11/14/08: Section I, Group III Quarterfinals: Sparta 14, Wayne Valley 10: For the third time in four years, Wayne Valley has suffered a season ending playoff loss to a lower seeded team. This time, Wayne Valley (No. 2) fell to Sparta (No. 7). They were also the No. 2 seed in 2005 when they lost to Parsippany Hills (No. 3) in the semifinals. They were the No. 3 seed in 2006 when they lost to Passaic Valley (No. 6). Valley did manage to play out their seed last year as the No. 2 seed. They lost to top seeded Wayne Hills in the final.
Sparta struck first in this one when Mike Radeloff scored on a 29 yard run. Sparta was able to move the ball throughout the first half. Valley hung tough, thanks mostly to three turnovers.
First, Pat Russo picked a Sparta pass off at the line. Next, Pat LaNeve recovered a fumble. Jim Domalewski intercepted a pass on a tipped ball later in the period. Valley knotted it up when Colton Callaghan caught a 38 yard scoring strike from Pete Savastano. The score came after LaNeve's fumble recovery.
Matt Deitz connected on a field goal to put Valley up 10-7 late in the third. The boot was set up by a Ryan Durr to Callaghan 36 yard pass. The throw was tipped by Sparta's defensive back, but Callaghan kept his focus and made the grab.
Sparta took the lead for good with 6:55 left when Zach Passerelle scored on a four yard run.
With a minute left in the game, Valley's Mike Castles blocked a punt at midfield. They couldn't cash in as Savastano threw an interception on the next play. Valley generated under 100 yards of total offense, which was well below the team average.
"We made too many mistakes, which seemed to be the theme this season," head coach Brian O'Connor said. "We had an opportunity after that blocked punt, but we threw the pick. It was a disappointing finish, but I'm still very proud. We lost 21 seniors (from last years state runner up team). We still ended up going undefeated in the conference. We won it for the fourth year in a row. We have a lot of guys back next year. I expect to win our fifth conference title in a row and make a better run in the playoffs."
11/7/08: DePaul 42, Wayne Valley 35, By Skiffo Drake: DePaul (7-2) got off on the right foot when sophomore John Proctor recovered a Mike Castles fumble on the opening kickoff. Four plays later they punched the ball in when James Jurewicz slammed into the end zone from a yard out. Shortly thereafter, it appeared as if the rout was on. DePaul increased its lead to 20-0 by scoring on its next two possessions. First, Dan Farley connected with Dan Foesel for an 11 yard score. Jurewicz scored the third touchdown on a four yard run. DePaul missed the first two point-after attempts. They made some of it up when Shakim Phillips caught a two point conversion throw from Farley. Phillips had 40-yard plus runs on both the second and third touchdown drives.
Valley (7-2) then mounted a furious comeback and ended up taking a 21-20 lead. They got on the board when Pete Savastano unleashed a 55 yard touchdown bomb to Colton Callaghan. Next, Ryan Durr returned a punt for a 74 yard score. Pat LaNeve scored next on a one yard rush. His younger brother, Greg LaNeve, set up the score with a 45 yard run to the one yard line. Matt Deitz supplied all three extra points to give Valley the lead. DePaul took a 28-21 lead into intermission when Foesel pulled in a 9 yard scoring strike from Farley. DePaul tacked on a two point conversion on a Farley run.
Valley tied it again in the third when Durr rushed for a 35 yard score. DePaul retook the lead when Farley found Phillips for a 33 yard score. Valley answered with a Savastano to Durr 35 yard score. DePaul pulled it out when Jurewicz scored on a bullish three yard run with 12 seconds to go. Farley had a 14 yard completion to John Weiss on the drive. Greg LaNeve returned the ensuring kickoff to the DePaul 41 yard line, giving Valley one last shot. The desperation failed when Savastano, under heavy pressure, dumped the ball to Durr, who was immediately gang tackled.
10/31/08: Wayne Valley 27, West Orange 23, By Skiffo Drake: Ryan Durr's one yard touchdown rush with 3:05 left capped off another comeback win for Valley (7-1). West Orange responded by drive deep into Valley territory, but the surge ended when Pat LaNeve intercepted a pass in the end zone. With the victory, Valley clinched an the Northern Hills Skyline Title outright. It is the team's fourth straight championship.
Durr carried the ball 24 times for 106 yards. The senior also had a 20 yard touchdown rush in the third period. Pat LaNeve carried the ball 12 times for 85 yards. He scored Valley's first touchdown on a 17 yard scamper. The score was set up by a Pete Savastano to Mike Castles 23 yard pass.
