the first play.  After a few short runs, Ramsey got LSU on the scoreboard with a 20-yard touchdown run.

The Lions were moving the ball on the second possession of the half when they faced a 4th down inside LSU territory.  The LSU defense stood up to the challenge and stopped Penn State just short of the first down marker.  After moving the ball quickly down the field, LSU went to the air, but with pressure put on the quarterback by Kent, Valis, Shields, Rygiel and Dietrich, and defensive backs Alex Grimmer, James SanFillippo, Jason Ortman and Cole Psemenecki, stopped the LSU drive deep in Penn State territory.  Taking over inside their own 20-yard line, the Lions faced a 3^rd down and long.  Rygiel turned and handed the ball off to Michinard, with linemen Shields, Valis and Klementowicz and backs Marsh and Dietrich leading the way he ran 80 yards for the score.  Quarterback Rygiel carried the ball in for the extra point and a 28-12 lead. 

Trailing 28-12, the Tigers were moving the ball when fullback TJ Schultz ran 50 yards for a touchdown to make the score 28-19.  On their next possession, Penn State played ball control but turned the ball over to LSU deep in its own territory.  Trying to mount a comeback, LSU moved the ball into Penn State territory, but after a big hit by Marsh, LSU was unable to convert on 4^th down and turned the ball back over to Penn State.  Penn State was able to run the clock out and win the Championship 28-19, completing a perfect 9-0 season.

The undefeated 2011 Penn State D3 team includes:  James SanFillippo (1), Josh Quick (26), Ryan Diaz (10), Justin Dietrich (22), Cameron Hill (24), Matthew Michinard (10), Matthew Kent (98), Dylan Valis (23), Cole Psemenecki (13), Alex Marsh (2), Anthony Shields (8), Alex Grimmer (9), Nick Klementowicz (47), Jason Ortman (3), Michael Marvosa (21), Andrew Rygiel (10),  Loukas Ganas (17), Matthew Conlon (6), and Kyle Clark (55). They were led by head coach Don Marsh and assistant coaches Paul Michinard, Phil Clark and Don Shields.

Jr. Raiders Ole Miss Division 1 Champions

The Ole Miss Rebels, led by Head Coach Russ Surace, won the Division 1 (ages 12-14) Championship Saturday, with a convincing 26-6 victory over the USC Trojans. Both teams came out fired up and successfully moved the ball up and down the field. They could not push it into the end zone as the defenses stiffened. After a scoreless first period, Ole Miss finally got on the board late in the 2^nd quarter.  Ole Miss QB Jack Boskin ran a bootleg around the right side. He got blocks from Patrick Cahill and Michael Surace, and raced 70 yards down the sidelines for the game’s first touchdown.  Boskin then threw to Ben Versaci for the conversion and a 7-0 Rebels lead as the half ended.

The USC Trojans received the kickoff to start the second half. After a good return gave the Trojans the ball near midfield, Luke Yakley busted up the middle for a 50-yard touchdown run. The extra point was stopped by defensive tackles Kyle Richardson and Matt Schultz. Ole Miss’ lead was cut to 7-6. That was, however, the closest the game would get, as Ole Miss’ offensive line started to take control of the game.  Anchored by center Steven Rudd, the Rebels’ ground game got moving and the yardage started to pile up.  Once the defense was concentrated on the run, Ole Miss went to the play action pass. Brendan Nork took the short pass from Boskin and raced 45-yards for the touchdown, getting downfield blocks from Artun Peker and Zack Sullivan. The extra point failed making the score 13-6. The defense then forced a 3 and out, quickly giving Ole Miss the ball back. This time Nork took the pitch around the left side, got a block from TE Josh McDevitt and guard Tyler Welches. He cutback and ran 40-yards for another score. Boskin converted the point after for a 20-6 advantage. The next time Ole Miss went on offensive it only took them 2 plays to again score. Running the option, QB Jack Boskin kept the ball, and ran 50-yards down the left sideline for another Rebels score and a 26-6 lead. 

Ole Miss then controlled the ball running out the clock. With Josh Villa now in at QB, Fullback John Getz pounded the ball up the middle. Dylan Sferra ran wide, making first downs and keeping the clock running.

