FRANKLIN LAKES − Same old story: Ramapo and Northern Highlands squared off in a North 1, Group 4 sectional championship classic for the third year in a row.
New ending: The Raiders shook off losses in the last two sectional finals and defeated Northern Highlands, 14-10, Friday night at Drew Gibbs Field.
Ramapo senior Brandon Del Valle caught the winning 21-yard touchdown from Landon DePrima with 2:00 remaining. That capped a 14-0 second half by the No. 1 seed, which advanced to the Group 4 state semifinals and will host Mount Olive (11-1) next weekend.
"Our team always starts off slow – I don't know why," Del Valle said. "But we're just a special team. We've all grown up together and been through a lot of stuff together, and I feel like that's why we won this game."
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Ramapo (11-0) had beaten the No. 3 seed Highlanders (9-3) in September, 34-33, after trailing 21-0. So erasing a deficit half as large was nothing, right?
"It's never nothing, particularly not versus them," Raiders coach Mike DeFazio said. "That's a phenomenally coached team, and they've got great players that are very, very smart football players.
"Would you have expected anything else?"
No one familiar with this rivalry would.
What it means
Ramapo earned its first sectional title since 2019 by knocking off the two-time defending champs. Northern Highlands prevailed in the 2021 North 1, Group 4 final, 35-30 in Allendale, less than two weeks after the death of longtime Raiders coach Drew Gibbs.
Last year, in the rematch at Gibbs Memorial Field, Northern Highlands won a 49-42 overtime thriller that was interrupted by two power outages.
Ramapo now has an opportunity to match the best record in program history: 13-0, achieved in 2018 and 2019 when the NJSIAA tournament went as far as the regional finals.
Key plays
As far as individual plays, several helped swing the game. DePrima completed a 40-yard pass to Zach Schnorrbusch late in the first half for the Raiders' longest play of the night, setting up DePrima's 12-yard TD pass to Charlie Wingfield.
Senior Gavin Taylor then made an interception to set up the drive for Del Valle's winning score, and junior Dylan Rosano broke up a Highlander pass in the end zone as time expired.
The key change on offense, though, was Ramapo committing to the run in the second half. Its running backs totaled four carries in the first half but had 18 in the second half, split between Rosano (14 for 40 overall) and James Magerko (8 for 31).
"We just had to lock in," Rosano said. "Linemen had to get the right mentality, fire off the ball, and it all starts with the line. They win the game."
By the numbers
There was a dramatic shift in Ramapo's defensive results after halftime. In the first two quarters, Northern Highlands QB Nate Johnson completed 14 of 15 passes for 119 yards.
In the second half, the Raiders allowed six completions in 16 attempts for a total of 40 yards.
Meanwhile, DePrima started 7-of-12 for 55 yards in the first half, then went 8-of-11 for 110 yards, two touchdowns and one interception after the break.
Game balls
? Del Valle finished with two catches for 32 yards and a TD, and made nine tackles on defense. Magerko added 12 tackles and a fumble recovery.
? Matthew Boydell gained 179 all-purpose yards for Northern Highlands: six rushes for 50, six catches for 43 (and a TD), three kick returns for 79 and one punt return for 7.
? Jesse DeNobile led the Highlander defense with 10 tackles, 2½ sacks and a forced fumble.
They said it
"We can play through pressure. That's one thing about our team that helps us win, we can play through the pressure." − Del Valle
"We made the actual adjustments a little bit toward the end of the second quarter. But they really came to fruition in the second half. The biggest thing is, our guys do such a great job of steadying the ship themselves. The coaches focus on the football stuff; they [the players] bring it together from the team execution and culture part. And again, they just did a great job." − DeFazio