The Westfield Leader Newspaper
The Times of Scotch Plains-Fanwood

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FRESH’H2O’ RUSHES 159 YDS, 3 TDS; BIG ‘D’ CRACKS

‘For Real’ Raiders DeHorse Blue Knight Gridmen, 428

By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

One big win! Maybe you’re lucky say some. But a hammer job the very next week could mean that a team is for real.

Well, it happened! After the Scotch PlainsFanwood High School football team dazed and confused the Linden Tigers, they followed up the very next week by easily winning the jousting bout with the Irvington Blue Knights in Scotch Plains on October 14.

Halfback Clifton Freshwater chewed up the turf and covered 159 yards on 29 carries, yielding three

touchdowns in just three quarters, before the Raiders played their entire second team in the final quarter. Junior quarterback Brian Schiller, despite having a TD reception to Josh Finklestein nullified and a 12yard reception to Dave Larkin called back, was sevenforten passing for 64 yards, including a 12yard TD reception to Andrew Pavoni. Additionally, in the third quarter, he carried three times for 34 yards with TD runs of 21 and seven yards.

“We’ve had good practices once again this week,” pointed out Freshwater. “And as I told you before, we are maturing as a team. Our line was

blocking people and I was running in them. Coach Ciccotelli is an excellent coach, an excellent coach!”

“He’s a really hard runner. In the beginning, we got on him a little bit because he wasn’t running the holes, said Ciccotelli of Freshwater. “But when he hit the holes, the offensive line was doing a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage.”

The offensive line was opening the holes and the defensive line was closing them, using “cracking” tackles.

“We have a lot of weapons in our package and our defense gave us good alignment,” said Ciccotelli. “We thought we could run our option and Brian took advantage of it. He’s got a better passing sense. He’s getting better every week.”

After a silent first quarter, the Raiders wore down the Blue Knights and scored all of their points in the middle quarters – 21 in the second and 21 in the third – and finished with a 428 victory to lift their record to 32.

“We were in much better shape than they were,” said Raider Assistant Coach Bob Harmer. “We train very hard all week.”

As with the Linden game, the Raiders again pulled out all of their weapons and the Blue Knights began to fall. With 8: 51 left in the half, Freshwater plunged one yard for the TD. Next, after stopping the Blue Knights’ horses cold, Schiller hit Pavoni for his 12yard TD and Doug Gillie’s PAT was good. Then after Raider Damon Clark intercepted a pass and returned it to the Knight 22, Freshwater performed his magic, eventually moving the ball to the one where he bashed forward for another TD. He then carried for the twopoint conversion, giving the Raiders a 210 halftime lead.

There was no letdown in the third quarter. The Raiders took the opening kickoff on their own 20 and marched triumphantly on 10 plays, culminating with Schiller’s 21yard TD keeper with 7: 21 left. Moments later Raider Mike Buffardi recovered a Knight fumble on the 25. Then with 6: 12 left, Schiller hooked seven yards for another TD. Gillie’s PAT elevated the score to 350.

So much for the offense – for now! Remember! The Blue Knights have

Lady Blue Devils Drag Farmers to, 00, OT Tie

By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Several Blue Devil breakaways which yielded no goals and no real offensive dominance dragged the soccer game into overtime between the Westfield High School girls and the Union girls. The result was a 00 deadlock after two fiveminute – agreed upon by the coaches – overtime periods in Westfield on October 11.

In general, the bulk of the game took place around midfield; how ever, the Blue Devils did breakaway

on a few occasions and launched an adequate amount of shots on goal only to see them whiz wide right and left or sail over the crossbar. Farmer keeper Jen Chapla did make three important saves.

A few questionable offsides calls in the first half may have thrown off the Blue Devils’ rhythm somewhat but a few scoring opportunities came up short.

“It’s the story of our season,” commented Blue Devil Head Coach Pete Giordano. “We let them back into the game. We had three big opportunities in the first half alone, but we let them off the hook. Sure, the goalie made a couple of good saves but we are not finishing the job.”

Another type of misfortune occurred early in the second half when talented defender/ midfielder Gwen Lederman went down with a knee injury and sat out the remainder of the game. From that point, the Farmers did put some pressure on Blue Devil senior keeper Michelle Meglaughlin but, in both situations, she rose to the occasion to make the saves. One came on a corner kick from the far side, where Meglaughlin with her superior height, leaped above the crowd to snag the hooking shot.

Westfield regained control midway through the second half until the end of regulation. Probably one the smoothest offensive maneuvers came when senior striker Susan Hinds

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

MATT ANDZELL LEADS DEFENSE WITH 16 TACKLES

Farmers Gain the Offensive; Blank Devil Gridmen, 130 By BRUCE JOHNSON

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

You look at the teams in the hunt for the eight spots in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 playoffs, and all you see is quality. It’s hard to imagine any section having as many good teams.

And if Westfield wants to be one of those eight teams, they’re probably going to have to win at least two of their final three regularseason games, beginning Saturday, when Irvington visits Gary Kehler Stadium for a 1: 30 p. m. kickoff.