“We made some halftime adjustments which paid off” said head Coach Russ Surace. “The boys did a great job of recognizing what USC was trying to do, and we were able to counter it”.

The Ole Miss defense, led by Middle Linebacker, Max Nelson kept the explosive Yakley bottled up for most of the game. Steven Rudd led the defense with 8 tackles and a QB sack. Artun Peker had 2 sacks and Boskin intercepted a pass for the games only turnover.   

 Iowa Haweyes Capture the Jr. Raider Division 2 Championship

The Iowa Hawkeyes captured the Division 2 (ages 10-12) Super Bowl title by defeating Rutgers by a score 22-12 on Saturday.  The Hawkeyes scored on the opening drive when Chris Zickert ran 55 yards for the touchdown behind blocks from Steve Mondoro and Justin Nitschke.  Ryan Gemignani tacked on the extra point.  Iowa went up 14-0 on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Matt Popadiuk to Chris Zickert.  Rutgers closed the half with a 24-yard touchdown run by Noah Quick.   Zickert scored Iowa’s last touchdown on a one yard run after a key 16-yard completion from Matt Popadiuk to Michael Golankiewicz.  Rutgers cut the lead to 22-12 behind a 13-yard run by Noah Quick.  The Hawkeye defense played extremely well behind Daniel Rolon, Matt Wybraniec and Greg Koll.  Additionally they created 4 turnovers, with Justin Nitschke and Ryan Gemignani recovering fumbles and Zickert and Gemignani having interceptions.  Rutgers defense was led by Matt Kuc, Michael Lumbra and Jaden Bailey. 

Varsity and Junior Varsity Jr. Raider Summaries

The Hillsborough Junior Raiders Varsity team (ages 12-14) defeated Hunterdon Central/Flemington by a score of 20-0 at Hillsborough High School.  The Jr. Raider’s Rob Wardell was 7 for 8 passing for 130-yards and 2 touchdowns and directed the Jr. Raider Offense to 302 yards.  Ben Pasternack led the defense with 6 tackles and was in the Hunterdon Central backfield all day long.  Pasternack was also part of the offensive line of Sam Crisci, Connor Genes, Mike Grabon and Nick DiGirolamo along with Fullback Paul Michinard that helped the running attack put up 172-yards.  The JR Raider running attack was led by Ryan Melillo had 12 carries for 91 yards, Dan Stoddard (4 for 28) and also caught two passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, Damian Gonzalez (3 for 9), Michinard (2 for 18) and Ryan Kassick (1 for 22).  Jim Suseck had 2 catches for 41 yards and a touchdown and Zach Williams had 1 catch for 12 yards and a touchdown.  The Defense was led by Pasternack along with Matt Matson (6 tackles and an interception), Frank McCarter (5), Stoddard (5), Genes (4) and Shay Sarkar (4).  Alfred Fisher added a sack!

The Varsity team earned a spot in the playoffs as the 4^th seed with a 5-3 record by beating their last 4 opponents; two over top 4 teams that only had 1 loss; scoring 129 points and allowing only 34 with two shutouts.  They will play the #1 seed this Saturday on the road with the opponent as yet unknown awaiting a makeup game.

The Hillsborough Junior Raiders JV (ages 10-12) team (5-2) defeated the Ridge Red Devils (5-2) by a score of 14-6 on Saturday evening at Ridge High School. Matt Moore led the charge passing for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Moore completed touchdowns passes to Jackson Parham and Tyler Boatwright in the victory. The Junior Raiders managed to rush for 139-yards on the ground behind a surging offensive line lead by Trevor Pavensky, Alex Shutz, Shane Terraciano. J. R. Metallo, Ryan Mcaffery and Jack Edwards.  J. J. Bagdan gashed for 52 yards while Boatwright scampered for 51 yards. Parham and Brian Reilly each picked up 15 yards on the ground. Defensively Parham and J. R. Metallo put in stellar performances each contributing 8 tackles. Bagdan had 4 tackles and an interception. On special teams Tyler Boatwright had a kickoff fumble recovery. The Junior Raiders will face the Ridge Red Devils again next Saturday November 12^th at Hillsborough High School in the semi-final round of the playoffs.