Recapping a Weekend of Playoff Ball in North Jersey

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>High Point (9-2) vs. Glen Rock (9-1) 18-35</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A battle of one loss teams, both programs came into the matchup confident they could take the W, but of course, only one could prevail. Glen Rock was that team Friday night, and it all started with them getting up early in the game when they built a two touchdown lead in the first quarter. High Point was able to crawl back and make it 14-12 at the half, but Glen Rock once again started off quickly when the 3rd quarter began by scoring another 14 points. and from there on, the defense was able to put the clamps down on High Point the remainder of the game. While Glen Rock's QB [player_tooltip player_id='1454042' first='Nick' last='Atme'] didn't have a ton of completions, h made each of them count and had himself a day as he completed 10 passes for 188 yards and found the end zone twice. [player_tooltip player_id='1454042' first='Nick' last='Atme'] ended up being responsible for each of Glen Rock's scores, as he also ran in three touchdowns and rushed for 101 yards on the night. On the receiving end of Nick's catches was [player_tooltip player_id='1538060' first='Mike' last='Flaccavento']. Playing arguably the best game of his career, Mike hit a season high in yardage as he had 4 receptions for 131 yards and a 60 yard touchdown. We can't finish covering Glen Rock without shouting out some of the big playmakers on Glen Rock's defense Friday night. Glen Rock's secondary played lights out, as [player_tooltip player_id='1538058' first='John' last='Iachetti'], George Wade, [player_tooltip player_id='1032177' first='Brendan' last='Burkhardt'] each recorded an interception on the night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While High Point still had itself an outing through the rush game, the pass game was not able to keep up as they turned the ball over 3 times through the air. Quarterback John Elko did find success on the ground, however, as he ran the ball for 86 yards. Lastly, High Point's offensive success once again ran through [player_tooltip player_id='1522216' first='Jerron' last='Martress']. Jerron finished the playoff matchup with 28 carries for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns, bringing his final total for the season to 1675 yards and 26 touchdowns. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is a lot to look forward to in High Point's future, and for Glen Rock, they are looking ahead to next week in the final sectional matchup against Hanover Park. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Passaic Tech (9-2) vs. Elizabeth (6-5) 35-26</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An exciting game all the way into the 4th, Passaic Tech entered the last quarter of the game with a 22-20 lead and was eventually able to pull away to win it 35-26. Passaic Tech's offense played near to perfection Friday night. Lead back [player_tooltip player_id='1052330' first='Aarom' last='Mendoza'] dominated on the ground, using his big body to run the ball aggressively and rack up 165 yards on 18 carries. Aarom accounted for 3 of his team's 5 touchdowns, showing how big of a role he plays on the Bulldog's offense. Kadir Younge complimented Aarom on the ground, as he scampered off for a 29 yard touchdown in the 4th quarter and finished the day with 5 carries for 65 yards and the lone touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Elizabeth went toe to toe with Passaic Tech but was outlasted in the end. While star quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='934015' first='Arique' last='Fleming'] didn't have his best outing, he still performed at an extremely high level and kept his team in the game by throwing for 211 yards and a touchdown, and also rushing for two on top of it. Senior receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1216636' first='Antoine' last='Blount'] put up his best performance on the season to end his high school career in an exciting fashion, as he caught 7 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Passaic Tech is now preparing to go up against Union City next weekend, a team that just walked into the section championship with a 61-10 win over Bridgewater-Raritan. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ramapo (7-3) vs. Ridge (8-2) 28-27</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In one of the most thrilling matchups of the playoffs so far, we saw arguably one of the biggest come from behind victories of the season. Looking like they were down and out, Ramapo was able to overcome the adversity and come from behind to take the win and move onto the next round of the playoffs. After being down 7-27 against Ridge, Ramapo's star quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1546513' first='Casey' last='Grusser'] was able to help orchestrate one scoring drive after the other to put his team in a position to come out victorious. Casey was able to pick apart Ridge's defense, as he threw for 325 yards and a touchdown. Not only did Casey have success through the air, but he also ran the ball for 68 yards and even caught a touchdown pass on a trick play as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If you just looked at the stat lines, you would have thought Ridge was the team to come out on top at the end of the night. Ramapo had trouble slowing down Ridge's rushing attack, as [player_tooltip player_id='1529472' first='Aidan' last='Stieglitz'] wen wild with 3 rushing touchdowns and 187 yards on the ground. On top of that, their defensive unit held strong for the majority of the game, as stand out defenders like David Hamilton scoured the field for tackles and ended the night with 12 tackles and 1 interception.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Get ready for some fireworks next Saturday, as Ramapo squares off against Morris Knolls in the Final Round of the North 1 Group 4 playoffs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17866682/67309b54ee297d02d41c7da7' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6730a61294a3e"} /-->