Jr. Raiders Division 3 Team Heads into Playoffs

The Junior Raiders Division 3 (ages 8-10) Penn State Nittany Lions remain unbeaten at 7-0 heading into the playoffs after defeating USC on Saturday, October 22nd.  Early in the first quarter, USC drove deep into Penn State territory before being stopped on 4^th down.  Stepping up to stop the USC threat were Cameron Hill, Justin Dietrich, Andrew Rygiel, Matthew Michinard, Alex Marsh and Matt Kent. The Nittany Lions offense took over deep in its own territory and after a 5 yard penalty, Matthew Michinard took the handoff and behind big blocks from Dylan Valis, Anthony Shields and Nicholas Klementowicz ran 85 yards down the left side line to score the Lions’ first touchdown of the game. 

Leading 6-0, the second quarter began with an aggressive Penn State defense and a big tackle by Marsh and Michinard.  Kyle Clark made another big tackle on third down forcing USC to punt.  After a couple of short runs by Penn State, Michinard once again took the handoff and breaking several USC tackles ran for a 60 yard touchdown to increase the lead to12-0.  After a turnover by Penn State, USC quickly capitalized as Andrew Ryan scored a touchdown followed by a successful extra point conversion by Michael Swetz to make the score 12-7.  USC’s defense dug in and forced a Penn State punt. Penn State’s defense kicked in again when Loukas Ganas, Matt Kent, Kyle Clark, Josh Quick and Ryan Diaz helped hold USC on fourth down to give the Penn State offense the ball back with less than a minute in the half.  After a timeout and with 4 seconds remaining in the half, Penn State quarterback Andrew Rygiel dropped back and found a wide open Alex Marsh who took the pass and ran 65 yards for the score, bringing the score to 18-7 at the close of the first half. 

At the start of the 3^rd quarter, USC came out throwing but after big tackles by Anthony Shields and safeties Alex Grimmer and Jason Ortman Penn State’s defense held.   After getting the ball back, and big runs by Alex Marsh with key blocks by offensive linemen Michael Marvosa and Matt Conlon Penn State drove the ball deep into USC territory.  After getting stopped on 3^rd down at the USC 2 yard line Penn State once again took to the air with Andrew Rygiel connecting with Kyle Clark for the touchdown to make the score 24-7.

As the fourth quarter began, Cameron Hill made the next big tackle for Penn State followed by some excellent defense by Josh Quick, Loukas Ganas, Cole Psemenecki and James SanFillippo. Tyler Watson ultimately broke through to score USC's second touchdown of the game and another successful extra point conversion brought the score to 24-14.  On the next possession, Penn State fumbled but Josh Quick recovered the ball to help the team keep control of the ball.  With just two minutes left in the game, the Lions gained a first down and were able to run out the clock and win the game 24-14 to finish the regular season 7-0.

In the Junior Raider Varsity league (ages 12-14), the Hillsborough Junior Raiders defeated Montgomery at Hillsborough High School by a score of 34-12.  Hillsborough’s Zach Williams took the opening kickoff 75 yards for his first of two touchdowns to put Hillsborough up 6-0.  Ryan Melillo (11 carries for 142 Yards, 2 touchdowns) put Hillsborough up 12-0 on a 39-yard touchdown run on the 2^nd series and scored his 2^nd touchdown on a 32 yard run on the 3^rd series.  Zach Eilbacher added the extra point and Hillsborough led 20-0.  Just before the half expired Jimmy Suseck caught a 55-yard touchdown pass and Eilbacher added the extra point for a 28-0 halftime lead.  Rob Wardell threw 2 touchdown passes and was 4 for 4 passing for 125 yards.  The offensive line of Sam Crisci, Connor Genes, Ben Pasternack, Mike Grabon and Nick DiGirolamo did a great job of opening holes all day for the Hillsborough running attack. Defensively Hillsborough held the high-powered Montgomery offense in check all day recording 14 sacks, 2 interceptions made by Ryan Kassick and Melillo, and forcing one fumble which was recovered by Matt Matson.  Leading the defense were Jim Suseck with 13 tackles, Frankie McCarter with 11, Matt Matson with 9 and Dan Stoddard with 8.  The defensive line of Pasternack, Sarkar and Genes had pressure on the Montgomery QB all day and the secondary of Dillon Zimmerman, Melillo, Damian Gonzalez and Kassick limited the Montgomery passing attack.  Hillsborough plays Hunterdon Central this Saturday at Central.  Game MVP for Hillsborough was Ryan Melillo.

