December 4, 2011

Debray Tavarez catches the game-winning touchdown with no time remaining. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Montclair vs North Bergen Photo Gallery

EAST RUTHERFORD – With consecutive overtime victories, North Bergen's playoff run for retiring head coach Vincent Ascolese had exhibited all the characteristics of a fairytale story.

Who knew those wins would pale in comparison to the final chapter.

Debray Tavarez hauled in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Sergio Rodriguez as time expired to give the Bruins a stunning 14-13 victory over previously unbeaten Montclair for the NJSIAA North 1, Group IV championship at MetLife Stadium.

The victory gave retiring head coach Vincent Ascolese his eighth state title (seventh at North Bergen) in his final game after 39 years at North Bergen and 50 overall.

"When that ball's in the air I know I have to catch it," Tavarez said. "I saw the ball, it was a great ball. In my head I was like there was no way I was going to let this ball drop. I had to catch it. I had no option.

"I had to do it for Coach Ascolese. Not just that I wanted to, I had to and I did it."

With two seconds left Rodriguez, who started the season as a tight end, moved right to avoid the pressure and threw a perfectly placed pass to a triple-covered Tavarez to put the finishing touches on a drive which seemed destined for disaster.

The third-seeded Bruins (8-4) saw a 43-yard halfback option pass from Eric McMullen to Tavarez taken away due to an illegal motion penalty followed by a false start. But the resilient Rodriguez answered back with a 19-yard strike to McMullen on 3rd-and-16. Rodriguez (5-of-13 passing for 77 yards) would narrowly escape a pair of near-interceptions, before connecting with Elias Castillo for 26 yards on 4th-and-10 bringing the ball to the 24 with 19 seconds left to set up the winning score.

"I'm just so happy for these kids because we talk about getting the ring all the time," said the elder Ascolese, who won 359 career games, but never on the final play before last night. "The ring, you want to get the ring because the ring is something they'll have for the rest of their lives. Nobody can ever take it away from you."

Tavarez's catch capped off one of the biggest upsets in recent playoff history. Montclair (11-1) entered the contest ranked fourth in the state and had won its first 11 games by an average of more than 34 points.

"Everyone thought we were going to lose," linebacker Vin Ascolese said. "Everyone thought we were going to get blown out, but we had the heart. It's my grandpa's last year and I told him I was going to get him a state championship."

The stage for the shocking outcome was set on the game's first play when a short kickoff was muffed by a Montclair player and pounced on by the Bruins' Alex Rodriguez at the Mounties' 45. North Bergen would capitalize on the fortuitous bounce, embarking on a 12-play, seven-minute drive concluding with a 9-yard touchdown from McMullen (23 carries, 90 yards). Holder Kevin Carrero executed a well-time fake to run in for the two-point conversion.

From there, a hard-hitting North Bergen defense did the rest, forcing four turnovers and stifling a Montclair offense which had averaged more than 44 points per game.

"That's defense," Coach Ascolese said. "That's good defense man and defense wins championships. We did it."

Star quarterback Khalif Herbin cut the deficit to one when the scrambled right for a 9-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter. Herbin would put the Mounties on top with 2:58 left in the first half when he lofted a 27-yard touchdown pass to Darin Davis.

North Bergen may not have completely shut down Herbin, who had 42 touchdowns and rushed for 1,834 yards prior to the game, but it managed to contain and physically beat up Montclair's dynamic signal caller.

Herbin finished with 131 yards rushing on 21 carries before being knocked out with an ankle injury with less than three minutes left in the game.

But only 20 of those yards would come after halftime as the Bruins defense delivered countless big stops as it had throughout this playoff run. McMullen recovered a Herbin fumble on the North Bergen 28 after a vicious hit late in the third quarter.

"Our kids mirrored (Herbin) and he made some very good football plays," the elder Ascolese said." But when time came, it happened we made it happen."

Sergio Rodriguez forced a Montclair punt with less than six minutes remaining when he knifed through the line for a thunderous stop on a third down screen pass to Donte Bellamy. On the next Mountie drive, McMullen would hit Mike Smith for a 5-yard loss on third down with 2:18 left to give North Bergen one last chance for a miraculous ending to Coach Ascolese's career.

"This is the way to go out baby," Ascolese said as he was about to be driven off the field with a golf cart as a champion one last time.

Head coach Vincent Ascolese and the Bruins celebrate their first state title since 1997. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Montclair vs North Bergen Photo Gallery