Old Tappan 35 West Morris 0
November 22, 2025
Old Tappan took advantage of an early turnover, made a big fourth-down stop, and scored on the ensuing drive to jump out to a 14-0 lead, on the way to a 35-0 win. The game went to a running clock late in the third quarter.
First Quarter: On the game’s second play, a West Morris handoff exchange was fumbled, and Shane Small recovered for Old Tappan on the West Morris 25. It took five plays for Old Tappan to score when Christakis Nicolaou scored on the jet sweep, going left before cutting upfield for a 6-yard touchdown. West Morris answered with a nine-minute drive, all on the ground, going sixteen plays, with only one play going 10 yards or more. However, on fourth-and-3 on the 4-yard line, Deacon Frayne’s run went 2 yards, stopped by Ryan Miceli and John Bilali, and Old Tappan took over on their 2-yard line with three seconds left in the quarter.
Second Quarter: Old Tappan went seven plays, scoring on a 38-yard pass down the middle from Zach Miceli to Leo Etter for a 14-0 lead, 1:32 into the quarter. The Golden Knights had five first downs on the drive, including the touchdown. West Morris picked up two first downs on the ground, but was faced with a fourth-and-5 on their 45. Stephen Braccioforte’s attempt at a pass ended with a sack by Damian DuToit that lost 10 yards and gave the ball to the Golden Knights on the 35. Old Tappan went nine plays, scoring on a 9-yard run by Miceli through the middle on fourth-and-goal to make it 21-0 with two minutes left.
Third Quarter: Old Tappan came out with the ball, went 58 yards, and scored on seven plays, another 1-yard run by Miceli. A key play was a 21-yard run by Devin Radoian. After a West Morris punt, Old Tappan took over on their 41. On third-and-6, Miceli raced 43 yards to the 12 and scored two plays later when Miceli found Etter for a 9-yard score. At this point, with 3:32 remaining in the quarter, the game went to a running clock.
Fourth Quarter: Running clock.
Comments: The early turnover was a big factor in the game. But the biggest swing was when West Morris had fourth-and-3 on the 4-yard line and only gained 2 yards, turning it over to Old Tappan, who quickly drove down the field for a touchdown. After that, West Morris was eventually taken out of their game and had to begin passing.
West Morris’ second drive consumed 9:38, and they did everything but make that fourth-down conversion. They converted two fourth-down runs earlier in the drive
The star for Old Tappan was Miceli. He completed 10 of 14 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 85 yards and 2 touchdowns on 7 carries. Radoian ran for 82 yards on 13 carries, while Etter had 5 receptions for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The big question for West Morris going into the game was what if they had to begin throwing? And that is what happened. That is what happens to teams that run most of the time. And it rarely results in a win. They are a top team and they run their system very well, as well as it can be run. But a couple of bad breaks put them in a hole they could not get out of.