By Skiffo Drake
Tomorrow night’s Wayne Hills at Wayne Valley game will be the third time ever the schools have met with a championship on the line. Valley beat Hills the State Sectional Championship game in 1991, 7-0. Hills beat Valley in the State Sectional Championship game in 2007, 27-7.
This year’s game will decide the Big North Colonial Division Title. While that’s not as big as a State Sectional crown, it is still a highly coveted prize. Both Valley and Hills will start competing for the State Sectional Championship the next week when the quarterfinals kickoff. Valley (No 5.) opens at Morris Knolls (No. 4). Hills (No. 7) opens at Roxbury (No. 2). A win in this cross-town tussle, however, would surely be a springboard to potential post season glory.
Valley’s resurgence has captured the attention of Billy Formosa, the quarterback/defensive back on the 1991 team, and Chris Pantale, a tightend/defensive end on the 2007 team.
“I was lucky enough to take part in the first ever contest between Wayne Valley and Wayne Hills in 1991,” said Formosa. “It just happened to be for a State Championship and would end up defining our legacy as a team. However as football players, we prepared every week with the same discipline, focus, aggression, and intent no matter who the opponent. I expect that Coach Kotlarz’ team is doing the same this week, as they have done every week this year and work towards their ultimate goal. I will be there to cheer them on with a few of my former teammates and we all wish them success in reaching their full potential as a team.”
Formosa’s Wayne Valley teams went 30-3 from 1989 to 1991. He also won a State Sectional Championship as a sophomore and lost in the final as a junior. He went on to play for the University of Pennsylvania.
Pantale, meanwhile, said the 2007 Valley-Hills Final was the “biggest game of my life.”
That’s quite a statement, considering Pantale went on to play for Boston College, the New York Jets and currently is with the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I grew up playing football with the same guys and then we end it at the Meadowlands in front of all those people,” he said. “We lost and I’m still not over it, to be honest. But going 11-1 and finishing up at the Meadowlands was just an amazing experience. My advice to the current team is to realize that you only go through high school once. Don’t leave the field with regrets. Take advantage of every opportunity,”
“When I got to Wayne Valley the team was down. My group turned it around (28-5 from 2005 to 2007). I get the feeling that the same thing is happening now. My (former) teammates and I are all rooting for them.”
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