Home Care In Cedar Grove, NJ

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - It’s a special day when a hometown boy makes it big, and right now in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, nobody’s bigger than Tommy Devito.

The undrafted rookie quarterback for the New York Giants has secured three consecutive wins, captivating the tri-state area in the process.

Devito's rise to fame has been marked by lively discussions about chicken cutlets and distinctive hand gestures. Yet, beneath the playful banter, those who know him emphasize his pride in his Italian-American heritage and deep Jersey roots.

Al Lombardi, owner of Lombardi's, a favorite Cedar Grove haunt of the Devito family, describes Tommy as a "good kid" that everyone roots for.

The impact of his success extends beyond traditional football fans, drawing in new viewers and injecting excitement into the town, which has always been known for its standout youth football program.

Having known Tommy since childhood, Lombardi's restaurant pays homage to the rising star with a specialty pie. When he walks through the doors, the place erupts with enthusiasm, a testament to the genuine connection between Devito and his hometown.

Diners told FOX 5 NY – "My kids met Tommy, and he just responded awesome."

Amidst the excitement, Ignacio Urbina, the offensive coordinator coach at Don Bosco Prep, highlights Devito's journey from an overlooked talent to a standout performer.

Urbina emphasizes Tommy's success is a result of persistent hard work, evident since his high school days at Don Bosco Prep and later at Syracuse.

It's not just skill; it's about Devito's relentless work ethic, much of that born from his Italian roots and Jersey-bred grit.

As the town revels in Devito's accomplishments, memories of the once-hyped move by Jets QB Aaron Rodgers to Cedar Grove have faded. It's now unequivocally Tommy Devito's town.

Both men are seen around town often, but there's no word on whether they’ve come face to face.

"I keep telling them, whatever's in the water turns them into pro QBs," a local resident joked.

Devito's success has become a source of pride and inspiration for the community, showcasing that greatness can emerge from unexpected places.

On Friday night, Verona took on Cedar Grove in a football game that exhibited much passion, energy and physicality. Unfortunately, the game didn’t end in Verona’s favor. The final score: Cedar Grove 44, Verona 7.

The match, which was played in Cedar Grove, started with a touchback and Verona’s offense taking the field at the 20-yard line. After a promising 10-yard rush by #44 Bodie Maisano, Cedar Grove intercepted the ball. After three stops, Cedar Grove scored a touchdown on fourth down and kicked the ball back to Verona. Zach Garmont, #23, returned the ball, breaking three tackles to get Verona to the 35. Verona’s offense was not able to gather momentum and a punt by #2 Kieran Patel in addition to a penalty sent the ball back to the Panther 22-yard line. Tackles by Maisano and #81 John Paul Alfano, as well as a sack by #20 Jayden Nigro, forced a Cedar Grove punt.

Verona’s offense took over at the 4-yard line and Maisano’s 10-yard rush gave the offense a bit of breathing room. A 23-yard pass to Garmont kept the chains moving. However, a botched lateral caused a turnover and Cedar Grove took over deep in Verona territory. Two plays after, Cedar Grove attempted a pass to the endzone that #5 Gianluca Checchetto intercepted. Fast receptions to #22 Dean Algieri, rushes by Maisano, and offsides penalties on CG contributed to Verona’s offensive advance. Despite this, a deep throw resulted in an interception, with Cedar Grove taking over at their 30-yard line. A few plays later, a long rush broke through Verona’s defenses, giving CG their second score of the night. This closed out the first quarter with a score of 13-0.

The second quarter began with minimal offense progress by Verona, and a punt gave CG the ball back at Verona’s 45-yard line. Tackles by Jayden Nigro, Alfano, and Checchetto held up the drive, but on third down Cedar Grove quarterback Stephen Paradiso delivered a pass to the endzone for a touchdown. An extra point brought the score to 20-0.

When Verona regained possession, penalties on CG as well as short passes to Maisano allowed them to reach Cedar Grove’s 45-yard line. A rush by #10 Connor Demasi followed by a Maisano reception allowed Verona to get a first down. Unluckily for Verona, a deep throw again resulted in an interception, and Cedar Grove took over at the 26-yard line. Despite a sack by #52 Shane Costigan, and good pass coverage by Checchetto and Nigro, Paradiso threw a fourth and 18 pass to Nick Ianacone, who ran into the end zone for a CG touchdown. After a kick return, Verona’s offense returned to the field, and a 30-yard Maisano rush got Verona to the 50-yard line. Nevertheless, Verona could not score a touchdown, and the half came to a close at 27-0.

