Weekend Recap: NJs Best Games From the Weekend

Rancocas Valley (6-2) vs. St Augustine (5-3) 20-17   Upset alert. Rancocas Valley pulled it off by dominating through the air and ground and following through with a strong defensive performance. St, Augustine, the favorite going into Saturday's game, was unable to slow down the momentum Rancocas Valley started building as they entered the 4th quarter. Rancocas Valley was down 10-17 heading into the final quarter of the game before scoring 10 unanswered points and holding off one of the top teams in the state.   A lot of Rancocas Valley's success offensively came through the exceptional play of junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1466331' first='Sayvien' last='Adams']. Just check out a few clips from his film, there is very little defenses can do to slow him down. Not only was he a great passer this weekend (134 passing yards and 1 touchdown), but Sayvien really dominated with the ball in his hands. Sayvien is a natural born runner that is extremely explosive and twitchy. There are few QBs that have the vision and ability to cut across the entire field and burn all of the defenders like he can. Sayvien finished the day with 107 rushing yards against St. Augustine.   On the receiving end of Sayvien's throws was his favorite target in [player_tooltip player_id='1043544' first='Brody' last='Deiter']. A senior leader for the offense, Brody was able to take 7 receptions for 60 yards and a score. On the year, Brody has been electric in every matchup as he now has 934 yards and 13 touchdowns. Finally, we can't skim by Rancocas Valley's defense without saying a word about their performance this weekend. Rancocas Valley put the clamps down on St. Augustine, as rising sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1533565' first='David' last='Ogunsola'] got to the quarterback 2 times Saturday evening, bringing his total up to 7 for the year. As the defensive front continued to apply pressure, they were able to force two interceptions, completely flipping the momentum of the game. Lastly, Rancocas Valley was able to prevent the Navy commit [player_tooltip player_id='1085730' first='Julian' last='Turney'] from breaking free, as they held him to 57 yards on 15 carries. St. Augustine was one of my early favorites for competing for a state championship this year and while that hope is still alive, it got a little tougher after this weekend.    Wayne Valley (5-3) vs. Mt. Olive (4-3) 28-27   Another game that some would consider an upset, Wayne Valley was able to take down one of the top dogs in the state in Mt. Olive. Wayne Valley began the game with a hot start, leading 21-7 by the end of the 1st quarter. However, Mt. Olive was able to make it a game, as they crawled back from the deficit and take over the lead. Not to be overcome by the pressure, Wayne Valley was able to stay composed and pull a trick out of their playbook, scoring late into the game with a 16 yard trick play that resulted in a touchdown. Wayne Valley's offense was hard to slow down Friday night. They could rely on the steady run game of Elizer Esevez, finishing the day with 28 carriers, 82 rushing yards and a touchdown. Elizer is a true three down back that can handle a huge workload and can lower his shoulder on any incoming defender. Through the air, Wayne Valley was able to rain down on Mt. Olive's secondary as junior QB [player_tooltip player_id='1515098' first='Danny' last='Ferrauilo'] threw for 200 yards and found the end zone twice.   If you saw how Mt. Olive ran the ball Friday night, you would have been certain they would have came out victorious. Lead ball carrier [player_tooltip player_id='1043545' first='Tyler' last='Cumming'] once again put up huge numbers, as he was able to run loose for 205 yards and a touchdown off of 19 carries. That's an astonishing 10.79 yards per carry. While they were extremely successful on the ground, the same couldn't be said about the pass game. Mt. Olive had a tough time getting anything going through the air as they were only able to complete 7 passes on the day. Defensively, Mt. Olive played up their standard as senior DB Vincent Carpini was able to rack up 10 tackles and picked the opposing QB off as well. Even with the phenomenal play of their defense and run game, it was not enough Friday night.    West Essex (6-1) vs. Hanover Park (6-1) 22-21   Entering the game undefeated, Hanover Park was taken down by 6-1 West Essex. Losing by only a point, this game came down to the wire and had everything you were looking for in Friday nights under the lights. Early on it looked like Hanover Park was going to run away with it, as they were able to build up a 14 point lead early. However, West Essex was able to stay composed and resilient and relied on their leaders on both sides of the ball. West Essex didn't put up any wild statistics, but played very efficient and did a good job holding onto the ball and extending drives. Through a relentless ground and pound attack, West Essex was able to run the ball in for 3 touchdowns as Nick Sangillo and [player_tooltip player_id='1097524' first='Brady' last='Phillips'] both ran the ball 12 times. Most impressive, while the offense didn't light it up through the air, [player_tooltip player_id='1085722' first='Anthony' last='Drago'] was able to shine through with a valiant effort out wide. Anthony was able to take 5 receptions for 108 yards, and accounted for more than 90% of his team's receiving yards.   On the other side of the field Hanover Park threw the ball with similar outcomes, but was unable to get the ground game going effectively. Just like West Essex, Hanover Park had one receiver account for the majority of the team's offensive success, as junior receiver Darien Iannacone took two catches to the house for 115 yards. Hanover Park's QB played a near perfect game as he went 11-12 for 138 yards, however, the one throw that was not complete fell into the hands of a West Essex defender. With a somewhat low scoring affair, you know there had to be a few players that played a big part in stopping the opponent's downfield movement. That effort came from star linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1021111' first='Hector' last='Lopez'] III, as he led the team with 12 tackles on the night. Both teams are still in a great position to make a playoff run, so I would not be surprised at all if they made another appearance in this series at a later date.

Rancocas Valley (6-2) vs. St Augustine (5-3) 20-17