WV's second touchdown came when Savastano ran for a four yard touchdown with just seconds left in the half. The score was set up by a Savastano to Colton Callaghan 55 yard bomb.
Sam Stallard paced the defense with 10 tackles. Kyle Jorbel added eight. Ross Reilly had six. Durr, Joe Duncan and Eugene Ra contributed five tackles apiece. West Orange is 6-2.
10/24/08: Wayne Valley 19, Passaic Tech 16: Valley (6-1) trailed 9-0 at halftime, but came back to win. A third quarter 18 yard touchdown pass from Pete Savastano to Colton Callaghan put WV on the board. They took the lead when Ryan Durr scored on a one-yarder. The score was set up by a Savastano to Joe Duncan 42 yard completion. Valley padded the lead when Savastano ran in from six yards out. That score was set up by a Savastano to Callaghan 56 yard pass.
Tech's Terrell Smith rushed for a touchdown. Tyriek Noble passed for one. They started the game with a 2-0 lead when Valley snapped the ball out of the end zone on a punt attempt.
Sam Stallard recorded 21 tackles for WV. Anthony Perez added 13. Ross Reilly had 10 tackles. Durr and Kyle Jorbel accounted for seven tackles apiece. Pat LaNeve, Eugene Ra and Duncan had fives tackles each. Savastano paced the offense with 141 passing yards.
10/17/08: Wayne Valley 21, Newark West Side 14: Colton Callaghan caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Pete Savastano with 2:37 remaining when Wayne Valley rallied to beat Newark West Sid. Savastano had a hand in all of Wayne Valley's touchdowns. He threw two TD passes, ran for another and tossed a 2-point conversion. Senior fullback Ryan Durr, who caught a 5-yard touchdown pass in the second period to give Wayne Valley a 13-6 lead at the half, rushed for 113 yards. Savastano and Mike Castles tacked on 48 and 40 rushing yards respectively. Sam Stallard led the defense with 14 tackles. Ross Reilly had 11 tackles. Anthony Perez had nine. Pat LaNeve and Durr had seven tackles apiece.
10/10/08: Wayne Valley 42, Millburn 7: Ryan Durr carried the pigskin for 115 yards and two touchdowns as Wayne Valley (4-1) won easily. Pat LaNeve rushed for 58 yards and two scores for the Indians. Quarterback Pete Savastano hit five of eight passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for another score. Kicker Matt Dietz was perfect on all six tries. Colton Callaghan snared a 55 yard pass from Savastano. Kyle Jorbel led the defense with seven tackles. Scott Jorbel had six. Durr, Sam Stallard and Kenton Hughes had five tackles apiece.
Durr had a 2-yard burst and LaNeve an 8-yard run for scores in the first quarter. In the second, Mike Castles added a 30-yard run for six. Savastano had a quarterback keeper for a 5-yard score as Wayne Valley (4-1) enjoyed a 28-7 lead at the intermission. Durr had a 43 yarder in the third. LaNeve took it in from a yard out.
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10/3/08: Wayne Valley 14, Montville 13, OT: Pat LaNeve's 8-yard touchdown in overtime put WV (3-1) up 14-7. Matt Deitz kicked the extra point. Montville scored on its overtime possession to make it 14-13. Montville elected to go for two and the win, but the pass attempt failed. Montville had a chance to win in regulation when they lined up to kick a 25 yard field goal with 4 second left. A bad snap prevented the attempt. The botch may have been a factor in electing to attempt a two-pointer in overtime.
"We had a feeling that they would go for two," WV coach Brian O'Connor said. "We (the Valley coaches) were talking about it in the sideline. It made sense. It (the game) wasn't pretty, but we'll take it."
Ryan Durr scored Valley's first touchdown on a 10 yard run. Deitz had the extra point. Durr finished with 110 yards rushing. Pete Savastano ran for 69 yards. Sam Stallard led the defense with 15 tackles. Jim Domalewsi and Anthony Perez had 12 tackles apiece. Ross Reilly and Durr had 9 tackles each. Vin Lizza scored the Montville's touchdown.
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9/27/08: Wayne Valley 27, Passaic Valley 13, By Skiffo Drake: The "Battle of the Valleys" is now even. It stands at 28-28-1.
Pete Savastano tossed a touchdown pass and rushed for another score. Sophomore Anthony
Verrilli caught a 23-yard scoring pass from Savastano to put WV up 7-0. Passaic Valley knotted it at 7-7 when Dom Coiro raced 23 yards for a score. Wayne Valley took a 14-7 lead at the half on Savastano's 4-yard rush. The score capped off a 75 yard drive.