To start the second half, Cedar Grove received the ball at the 5-yard line. A powerful drive brought them all the way to the 20 when Alfano forced a fumble and Algieri ran it back for a touchdown. After an extra point by Patel, Verona kicked off to Cedar Grove, which returned it to the 30. However, a trick play by Cedar Grove allowed a pass that would give them another touchdown. Garmont received the kickoff, bringing it back to the 35-yard line. In spite of a 12-yard pass to Checchetto, Verona’s offense could not gather steam and Patel punted it to the 6-yard line. After a long pass brought Cedar Grove to midfield, Verona’s defense slowly ground the drive to a halt. Finally, a field goal got CG to a score of 37-7.

Verona took over at the 10, but a pass to Garmont followed by a rush by Maisano brought Verona past the 30. However, Verona could not attain a first down and Patel punted again to the 25. In the face of this, Verona remained undeterred and Jayden Nigro forced a fumble, which was recovered by #12 Ethan Fersch. With Verona struggling on offense, the 3rd quarter came to a close.

The final quarter set about with a Verona punt, which was fair caught at the CG 40. Cedar Grove slowly marched forward until they scored their last touchdown of the night with 6 minutes remaining in the game. With Verona back on offense, Cedar Grove managed to get an interception and got the ball back at the 30-yard line. Tackles by #66 Gavin Palmer and #73 Michael Girgis warded off any additional gains, and Cedar Grove kneeled the ball to conclude the game.

“It’s not easy losing, especially not to Cedar Grove, but there is much to learn,” said Maisano. “We have to clean up our mistakes and finish out the regular season strong to not only win these games but also set the tone for whatever games we have next and next season. No one can hang their heads or be down. We have to keep moving forward to continue the grind.”

Verona will seek to learn from this win to beat Glen Ridge on Saturday October 14 at 1 p.m. As of now, playoff hopes are not extinguished, and Verona is willing to give as much as they can to keep that flame alive.

(Photos copyright Mike Perry. Used by permission.)

CEDAR GROVE - Seven minutes.

That’s all the time Cedar Grove needed to return to the top. By the time the first inning was over in Saturday’s North 1, Group 1 sectional softball final, the Panthers led 5-0 and were nearly celebrating another monumental accomplishment.

Top-seeded Cedar Grove, the reigning Essex County Tournament champions, cruised to a 10-0 victory over No. 2 seed Emerson in five innings in the NJSIAA North 1, Group 1 final at Panther Park.

It’s the Panthers' first state sectional crown since 2019 and fourth in the last six seasons. (There was no season in 2020.)

Cedar Grove (25-3) will meet Weehawken (25-2) in the Group 1 semifinals on Tuesday in Hudson County. The Indians shut out Whippany Park, 3-0 Saturday in the North 2. Group 1 final.

Sophomore hurler Cayce Kavakich threw a one-hit gem, striking out 11 batters in five innings of work. Emerson’s only hit of the game came from Sarah Mokrzecki with two outs in the first inning. After that, Kavakich retired the next 13 batters and struck out the side in both the second and third innings.

“I didn’t expect to have a big lead that early in the game. I actually expected a longer game. But when we got that lead, I was so much more comfortable and I was able to trust myself,” Kavakich said. “We’re such a close team. We’ve all grown up together and played together for so long. We’re a family, sisters and it makes it so much fun.”

The Panthers collected 14 hits as a team, five off of Emerson ace Natalie Graham and nine off of reliever Mokrzecki. Kavakich helped her own cause with a game-high three hits and four RBIs. Five other Panthers had two hits apiece.

“We were hungry after what happened to us last year. Our goal was to get back here and finish the job,” Cedar Grove coach Nikki Velardi said. “But our work isn’t done yet. We still have the group tournament to play.”

What it means

Cedar Grove is a sectional champion for the first time in four years after winning three straight titles from 2017-2019.

The Panthers will begin their quest for a third Group 1 title starting Tuesday against Weehawken in the state semifinal round. Cedar Grove last claimed group championships in 2017 and 2019.

