Livingston Outlasts Passaic

The Livingston football team would have liked to have scored more points at home on Sunday against Passaic, especially after registering a touchdown on the first drive.

But head coach Barry Kostibos would take the 10-8 victory.  The win raises the Lancers record on the season to 2-0, a far cry from a very difficult 2009 when the team went 0-9.

"Who doesn't want to?" said Kostibos about collecting more touchdowns. "I'm sure that will come along just as long as we have more points than the other team.  It's a lot better than being 0-2 on the season. These kids have been working hard and coming off a tough year."

It turned out the game-winning points came with a couple seconds remaining in the third quarter.  Senior Anthony Cappuccino atoned for an earlier missed field goal with a 22-yarder that put the Lancers ahead 10-8.

"I missed it and was a little tired," said Cappuccino about the field goal that went right. "The last one was a chip shot, but you never know. Nothing is easy."

Cappuccino continued his success so far this season when he intercepted a Dixon pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, killing another Passaic drive.

For the senior, it was kicking and defense — and also offense with 192 yards on the ground on 20 carries including a 69-yard touchdown — which came on the first drive. "There was a lot of room and I was very surprised," said Cappuccino about the touchdown run.

Cappuccino could have had another touchdown but decided to take a knee at the Passaic one-yard line with a little more than a minute in the game. The move is usually to kill the clock and not allow the other team an opportunity to score on a big kickoff return.  

"He does all the right things," said Kostibos about Cappuccino.  "He's the show so far this season and the other 10 guys have been helping to block for him."       

The Livingston defensive line led by seniors Beau Langdon, Craig Lewis, Todd Waldenberg and Scott Hochberg kept hold of Indians quarterback Andre Dixon, along with running backs Santos Arroyo, Darien Giles and Demetrius Downey.  But while Livingston was stopping the Passaic offense, the Indians defense doing the same thing with Livingston's offense.

Passaic finally broke the Lancers defense in the third quarter as Dixon kept the ball and went around the left end; Livingston could not catch up to him. Dixon hit wide receiver Ivan Poupart for the two-point conversion and the Lancers found themselves down 8-7.

On the next drive, the Lancers offense started collecting yardage and went eight plays before it stalled at the Passaic five.

Cappuccino then hit the 22-yard field goal for the two-point lead. "They had the momentum so we just decided that we had to pick-up the intensity," said Cappuccino about the long drive.

Kostibas agreed with his senior back.

"You kill the clock, it gives you all the confidence in the world with the long drive," said Kostibas.

In the first half, Passaic's best chance to score came late in the second quarter but Lancers junior linebacker Chase Larangela sacked Dixon on a 4th and 10 to stop the Passaic drive at the Livingston 15.

The Lancers took the ball the other way on a long drive of their own with 11 plays that ended on the Passaic 15. Cappuccino attempted the 32-yard field goal, but it went far right to end the first half.

With the victory over Passaic behind them, it will be a battle of 2-0 teams on Friday when the Lancers host East Orange. Livingston takes on an East Orange team that has outscored its opponents 76-20.