Summit 31 West Essex 28
November 8, 2025
Summit beat West Essex, 31-28, on a 34-yard field goal by Cooper Smoragiewicz as time ran out, in a game where no team had more than a one-touchdown lead.
First Quarter: Summit got on the board with a 57-yard run by Alex Schwark on the game’s third play, breaking through the middle. A 22-yard pass from Matt McKeever to Kieran Zulauf on the previous play set things up. West Essex picked up a first down, but ended up punting. Summit’s Jake Reimold fielded the punt, but as he was shaking off a defender, the ball was stripped and recovered by Rocco Pontrella on the 14-yard line. Four plays later, quarterback Jake Long scored on a 5-yard run through the middle to tie the score. After a beautiful catch by Charlie Garvey for 12 yards, Summit was faced with fourth-and-1 from their 44, but Schwark was stopped behind the line for a 1-yard loss. West Essex ran two plays before Long threw downfield to a wide-open Max Osur, who slipped past the Summit defender for a 42-yard touchdown pass, and West Essex was ahead, 14-7.
Second Quarter: After Summit turned it over on downs, West Essex took over on their 39. A 16-yard run by Michael Lozito brought the ball to the 40 of Summit, but two plays later, Long was stripped of the ball by Ben Cohen, who recovered for Summit on their 38. On the following play, McKeever found Garvey coming across the field, as he ran down the left sideline for 50 yards to the 12-yard line. But three plays later, Anthony Conforti stepped in front of the Summit receiver and intercepted the pass, giving West Essex possession on their 3-yard line. Long found Lozito for 29 yards to the 39, but the Knights ended up punting. McKeever connected with Connor Gawronski, who broke past the West Essex defender down the right sideline for a 53-yard pass to the 3-yard line, and Schwark scored from a yard out two plays later to tie the game at 14-all with three minutes left.
Third Quarter: West Essex came out with the ball and picked up two first downs, but ended up punting. Summit began on their 36, and McKeever ran for 24 yards on the first play for a first down, followed by another one after two runs by Schwark. McKeever completed a pass to Garvey for 26 yards to the 3-yard line, and Smoragiewicz scored on the following play to put the Hilltoppers ahead, 21-14. West Essex punted, and Summit turned it over on downs, and West Essex ended the quarter, starting on their 49.
Fourth Quarter: After Long ran for 17 yards, they picked up another first down on a 9-yard run by Luke Kesack to the 21-yard line. Three plays later, Long found Lozito for an 18-yard touchdown to tie the score at 21. McKeever completed a pass to Will Homes for 21 yards to the West Essex 49 for Summit, and went in front when Schwark ran 37 yards down the right sideline for a score and a 28-21 lead. Nick Dungo took the ensuing kickoff to the Summit 46. Osur took a jet-sweep handoff for 29 yards to the 12-yard line, and the Knights scored when Long ran through the middle on fourth down with five minutes left to tie it at 28-28. Summit got moving when McKeever found Holmes for 27 yards, as he jumped up for the ball and battled the defender. McKeever went 11 yards to the West Essex 42 for another first down. A questionable pass interference penalty gave Summit a first down on the 27, followed by another two plays later to the 17. That set the stage for Schoragiewicz to kick the game-winner.
Comments: Summit had a well-balanced attack, rushing for 178 yards and passing for 218. Schwark rushed for 112 yards and 3 touchdowns on 12 carries. McKeever completed 8-of-15 for 218 yards and ran for 52 yards on 13 carries. Garvey had 4 receptions for 95 yards. But the star was Smoragiewicz; he had the game-winning field goal, scored a touchdown rushing, and played a stellar game at safety. He kicked the game-winning field goal last week against Warren Hills with seven seconds left, and he is only a sophomore.
West Essex also had a well-balanced attack, rushing for 192 yards and passing for 100. Long had two touchdowns rushing and threw for two more, running for 108 and passing for 100. He was instrumental in all four touchdowns and played a gritty game. The Knights were on a par with Summit, but ran out of time after the winning field goal.
*It should be noted that I saw an identical game when Rutherford beat Hoboken by an identical score, and had a game-winning field goal as time expired.