Cedar Grove extended its win streak to 18 straight. Its last loss came against Mount St. Dominic, a 3-1 setback on April 21.

Emerson (25-4) closed out a successful campaign, reaching a state sectional final for the second time in three years. It also marked the third straight season the Cavos won 20 or more games. This season’s 25-win total is the most since going 23-4 in 2017. Over the last three years, the Bergen County school is 67-13.

Big inning

Cedar Grove broke out the bats early with a five-run first inning and never looked back.

Leadoff batter Gabriella Florre reached base on an error and scored the Panthers first run on a Kavakich RBI single two batters later.

Gia Fernandez followed with a single before Marina Bryant cleared the bases with a two-run RBI triple to make it 3-0.

Madison Lemongello then doubled to drive in Bryant and Daniella D’Angelo singled on a fly ball to center field to make it 5-0.

They said it

“I thought this game was going to be close. But we came out strong the same way we’ve been doing it since the county tournament. We kept it going. My job is to get on base and once that happens, I know I’m going to score.” – Florre.

“I stress our history and tradition to the girls every year. We have a championship mindset and the culture is great. We prepared all week for this game. The big thing about this team is grit. We have grit and they’re hungry to win.” – Velardi.

At the highest level of any bat-and-ball sport, taking advantage of your opponent’s mistakes can be the difference between moving on and seeing your season end.

Complete Box Score »

Cashing in sure made the difference for Cedar Grove on Tuesday.

Scoring two unearned runs and achieving a rare feat in the form of an inside the park home run, Cedar Grove – No. 6 in the NJ.com Top 20 – notched a 3-1 victory over Weehawken in Group 1 semifinal action at Weehawken’s scenic Waterfront Park.

Seeking its first state title since 2019, Cedar Grove (26-3) will take on defending Group 1 winner Clayton in Saturday’s title game at Kean University. Weehawken, the Hudson County champion which won the school’s first back-to-back sectional titles in any sport since 1955 this year, finished a highly successful season at 26-3.

The victory was a bit of revenge for Cedar Grove, which fell 2-1 to Weehawken on its home field last year in the Section 2, Group 1 final. The two squads were in different sections this year with Cedar Grove landing in Section 1, and both ran into each other anyway.

“We always preach that we want to put the ball in play, because good things usually happen when you do,” said Panthers coach Nikki Velardi. “Savanna (McHale, the standout pitcher for Weehawken) is an awesome pitcher and we knew our opportunities would be limited. We took advantage of them.”

The go-ahead blow came in the top half of the third in a 1-1 game.

Cedar Grove leadoff batter Gabrielle Florre got up there with two outs, fell behind in the count, but reversed the tables by roping a slicing ball down the third base line.

Weehawken’s left-fielder fully extended to try and make a diving grab, but the ball got past and skipped all the way to the wall, allowing the speedster Florre to cross home plate standing and give the Panthers the lead again.

“I was running as hard as I could, but when I saw Coach Pete (Velardi, Nikki’s father and Panthers assistant) waving me home as hard as he could, I knew I was going to score,” said Florre.

But it was Weehawken would draw first blood in the bottom of the first.

Katherine Thompson was struck by a Kayce Kavakich offering with one out to get on and took second shortly after on a wayward pitch.

Weehawken catcher Envey Duran – one of the more promising sophomores in the state – then came up with a line drive single up the middle to score Thompson and put the Indians ahead 1-0.

But Kavakich, who struck out 14 and only allowed one other hit in the game, settled in well and wound up striking out 14 batters, including the side on two different occasions.

Cedar Grove would respond quickly and level things up at 1-1 in the second. The rally started when Marina Bryant doubled to deep left-center with one out. Then, disaster struck the Indians when a dropped routine fly ball allowed Bryant to reach third.

Daniella D’Angelo made Weehawken pay by launching a fly ball to center field to score Bryant, charging an unearned run to McHale’s ledger.

Cedar Grove would tack on an insurance run in the fifth, when catcher Ava Oeckel singled in Isabella Stolz with two outs. Stolz reached base on another fielding mishap in the outfield that cost Weehawken dearly.

“We didn’t play our best today, and when you make mistakes against a great team like (Cedar Grove), they’re going to score,” lamented Weehawken coach Raquel Roder. “But this team is still very young, seven starters are back, and to only lose 3-1 despite that shows how close we are right now.”

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