Westwood vs. Ramsey Top Performers 9/3/2021: Ramsey

For the first time in more than a year, fans and players alike were able to enjoy a week one matchup under the lights with full attendance. Ramsey’s dominant 35-20 victory over Westwood displayed both power and finesse on both sides of the ball. Let’s take a look at the winning teams best performers from that game. <strong>Justin Martone, RB/WR/DB/KR, 5’9 170 lbs</strong> For anyone who did their research before the game, Martone’s performance would come as no surprise to anyone. Showing both power, speed, &amp; agility behind his ball carrying skills, Martone sauntered his way to an easy 15 carries for 129 yards &amp; 2 TD’s. As mentioned in https://prepredzone.com/2021/08/bergen-county-top-public-school-rbs-class-of-22/, Martone demonstrated his vision between the tackles while boasting drive &amp; power every time he made contact. His power was matched nicely with his acceleration, as it was obvious he was the fastest player on the field. Utilized primarily as a RB, expect him to tote the rock with the same success as the season progresses. <strong>Danny Veenstra, QB, 6’1 200 lbs</strong> Taking advantage of Westwood’s small size on the front seven, Veenstra was able to utilize his legs to make big plays up the middle on many zone-read options. Going 18 carries for 99 yards &amp; 1 TD, Veenstra was able to make almost every correct read that he needed to make. His passing stats only included going 4-8 for 57 yards, but the passes he did make were the ones needed to move the chains while minimizing mistakes. Intelligence &amp; awareness is what any team needs from their starting QB, and that’s what Veenstra did to help lead his team to victory. <strong>Joey Lis, RB/DB, 6’0 175 lbs</strong> Popping up on the scene as a surprise, Lis (Class ’23) shined on the offensive side of the ball. Pairing well with Martone in a committee of RB’s, Lis ran for 16 carries, 107 yards and 1 TD. More of a speed back, Lis did an excellent job breaking arm tackles and utilizing his speed on the edge to break of large chunks of yards. Ramsey’s running attack will be in good hands if Lis and Martone are able to perform at a high level throughout the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138929" first="Robby" last="Mandel"], LT, 6’5 275 lbs</strong> At the high school level, it is difficult to find an OL that has the size to match the level of play needed to perform at the college level. Mandel did not disappoint by any means. He did a nice job driving off the line and punishing OLB’s / DL, and even in a couple instances 15 yards down the field. Has great balance &amp; footwork for his size. His intimidating presence will cause nightmares for any defender in his way. <strong>Matthew Weir, DE/TE, 6’3 225 lbs</strong> Just because an athlete doesn’t post stats that jump off the page, that doesn’t mean their impact wasn’t felt. Mandel shined as a rush DE, accumulating 2.0 TFL, 1 sack and 4 tackles overall. Demonstrating above average speed for a DE, Westwood’s QB Silvio Piccinich had absolutely no time to make his reads due to the lack of time Mandel was giving. He would be a better fit as a standing edge rusher at the college level, but for now Mandel is suited perfectly to put pressure on QB’s using his long arms and jump off the line.