After grabbing a seemingly comfortable 22-0 lead after three quarters, top-seeded Old Tappan had to ward off a furious comeback to defeat the fourth-seeded Cranford Cougars, 22-14, in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 playoffs at Northern Valley Regional on November 8. The Cougars finished their season with a 7-3 record, while Old Tappan improved to 9-1.
Cougar co-captain/quarterback Tyler Veltre completed four of 10 passes for 26 yards and was intercepted three times. Three of his receptions were to Luciano Fiorenza for 22 yards and the other was to cocaptain Dylan Jones for four yards. The Cougars totaled 160 yards on the ground and Jones carried 19 times for 112 yards.Amari Petgrave carried six times for 45 yards, including a touchdown. Gabe Worrell carried seven times for 28 yards and Veltre carried six times for minus 25 yards.
Old Tappan quarterback Zach Miceli completed 14 of 20 passes for 163 yards, including a touchdown and an interception. Alex Orecchio had six receptions for 80 yards and Joey Cresticelli had four receptions for 56 yards. Shane Small had a 14yard touchdown reception. Leo Etter had a 10-yard reception, Troy Essman had a three-yard reception and Devyn Radoian had a reception for no gain. Miceli carried nine times for 51 yards, including a pair of touchdowns. Nick Rossi carried 15 times for 40 yards. Radoian had a seven-yard carry In the first quarter, Miceli scored on a six-yard run and Orecchio kicked the point after. Old Tappan took a 150 lead at the half when Small had his 14-yard touchdown reception and Orecchio ran in the two-point conversion. The score jumped to 22-0 in the third quarter when Miceli scored on a nine-yard run and the pint after was good. In the fourth quarter, Petgrave had a six-yard touchdown run and Cristiano Ambrosio kicked the PAT. The scored tightened to 22-14 when Brandon DiPaolo scooped a fumble and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown and Ambrosio kicked the PAT.
Defensively, Cougar NikoAloi had an interception. Jones was involved in 11 tackles and a throw for a loss (TFL). Joey Acinapura recorded 13 tackles and Yousf Elashry had three tackles, a sack and a TFL Mike Scotti had four tackles, a sack and a TFL. Co-captain Justin Hoeffler had eight tackles, Petgrave made seven and DiPaolo made six tackles. Orecchio had two interceptions and Etter had one interception.
