HS Football: Wood-Ridge Defense Shuts Down Spotswood, 24-10

WOOD-RIDGE, NJ – Wood-Ridge kicked off the new season with a 24-10 victory over Spotswood in an independent high school football game on Thursday night at Donna Ricker Field.  After a low-scoring first half, Wood-Ridge scored three touchdowns in the second half to pull away with the win.

Spotswood looked like they were going to move the ball at ease on their first drive, as their first three offensive plays were runs, with Jony Lopez running for nine yards, Sebastian Saracino running for 13 and quarterback Se’mir Tolbert-Brimage rushing for six yards on the first three plays.  But after the Chargers broke into Wood-Ridge territory two plays later, the Wood-Ridge defense stiffened, forcing a punt.

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In fact, the Spotwood offense after that initial burst was held quiet.  For the most part, so was the Wood-Ridge offense, which only came to life late in the second quarter.

Ben Lopez ripped off a pair of runs, going 26 and 15 yards to push the ball deep into Spotswood territory.  On first and goal at the seven-yard line, Lopez ran for five more yards, but the Blue Devils were penalized after the play, pushing them back to the 17.  A reverse cost the Blue Devils three more yards, and an incomplete pass on fourth down ended the scoring threat with 2:30 remaining in the half.

With a chance for a last minute scoring drive, Spotwood pressed on offense. On second and eight, Tolbert-Brimage completed an out-pass to Vinny Young, but the Spotswood receiver fumbled the ball, giving Wood-Ridge the ball at the 20-yard line.   On fourth and two, the Blue Devils went for the field goal and Matthew Maccihia hit from 31 yards to give the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead to take into halftime.

Spotswood got on the ball early in the third quarter, after the Charger defense recovered a fumble.  Tolbert-Brimage carried twice, once for 12 yards, and scored on a 32-yard run on the next play to put Spotswood in the lead.

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After Spotswood kicked off out of bounds, the Blue Devils drove to midfield, but were stopped, setting up fourth and seven at the 50-yard line.  Wood-Ridge ran a fake out of punt formation, with Lopez hitting Nick Scalera for a 50-yard catch and run, thrusting Wood-Ridge back into the lead at 10-7.

After a three-and-out by the Spotswood offense, Wood-Ridge took control of the game, as quarterback Chris Rios scampered 56 yards for a touchdown, to put the Blue Devils up 17-7 late in the third quarter.

Spotswood attempted to come back, as Tolbert-Brimage hit Young for a 29 yard pass down the middle of the Blue Devils defense to put the Chargers in scoring position.  But the Blue Devils defense held, forcing Gavin Pereria to kick a 35-yard field goal to make the score 17-10.

Wood-Ridge bounced back, taking advantage of a Charger penalty while they were trying to churn time off the clock.  Following a personal foul call that pushed the ball inside the 25, Rios hit Jaydin punt with a 20 yard pass for the clinching score, at 24-10, following Macchia’s extra point with 4:41 remaining.

Spotswood tried a late rally, but freshman defensive back Nicholas Prato picked up his second pass of the game to seal the victory.

“I feel great," said Wood-Ridge head coach Joe Cutrona. “Our kids played tough. They are a big team, we saw the out there but we preach toughness.  We made some mistakes, but we were able to bounce back from the mistakes based on the kids, staying at it, staying at what we preached”

Cutrona, when asked about the fake punt that gave the Blue Devils the lead, admitted that he put that play in Wednesday at practice.

“I realized yesterday we did not have a punt fake so we put that in,” said Cutrona. “It is the same play we ran against Butler in the state playoffs two years ago, but the receiver wasn’t able to hang on to the ball. Today, we made the play. “

Cutrona addressed his next opponent, Weehawken, which returns to the Patriot Division after winning the Union Division the past two years.

“We have work to do, cleaning some stuff up,” Cutrona said. “Weehawken is going to be fired up playing their first Patriot League home game in three years, and they were successful in the Union, winning both years, so we have to be ready.

Weehawken lost its opener to Park Ridge, 7-0 on Thursday evening in Park Ridge.

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