Currently, coach Ed Tranchina’s club is 32, but that’s only good enough for ninth place in the section, based on power points (two points for a victory, times the Group size of the opponent, plus one point for each win by a team WHS beat). Realistically, there are nine teams battling for the eight spots. In order, they are:

1. Elizabeth (51, 51 power points), 2. Phillipsburg (50, 45), 3. Morristown (50, 44), 4. Bloomfield (41, 40), 5. Union (51, 39), 6. Roxbury (41, 34), 7. Linden (32, 31), 8. Montclair (32, 27), 9. Westfield (32, 26). Morristown might have to forfeit one of its victories, which would be worth 9 or 10 power points, but that information was to be announced at a Tuesday NJSIAA meeting that took place too late for the Leader’s deadline.

The Blue Devils lost a shot at some major power points last Saturday,

when they came up short against Union, 130. While the Farmers are still a very good team, they were beatable, and Westfield certainly had its chances, despite the lopsided nature of the statistics.

“You can’t be out there on defense against them all day,” Head Coach Ed Tranchina said. “We needed to get something going on offense, but their big guys (on defense) were too much for us.”

Westfield only ran 12 offensive plays in the first half, getting an early first down on Mike Mroz’s 12yard burst and a late first down on Terrance Jenkins’ 16yard scamper. In between it was mostly Union and its ballcontrol offense, with Ron Booker and Greg Point Du Jor doing most of the damage.

After yet another great punt by WHS’s Jay Cook rolled dead at the Union 4, the Farmers got two first downs, but then had to punt. It looked like the Devils were in good shape, after linebacker Dave King nearly blocked the kick and it went just 17 yards to the Union 42. But on first down, Point Du Jor stepped in front of receiver Diano Reavis and picked off Louis Mercer’s pass, who was starting because Ryan MacDonald’s ankle hadn’t sufficiently healed.

Union then drove 60 yards in 13 plays, converting twice on third down and once on a fourthand4. The drive stalled at the Westfield 4, when Mroz, Matt Andzell, Chris Dodge and Matt Brinkman came up with big stops. On third down, Jenkins pressured the quarterback into a bad pass, but cornerback Jim Mitchell couldn’t hold onto a potential interception in the end zone. Union’s Steve Andriola converted a 21yard field goal.

“They had too many thirdandshort situations,” Tranchina said. “But our kids played them tough.”

If the first half was tough for Blue Devil fans, the second half was Chinese water torture. So many big, potential gameturning plays ... and every one went Union’s way.

Westfield’s second possession of the second half saw Mercer lead their best drive. He hit Reavis for 31 yards to the Union 28, then scrambled 12 yards for a first down at the 17. Mroz went 5 yards to the 12 but, on third down, a possible touchdown pass from Jenkins to Cook didn’t connect because a defender got enough pressure on Jenkins to force a poor pass. On the next play, Andrew Lessner’s 29yard field goal attempt was blocked and the Farmers recovered at their 31.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

Blue Devil Boys Battle Raiders to, 00, OT Tie

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

By STEVEN KRAKAUER

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

On October 13 at Gary Kehler Stadium in Westfield, the ninthranked Scotch PlainsFanwood High School boys soccer team were gooseegged for only the second time all season, this time by the Westfield boys in an exciting, 00, overtime marathon.

The Raiders had many more scoring opportunities than the Blue Devils, as sophomore Ray DiNizo and seniors Michael Zotti and Andrew Babicz each fired two shots on goal. For Westfield, the only major shot on goal came in the second half when senior Greg Scanlan launched a bullet towards the goal.

Much credit is due to the two goalies. Blue Devil junior Kevin Cutro produced nine key stops. Senior goalie Brad Lowyns, the 6’3'’ monster force behind the Raiders’ potent defense, needed to save only one possible goal, but his presence was felt all over the field. He often came out of goal to midfield and handled duties from there.

Cutro, who earned the starting job away from fellow junior Tim Mansfield, said after the game, “The crowd helped a lot during the game. They came out to support us and it was great.”

Much recognition is also due for the defenders on each team. Blue Devil freshman Jeff Nusse and seniors Richie Rowe and Doug Minarik provided great support, while the Raiders’ goal was patrolled masterfully by Ricardo Arocha and Dave Sigmon.

The game was marred by many penalties and questionable calls. As the final seconds of the regulation winded down, the Raiders fired a shot past Cutro and into the net. It was ruled “no goal” because the referee claimed time had expired.

The Raider coaches furiously stormed the field to argue the call and in turn the Head Coach, Tom Breznitsky, was given a yellow card, and the Assistant Joe Mortarulo was red carded. Also a member of each

team was yellowcarded. Westfield has been playing without the services of cocaptain Conner Mulvee all season and Duffy Lau, who recently sustained an injury. Also out for the “Friday the 13th” game was Kurt Schoenberg.

After 100 minutes of rugged soccer,

CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times BLOCKING A FARMER PASS… Blue Devil Laura Shelman, No. 5, blocks the ball with her chest as Dana Passananti, No. 16, looks on in the game against the Union Farmers.

HEMMING IN A DEVIL… Raider defensemen Jim Cooney, No. 10, and Dave Bell, No. 4, put the squeeze on Blue Devil Brad Gillin, No. 3, in Westfield. The game ended in a scoreless overtime tie.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times CHEWING UP THE TURF… Raider Clifton Freshwater chews up the turf against the Blue Knights and amasses 159 yards rushing.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times DEVIL DEFENSE DOING ITS JOB… The Blue Devil defensive line worked overtime against the Union Farmers but did its job well. Union, however, defeated Westfield, 130, at Gary Kehler Stadium.