Cedar Grove 33 Hasbrouck Heights 7 

September 18, 2026

Cedar Grove was led by its defense, and the offense was close behind, beating Hasbrouck Heights, 33-7, in a game that ended on a running clock.   

First Quarter: Cedar Grove’s opening drive ended when Jake Britton intercepted on the 50-yard line. Hasbrouck Heights was forced to punt, and Cedar Grove took over on its own 6. Little happened until late in the quarter when Jack Velonas intercepted for Cedar Grove on their 28-yard line. 

Second Quarter: Cedar Grove moved the ball to the Heights 31, with no play gaining more than 7 yards. Daniel LaStella hooked up with Velonas down the left sideline, when he was tackled on the 1. Two plays later, LaStella scored and the Panthers were up 7-0. Heights picked up two first downs, but had to punt, and Velonas returned it 60 yards for the score with 3:22 left. 

Third Quarter: Cedar Grove took over after forcing a Heights punt on the Heights 43. The Panthers picked up a first down and LaStella found Chris Miller down the right hashmarks for a 26-yard touchdown. Their next possession began on their 45, and on the second play, LaStella found an open Velonas down the middle for a 52-yard touchdown. Their next drive started on the Heights 41 and ended with a 15-yard touchdown to Miller in the right corner of the end zone, which put the game on a running clock. 

Fourth Quarter: The Heights offense finally produced a big play when Luke Ferraro found Mike Colaneri on a flat pass to the right sideline, and went 54 yards to the 14, and the Aviators scored on a 1-yard run by Nick Haines with six minutes remaining. Cedar Grove proceeded to run out the clock on the following drive. 

Comments: Cedar Grove played well on both sides of the ball. Their defense was stingy, not allowing Heights much room to run. The Panthers allowed only 84 yards of offense and three first downs, prior to the final drive for Heights, which they scored on. The front seven of ends John Policano and Evan Skabich, nose guard Bryce Kent, outside linebackers Andrew Sodano and Alex Zajack, and inside linebackers James Policano and Dane Catanzarite were the focal point of the defense. They pursued very well, sideline to sideline. On offense, LaStella completed 10 of 15 for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns, with a perfect second half completing 5 of 5. The offense showed balance with 167 yards passing and 152 rushing. 

For Heights, it was a tough night. Their defense played well in the first half, but Cedar Grove struck hard in the second. On offense, Haines ran hard and earned his yards, gaining 78 and a touchdown on 22 carries, but the Aviators had difficulty sustaining drives until the final one when the game was on a running clock.