Westwood 35 Caldwell 13
September 20, 2024
Westwood jumped out to a 14-0 lead and stayed ahead behind four touchdowns by Steve Klein for a 35-13 win in a battle of New Jersey’s last and first two Group 2 state champions.
First Quarter: Westwood drove 80 yards in eight plays and four first downs, the last a 31-yard touchdown run by Klein. Caldwell looked ready to answer after Nick Mignone ran 26 yards on their first play. But the Chiefs punted when faced with a fourth-and-3 on Westwood’s 47. Klein scored on Westwood’s first play, heading right before cutting left through a hole for a 62-yard run. Caldwell answered them on the third play on the ensuing drive when Mignone went 73 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown. The extra point failed and it was 14-6, Westwood. After picking up two first downs, Sean Morrison dropped back and found Klein on a deep pass, possibly a post, for a 50-yard score and a 21-6 lead with a minute left in the quarter.
Second Quarter: After a Caldwell punt, the Cardinals took over on their 47, picked up two first downs, but turned it over on downs on the 26. Their following drive began on the 50 and had a first-and-goal when Aidan Dugan ran 25 yards to the 2-yard line. Klein scored again on the following play to make it 28-6 with 43 seconds left.
Third Quarter: Caldwell came out with the ball and consecutive passes to Kaelen Harper for gains of 25 and 6 yards brought the ball to the 34. Two plays later, Mike Mignone made a nice grab of a pass and went 33 yards for the score to make it 28-13. A 35-yard pass from Morrison to Eli Alvarez brought the Cardinals to the 30 and an 8-yard pass to Alvarez advanced them to the 14. Dugan went 4 yards to the 5 for a third-and-1, but the Caldwell defense tightened up, not allowing a yard the next two plays, and took over on the 5. The Chiefs went down the field, as Adam Sepe found Mike Mignone for 16 and 10 yards, Nick Mignone for 16, and Santino Russo for 36 for a first-and-goal on the 9. Westwood’s Dario Mathurin sacked Sepe for 10 yards back to the 15 to make it fourth-and-goal. Sepe was forced out of the pocket and Westwood took over on the 12-yard line.
Fourth Quarter: A 59-yard run by Klein brought the ball to the Caldwell 22 and Morrison found Luke Bussanich in the far right corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown to make it 35-13. Sepe found Russo for 25 yards to the Westwood 42 and three more passes advanced the ball to the 17. Caldwell recovered their fumble, but lost six yards on the play, making it second-and-16, a key in turning the ball over on downs with 2:40 left. Westwood ran out the clock at that point.
Comments: Westwood took a big step forward tonight. Their offense was almost unstoppable with their eight drives ending with five touchdowns, one knee, and two drives to the Caldwell 26 and 5. Their offense ran for 318 yards and passed for 147 for 465 yards of offense. Klein was the star with four touchdowns on runs of 31, 62, and 2 yards plus a 50-yard reception. But Dugan cannot be overlooked with 159 yards rushing on 16 carries, with only two being less than 4 yards – those being 2 yards each. Morrison was efficient at quarterback, going 12-of-15 for 147 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 32 yards on six carries. In 38 rushing attempts, only one run lost yardage and only one yard, while three others had no gain. This points to the line, left-to-right, of Mark Minas, Luke Biello, Dante Downey, Charles Sarlo, and Andrew Myles. They made it happen, controlling the ball for 28 minutes.
From a Caldwell perspective, whatever chance they had to get back in the game ended when they could not convert their second drive of the second half into points. They made it 28-13 after the opening second-half drive and held Westwood when they had a first down on the 14. They drive down the field, getting to the Westwood 5-yard line. But that was as far as it got and the Chiefs came away empty-handed. A touchdown could have made it 28-20, changing the game. Eventually, it came down to what I said about Westwood’s offense: almost unstoppable.
That being said, they have some good players. The two Mignone players can play for anyone, except for a loaded Catholic school team – even that is questionable. Nick Mignone, a junior, runs hard and gained 125 yards on the ground and 47 in the air. A defender needs to hit him; tackling may get him run over. His brother Mike, a senior, caught four passes for 63 yards and a touchdown and is a 3-year starter at linebacker on defense. One who stepped out tonight was wide receiver Kaelen Harper with three receptions for 42 yards and his run down the field to catch Dugan on a 59-yard run should be on his highlight film for colleges. Their quarterback was a freshman, Adam Sepe, who appeared to have most of the reps tonight. He has room to grow, but he had his moments tonight. And the player who had some on the sideline talking was Anthony Capaldo who was around the ball at defensive end and he recovered a fumble from his tackle position on offense to keep possession for the Chiefs.
They are 0-3 and I even heard from a couple of fans during the week saying they have something in common with a vacuum cleaner – a point I disagree on. However, they have had Passaic Valley, West Essex, and Westwood on a team that graduated many. They have Wayne Hills, Cedar Grove, and Shabazz in the next three weeks. They can get into the playoffs and be tough for whoever their opponent is.