EAST HANOVER − Paul DeNaples picked the wrong weekend to plan a vacation with his friends.
Prior to Friday night, DeNaples, whose twin sons Tyler and Dylan serve as the starting quarterback and tight end, respectively, for the Pequannock football team, had previously never missed a game. Tyler and Dylan connected on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left to send the Panthers past Hanover Park 31-24 in a wild SFC crossover battle Friday night.
“I’m sure he’s kicking himself,” the boys’ mother, Michele DeNaples said with a laugh.
Guided by a stout effort by Pequannock’s defensive line and a poor snap on special teams by the opposition, the Panthers held Hanover Park to negative-11 total yards in the third quarter. Pequannock appeared headed to the easy victory when Michael Horgan surged for a 19-yard touchdown run - his second score of the game - to put his squad up 24-3 with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter.
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But Hanover Park (5-2) used an onside kick and fumble recovery to pave the way for three-straight touchdowns over a span of 3:36 to tie the game at 24-24. Pequannock finally stopped the Hornets outburst when Dylan Roemmele had a key hit to jostle the ball from a Hornets receiver on fourth down to give Pequannock (5-2) the ball on its game-winning drive.
The twins, who combined for 431 yards last year, have been relatively quiet this season. Dylan DeNaples hadn’t had a catch since the Whippany Park victory about a month ago, and this was his first touchdown all year. To add to the improbable ending, Tyler injured his wrist from a fall earlier in the game.
“Tyler’s wrist and hand were really hurting him, but he threw a perfect ball to his brother,” said Mike Moschella, who credited assistant coach Gino Fluri with the play call. “Other than those few minutes of the fourth quarter, we dominated this matchup.”
With the victory, Pequannock has won three-straight games and hopes to lock down an SFC National Blue outright title with a win or Kinnelon loss to Parsippany in next week’s regular season finale.
After Hanover Park opened the game with a 14-play drive that led to a successful 22-yard field goal by Ryan Roberts, Pequannock responded quickly with a four-play drive that was highlighted by a 44-yard touchdown run by Roemmele with 3:19 left in the first quarter.
The Panthers used a pair of Hanover Park penalties, including a personal foul infraction, to fuel a second quarter drive that led to a 31-yard field goal by Nick Zuccala to put Pequannock on top 10-3 with 3:10 left in the low scoring first half.
What it means
Since the game was a SFC crossover contest, it had no effect on the standings for either team.
Despite the Panthers victory, Hanover Park still holds the edge with three wins in the last four meetings between the Group 2 schools.
Both teams were safely in the playoffs heading into the matchup and the result shouldn’t change that. The Hornets ranked fifth in the North Group 2 and the Panthers were ranked 11th overall. The top eight teams host an opening round playoff game and this could be a preview of one of those matchups.
Pequannock’s 5-2 start is its best start to the year since the team won nine-straight games to open the 2017 season.
Key play
After registering 50 yards through the third quarter and four minutes into the final quarter, Pequannock’s offense appeared disoriented with three plays that totalled just negative-6 yards and an interception by Joseph Tantawi and fumble lost. But Roemmele appeared to help the Panthers slip out of its temporary funk with a 22-yard run to put Pequannock at the Hanover Park 36-yard line.
Six plays later, Tyler DeNaples fired a perfect pass to Dylan DeNaples who extended for the decisive touchdown grab in the waning moments of the game.
“We’ve been doing this type of thing in lacrosse and football - pretty much since we’ve come out of the womb,” Dylan said. “It’s the twin connection.”
By the numbers
? Hanover Park was called for nine penalties for 92 yards in the game.
? Joey Borrello amassed 163 of his game-high 239 passing yards in the second half as Hanover Park’s rally fell short.
Game balls
? Horgan finished with a pair of touchdowns and an interception for Pequannock.
? Defensive linemen Tyler Frame and Justin Gryszkin combined for three sacks and two tipped passes for the Panthers.
?Zuccala finished 4-for-4 on extra points and hit a 31-yard field goal for the Panthers.
They said it
"I literally closed my eyes when he threw the ball. I couldn’t even look. When he caught it I was running up and down and my heart was stopping.” - Michele DeNaples said about the touchdown throw and catch between her sons.
Up next
? Pequannock (5-2) hosts North Warren (2-4) Friday.
? Hanover Park (5-2) travels to Verona (2-5) Friday.
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