Fullback Ryan Durr burst 2 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter for Wayne Valley. That score was set up by a blocked punt. PV's Drew Sous was under severe pressure after fielding an errant snap. The ball still managed to travel forward a short distance. It hit a Wayne Valley player and was recovered by Passaic Valley. The Hornets thought that they had maintained possession. Officials explained that since the ball did not make it past the line of scrimmage, PV would not retain possession.
"It was close," said PV coach Angelo DeSalvo. "But I honestly did not have a great angle. That was a real swing for us. Wayne Valley is a good club. They are hard to defend when they start on the 15 yard line."
Passaic Valley sliced the lead to 20-13 on Coiro's 37-yard TD run. Wayne Valley wrapped it up in the final period on Pat LaNeve's 18-yard TD run.
Durr finished with 77 yards rushing for Wayne Valley (2-1). Coiro had 81 ground yards for PV (1-2).
9/24/08: Wayne Valley-Passaic Valley game postponed: The football game between Passaic Valley and Wayne Valley has been postponed until Saturday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. It was originally scheduled for Friday night, Sept. 26 in a 7 p.m. The game has been moved due to an expected storm. Passaic Valley leads the all-time series, 28-27-1.
9/19/08: Wayne Valley 27, West Milford 24 (at West Milford), By Skiffo Drake: Valley bounced back from its opening day loss to defeat rival West Milford in come from behind fashion. The Indians overcame a four-point deficit in the fourth period when fullback Ryan Durr caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Pete Savastano with 3:26 left. Senior defensive back Jimmy Domalewski intercepted Brian Mizerek on the West Milford 25 yard line to set up the decisive score. On Valley's next and final possession, Pat LaNeve ran for 33 yards on a 3-and-8 play to help Valley run out the clock.
LaNeve had a 22 yard TD rush in the first quarter. Savastano fired a 47 yard scoring strike to Colton Callaghan in the second period. Durr had two fourth quarter scores. He had a 48 yard TD run earlier in the period.
Durr had 125 yards rushing. LaNeve finished with 75 yards. Savastano had 123 yards passing. Callaghan had 83 yards receiving. Sam Stallard led the defense with 17 tackles. Anthony Perez had nine tackles. Ross Reilly and Durr had eight tackles apiece. Randy Washington scored on runs of 2 and 3 yards for West Milford. Logan Pevny scored on an 8 yard run.
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9/12/08: Season Opener: Clifton 12, Wayne Valley 7 (at Wayne), By Skiffo Drake: Ryan Durr's fumble on the first play of the game led to a Clifton touchdown. Al Pitts carried it in for Clifton on
an 8-yard carry. Clifton went up 12-0 when Nick Giordano rushed in from 10 yards out. Clifton’s second score was set up by a partially blocked punt, which traveled only 13 yards.
Pete Savastano found Greg Maietta late in the third quarter for a 4-yard scoring pass that brought Wayne Valley to within a touchdown. On its last possession, Wayne Valley drove to the Clifton 6-yard line, but gave the ball up on downs with just 36 seconds remaining. On fourth down, Savastano threw to Pat LaNeve in the endzone. The tailback could not hold on. The pass appeared to be somewhat high, but catchable.
Keith Champagne hit LaNeve hard on the play. Champagne also defended a pass on a third down throw to Maietta. Nathaniel Howard broke up a second down throw to Colton Callaghan. Valley’s game-winning attempt began when Scott Jorbel recovered a Pitts fumble on the 23 with 1:58 remaining.
"The game went in and out of our hands," said head coach Brian O'Connor. "That was a difficult way for it to end, but games never really come down to one play. We lost because we made too many mistakes. We fumbled on the first play of the game. They blocked a punt to set up another touchdown. You can't spot a strong, touch, physical team like Clifton the lead. We had too many dropped passes, too many miscues. Our last play (on offense) was just one of the things that
went wrong. We played better in the second half, but it really doesn't matter. We still lost."
Savastano finished with 89 passing yards. Dur had 61 yards rushing, including a 33 yard carry on Valley's touchdown drive. Sophomore Anthony Verrilli had 50 yards receiving. Junior Jim Domalewski led the defense with 18 tackles. Sam Stallard had 17 tackles. Anthony Perez had 15.
The loss spoiled WV’s unveiling of its new FieldTurf. It was Valley's first opening day loss since 2004. They have already matched last year's loss total.
(Details and Photos To Come)
9/5/08: Preseason: Wayne Valley 26, Indian Hills 14
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