December 5, 2009
Patriot run comes to an end
The Patriots' Ed Delgado (blue) is unable to escape the grasp of Omer Ersen (61).
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
EAST RUTHERFORD – With 11 straight wins and a trip to the state finals, 2009 had been nothing short of a storybook season for Secaucus football.
While the season’s final chapter – a 30-14 loss to Cedar Grove in the NJSIAA North 2, Group I title game – ended in heartbreak, Patriots head coach Charlie Voorhees believes that his team has every reason to leave Giants Stadium with their heads held high.
“We were proud of them,” Voorhees said. “Sometimes you win, we won 11 this year. This is our loss. It hurts, but tomorrow we’ll wake up, hopefully our injured players are healthy, and we’ll move on with life.
“You don’t win every time and you have to learn how to face adversity and this type of disappointment because the world is full of it.”
Secaucus (11-1) got off to a fast start when Alex Farinola intercepted a Dan Gogerty pass on the 5-yard line to set up a Joe Impreveduto touchdown four minutes into the game.
From that point on Cedar Grove’s defense proceeded to shut down Secaucus’ high-powered offense. On four separate occasions, the Patriots moved the ball within the Panthers’ 30-yard line in the first half, but came away empty-handed each time.
“You can’t leave points off the board,” Voorhees said. “It looked to me like we should have scored maybe three touchdowns in the first half, but we didn’t.”
Cedar Grove, which allowed just 8.0 points per game this season, stopped Impreveduto on a 4th-and-1 from the 14. The next Secaucus drive ended on a Pete Defrancisi fumble recovery on the 8.
Defrancisi’s recovery was one of three turnovers the Panthers forced in the opening half. Patsy Caggiano jumped in front of a Sean Egan screen pass and raced for 31 yards for a touchdown. Another Patriot drive was short-circuited by a Brian DelGuercio interception on the Cedar Grove 2.
Trailing by two scores late in the first half, Voorhees and Secaucus reached deep into their offensive bag of tricks. A hook-and-later play with Jayce Guilliani and Matt Traynor netted 15 yards. Two plays later, Traynor connected with Egan on a 14-yard halfback option pass.
The Patriots’ trickery might have netted some first downs, but did not result in any points as Ed Delgado was brought down two yards short of the end zone as time expired in the half.
Running proved to be a problem for Secaucus all night against the Panthers’ speedy defense. Impreveduto and Delgado both ran for over 1,000 yards on the season, but were never able to get on track against Cedar Grove. Impreveduto has 66 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, while Delgado was limited to just 40 yards on 14 attempts.
“We just couldn’t establish ourselves on both sides of the ball,” Voorhees said. “And that was what made us good this year.
“They shut us down on the run and then we relied on some things that we don’t often do. We ended up doing some tricks and that’s not really our game.”
Caggiano and the Panthers however, were running on all cylinders. The elusive Cagiano had rushing touchdowns of 52 and 20 yards in the opening half to finish with 144 yards on just 14 attempts.
Will Gonzalez proceeded to lock up Cedar Grove’s second title in three years with a 52-yard touchdown early in the third quarter.
Traynor had a pair of jaw-dropping catches en route to a four-reception, 109-yard performance. Between receiving, rushing, passing and returning kicks, the multi-dimensional junior had 157 yards of total offense. He also had a 48-yard punt that was downed at the 1-yard line to help set up Farinola’s early interception.
Egan completed 6-of-17 passes for 133 yards.
While the Patriots’ goal of an undefeated season and a state championship came up one win short, Voorhees doesn’t feel it diminishes the most successful year in the program’s history.
“The message to my guys was take a look, look where you are,” Voorhees said. “We were here and there’s something to be said about that. I think 40 teams play for these championships and we were one of them. That says a lot. You saw us tonight, the town of Secaucus, the school of Secaucus, we were big time tonight. Hopefully these boys are remembered forever for what they did.”
| Editor's Note: Due to exclusivity agreements with the NJSIAA, photos from this game are not available at this time. If you wish to be alerted when photos are available from this game, please send an e-mail at bernstein@hudsoncountyvarsity.com |
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RB Joe Impreveduto scored both touchdwons for Secaucus in defeat.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Grove (11-1) | 7 |
15 |
8 |
0 |
30 |
| Secaucus (11-1) | 8 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
14 |
| Sec: Joe Impreveduto, 5 run (Ed Delgado run) | |||||
| CG: Patsy Caggiano, 52 run (Dan Gogerty kick) | |||||
| CG: Caggiano, 20 run (Pete Defrancisi pass from Brian DelGuercio) | |||||
| CG: Caggiano, 31 interception return (Gogerty kick) | |||||
| CG: Will Gonzalez, 43 run (Russ Pagano pass from Gogerty) | |||||
| Sec: Impreveduto, 3 run (run failed) | |||||