Ramapo beat Parsippany Hills, 38-21 in the North Jersey Group 3 final behind the running of Jake Tirone and Charles DePrima.
First Quarter: Shane Campbell fielded the opening kickoff on the 10-yard line and took off before being tackled on the Parsippany Hills 45 to give the Raiders good field position. They took advantage and scored on a 2-yard run by Tirone. Parsippany Hills came right back on three plays, the last being a 47-yard pass from JD Breslauer to EJ Comerford to tie the score at 7. Parsippany Hills had a chance to take the lead, but a fourth down pass was broken up in the end zone by Matt Hoey.
Second Quarter: Ramapo was back in front on a 26-yard field goal by Aidan Labell. Parsippany Hills picked up a couple of first downs, but elected to punt on fourth-and-1 on the Ramapo 48. Ramapo’s next play was a 79-yard touchdown run by DePrima through the middle before cutting right and going down the sideline.
Third Quarter: Parsippany Hills came out with the ball and Breslauer connected with Comerford again on a 53-yard score over the middle. Ramapo answered on the next drive on a second Tirone touchdown, this one a 4-yard run. The score was set up by a 27-yard pass from DePrima to Sean Clapp. Tirone scored his second 4-yard touchdown with one minute left in the quarter and Ramapo had a 31-14 lead. Parsippany Hills came right back, as Breslauer scrambled and found Dennis Wilson in the end zone, as he won a jump ball with a Ramapo defender to make it 31-21 on the last play of the quarter.
Fourth Quarter: Parsippany Hills was driving down the field, but Tirone stepped in for the interception to end their threat. Ramapo scored with two minutes remaining when DePrima went 49 yards for the score on a run nearly identical to his earlier 79-yard score, aided by downfield blocks from Campbell and John Skead.
Summary: Tirone rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns, while DePrima had a 166 and two touchdowns (yardage courtesy of nj.com). DePrima also passed for for 110 yards. They were the two playmakers, with Tirone intercepting a pass to end a Parsippany Hils drive in the fourth quarter.
Breslauer impressed for Parsippany Hills, along with Comerford, as they have been a toip passing combination all year. Another who impressed on both sides of the ball was junior WR/DE Jordan Thompson, a junior at 6-3, 200 and will be playing college football in two years.