Pascack Valley 21 Westwood 7 

Pascack Valley jumped out to a 14-0 lead and scored late to beat Westwood, 21-7, in a battle of next-door neighbors. There weren’t many big, flashy plays, just hard-nosed defense from both teams. 

First Quarter: After a Westwood punt, Pascack Valley took possession on their 45. A Westwood penalty brought the ball to the 40 and a 10-yard pass from Adam Shaw to Ashton Kazinci to the 30. Nine plays later the (Indians) got on the board on a 4-yard pass to Kai Smith for a 7-0 lead. A kick return by Eli Tavares brought the ball to the Westwood 45. 11-yard runs by Sean Morrison and Steve Klein advanced the Cardinals to the 32. After another first down, Westwood was in good shape, but Marley Smith intercepted on the 1-yard line and returned it one yard early in the second quarter. 

Second Quarter: The rest of the quarter had possessions ending in punts, a sack, and Pascack Valley taking a knee. 

Third Quarter: It took the first two plays of the half for Valley to extend their lead. A 5-yard run by Kevin Regula was followed by a 63-yard touchdown run down the right sideline by Shaw to make it 14-0.  

Fourth Quarter: Westwood scored one minute into the fourth quarter when Morrison found Michael Rinaldi for a 33-yard touchdown. The score was set up when the Cardinals recovered a fumble on the 50. The teams traded punts, followed by Valley driving eleven plays – all runs – and capped it off with a 9-yard run by Shaw with 1:43 left. 

Comments: The game lacked flashy plays with the teams combining for 111 yards of total offense in the first half. Westwood only had 70 in the second half, but Pascack Valley had 183. PV’s Shaw was involved in all three scores: two running and one passing and his teammates on defense limited their opponent to 132 yards of offense on 44 plays. Valley stayed mostly on the ground and was effective on the last drive.