In a closely contested Division 1 (ages 12-14) game at the Hillsborough Youth Football Complex, the USC Trojans defeated the LSU Tigers 12-6 in overtime.  Both defenses dominated the play all day.  The USC Trojans forced 4 LSU turnovers.  No play was bigger than Trojan LB Anthony Lobelo’s Interception and return to the 5-yard line, which setup a Joe Schultz 1-yard dive to score the games first points for the Trojans.  The USC Defense was led by Interceptions from Michael Everett, Jordan Shipley and Anthony Lobelo.  Ryan Grimmer recovered a fumbled punt for USC.  The Tigers scored a game-tying touchdown late in the 4^th quarter, when Ryan Gill eluded the USC Trojan defenders.  In overtime, USC stopped LSU on their first possession.   Trojan QB Joe Schultz connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Shipley to win the game for the Trojans.

The Division 2 Iowa Hawkeyes (ages 10-12) defeated the Navy Midshipmen by a score of 14-0.  Iowa opened the game with an interception return for a touchdown by Michael Golankiewicz.  Ryan Gemignani rounded out the scoring with a 45-yard touchdown behind key blocks from David Finer and Justin Nitschke.  The Iowa defense was led by Greg Koll, Chris Zickert and Matthew Popadiuk.

Also in Division 3 play, the LSU Tigers were led to victory over the Army Knights this week by with great runs by T. J. Schultz, Dylan Van Cleef and Tommy Ramsey, who made an amazing breakthrough with a 25 yard run for a first down which ultimately led to LSU’s touchdown.  On the defensive end, Anthony Scannelli stopped an Army 1^st down at crucial point in the game, as well as being the receiver of an 18 yard pass by QB Spencer Liccardi, who scored the game’s only touchdown.   Defensive MVP, Gavin Houser, was responsible for 4 key tackles, helping his team to maintain their lead.  The MVP for the LSU teams was Gavin Houser.

In Flag (ages 6-7) action, the Chargers faced the Cowboys in Hillsborough.  In the first half, the Charger’s Lance Eilbacher broke free around the right end and ran 34 yards for the first touchdown of the game.  On the next offensive series, Charger’s Mike Kondratiuk was able to turn the corner and sprint down the sideline for a 31-yard run to score his fourth touchdown of the season.  In the second half, the Charger’s Cooper Krempasky was in the shotgun and threw a 10 yard pass that was caught by Lance Eilbacher, who ran 25 yards for his second touchdown of the day.  The Charger’s defense was led by Ryan Kokoszka, who made many excellent plays at defensive end. Tyler Michinard scored the Cowboys only touchdown; Thomas Dieterman ran in the extra point.  Andrew Santa Barbara led the Cowboy’s defense with seven flag pulls.

In the Flag (ages 6-7) arena, the Saints put up their highest point total of the season in a spirited game against the Redskins. Brett Cerenzio started on a sweep left and cut back against the grain for a dazzling 50-yard touchdown run midway through the first half.  The Saints defensive charge was led by Cerenzio and Shane Donoghue who made multiple stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. Brett Radomski displayed a rifle arm in completing a pass to tight end Sal Volpe during a second half drive. Later in the half, Volpe displayed blazing speed for the Saints, outrunning the defense down the right side on a quarterback bootleg for a 40-yard touchdown.

Also in Flag (ages 5-6), the Rookie Maroon met the Rookie Gold team.  The Maroon team looked like a finely tuned engine this week.  Ryan Soli made his debut at quarterback in the second half and lead the offense to a touchdown.  Jake Batagliese scored twice behind the great blocking of Brian O’Kane and standout center Anthony Morgan. The Maroon defense was lead by their fierce defensive end Tommy Rice.  The Rookie Gold had some great offensive plays this week lead by Gus and Rubin Wasserman. On Gold defensive James Ruh and Gavin Boughton had some great stops to keep the other team bay.