West Essex 14 Passaic Valley 0 

October 6, 2024

West Essex did their scoring in the first half en route to a 14-0 win over Passaic Valley. Big plays by Anthony Drago set up one touchdown and scored on the other. 

First Quarter: Drago intercepted on the game’s first play at midfield and returned the ball to the 1-yard line. Michael Lozito scored on the following play for a 7-0 West Essex lead. The teams combined for two first downs the rest of the quarter until Jake Long found Drago downfield on the right sideline, who got the ball over the defender’s effort, juked another and ran into the end zone for the touchdown with seventeen seconds left in the quarter. 

Second Quarter: Passaic Valley threatened early in the quarter when Nicky Huliev went 27 yards down the left sideline for a first-and-goal on the 8. But the Hornets could not do more and turned the ball over on downs. They had two more chances well into West Essex territory, but Max Garcia intercepted to end one threat and the Hornets ran out of time when the half ended. 

Third Quarter: Passaic Valley took possession on the West Essex 45 after the Knights punted. The Hornets picked up two first downs, getting as far as the 18, but a loss of yardage on one pass and a penalty moved them back and turned it over on downs. Once again, West Essex punted and PV took possession on the West Essex 48. Runs by Huliev and completion to Dante Benvenuti brought the ball to the 16. And once again, Passaic Valley was stopped by another Garcia interception.  

Fourth Quarter: After picking up a first down, West Essex punted and on their following possession were intercepted by PV’s Marc Meola, giving the Hornets the ball on West Essex’s 44 with five minutes left. A Brady Phillips sack on fourth down ended that threat. 

Comments: Two big plays by Drago were the difference in the game: his opening drive interception and return to the 1-yard line set up the first score and his 81-yard touchdown reception were all the points the Knights needed. The defense kept PV out of the end zone and Garcia’s two interceptions were big. I have seen West Essex five times in the last two years and Garcia always comes through with plays. Any public school team would love to have him; numerous North Jersey Catholics could use him, too. However, the Knights only had 145 years of total offense – 81 of them on the Drago touchdown reception – and that needs to improve the rest of the way. They also had six first downs in the game: two of them touchdowns. 

Passaic Valley did a good job, defensively, yielding the 145 yards as mentioned earlier and six first downs. Christian Melletta, Meola, and Benvenuti were some of those who turned in top performances. However, they wasted too many opportunities on offense. Five times they made it to or near the red zone: the 1, 22, 15, 21, and 18-yard lines and came away empty. The West Essex defense had something to do with that, but some of those need to produce points. The Hornets also had 145 yards of offense and nine first downs, nearly identical to West Essex. The difference was West Essex produced points and Passaic Valley failed.