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Sports

Hilltoppers Remain Undefeated in 49-7 Rout of Cranford

Hilltoppers move to 6-0.

CRANFORD—The Cranford Cougars came out looking strong. 

Quarterback Joe Papandrea led a steady march 84 yards down the field that ate up more than 10 minutes of the first quarter. Papandrea used the option to move down the field a few yards at a time. Along the way, the Cougars had two fourth down conversions, recovered their own fumble, and scored a touchdown against the undefeated Summit Hilltoppers.

“It was our plan to come out and monopolize the football, control the clock and shorten the game,” said Cranford head coach Erik Rosenmeier. “The first drive was exactly what we were looking to do.”

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“We had a slow start due to the option attack,” said Summit head coach John Liberato.  “We tried to simulate it in practice, but it is hard to imitate a quarterback like Papandrea.”

The Hilltoppers offense came out onto the field for the first time with just 1:28 left in the quarter. They recovered the kick off on their own 40-yard line. Just two plays later, quarterback  Joe Jaskolski  threw to Matt Rea, who went 54 yards to score the first Summit touchdown of the night. There were still :44 left on the clock in the 1st quarter. Alex Melendez’s point after was good, making the score 7-7 going into the 2nd quarter.

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Cranford started the 2nd quarter with the ball. As soon as they started to gain a little momentum, the Summit defense stepped up their game. On first down, the Cougars lost two yards, on second down they lost five, an incomplete pass brought up fourth and 17, and the Cougars punted away.

Summit started with the ball on their 20-yard line. The 80-yard drive down the field was highlighted by Rea’s receptions, which were good for 23, 18, and 8 yards. Dwaine Dabney capped off the drive with a 5-yard rush to the 1-yard line and a final push into the endzone. After another Melendez extra point the score was 14-7.

The Hilltoppers never slowed down. Mike Watts, Brian and Danny Feeney, and Nick Oristanio made their presence known on every play the Cougars tried.

Cranford’s offense came back out on the field, and converted a fourth down, but fouls began to plague the Cougars. Though the Cougars were able to successfully convert another fourth down, a personal foul penalty left them at fourth and 18 on the next set of downs. A bad snap led to a short punt, and Summit started on their own 41.

The Hilltoppers, on what might have been their weakest drive of the game, still managed to look unstoppable. A bad snap led to a Jaskolski fumble, but he had enough presence of mind to follow the football and recovered his own fumble. The Cranford defense held the Hilltoppers on the next two downs, leaving Summit with a fourth down and eleven long yards to go. Jaskolski connected with Dabney for 20 yards, then with Marcel Godino who took it to the 1-yard line. An illegal procedure call backed the Hilltoppers up to the 15-yard line. Then a 15-yard laser from Jaskolski found Rea in the endzone.  The score was 21-7 as both teams went into the locker room.

In the second half, Cranford started off with an onside kick attempt, but Summit recovered. The Summit offense began a continuous rotation of players. Dabney and Rea continued to shine, sharing the burden of touches. The Hilltoppers started the half with 53-yard drive down which ended with Rea’s 2-yard carry into the endzone.

The third quarter showed a few bright spots in the Cougars. Cranford stopped one of Summit’s drives and forced them to punt. Tyrone Avent returned the punt 30-yards. Yet, again, the Cougars hurt themselves with penalties and poor plays on special teams.

The Cougars set-up to punt the ball away, but could not hold Rea who blocked the punt and landed on it in the endzone. That was Rea’s third touchdown of the night.

The Hilltoppers held the Cougars again and a combined effort of Sal Liberato and Danny Feeney blocked the punt again on the next play.  The Hilltoppers took over at the Cougar 13-yard line and Dabney took the snap and rushed it into the endzone on the next play.

The Cougars found themselves in a third-and 16 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Papandrea completed a pass to Kendall Grier who got the first down and then some before fumbling the football. Summit recovered, then Cranford was called for a personal foul, and after some confusion, the Hilltoppers had the ball again, starting on their own 49-yard line.

Juniors Liberato, Peter Badgley, and Stephen Whitman took over offensive duties and powered their way down the field. The 51-yard drive was capped off by a 6-yard rush from Liberato for another Hilltopper touchdown. The point after was converted by sophomore Stefano Stadlinger. The fourth quarter was also a something of a preview of next year, as most of the boys who were in will be back in 2010.

The final score was Summit 49, Cranford 7.

“They deserved to win,” said Rosenmeier of the Hilltoppers. “[The Cougars] continue to work very hard in practice. They come out on the field and work hard. But Summit is a very good team.”

Coach Liberato seemed happy with the outcome. His offense spread it around, the defense stonewalled the Cougars after the initial drive, and special teams, Melendez in particular, remained perfect on the year. It was senior captain Matt Rea who was the talk of the game though. “Rea is a playmaker. He may not be the tallest player, but he has the biggest heart.”

Rea, who is listed as the smallest player on the varsity team, was a star on offense, defense and special teams. “I felt pretty good,” he said. “All the credit is due to the lineman though.”

Rea deflected most questions about himself and chose to answer about his team.  “Our season is going exactly how I wanted it to go.  We always play together,” Rea laughed and concluded, “I like every guy on that bus right now!”

Cranford fell to 1-4 on the season. They will play Delaware Valley High School at 7 p.m. next Friday, Oct. 23.

Summit remains undefeated with a 6-0 record. They will travel to Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School at 1 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 24.

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