Football: West Essex Shuts Out Nutley, 28-0, for Fourth Consecutive Win

NORTH CALDWELL, NJ -- Although final score might suggest that West Essex had a fairly easy time in its 28-0 football victory over Nutley in the rain Saturday afternoon, things could have been a lot different if a gamble by coach Chris Benacquista at the end of the first half hadn't succeeded so perfectly.

West Essex was clinging to a 7-0 lead in the closing seconds of the second quarter, facing a fourth down and 10 to go on the Nutley 12-yard line with five seconds left.

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Instead of sending out sophomore kicker Robert Warmington to attempt a 29-yard field goal that would have been well within his range on a normal day, and would have given the Knights a 10-0 halftime lead, Benacquista wanted more. So he sent the offense back out on the field for the final play of the half. It turned out to be the most spectacular play of the day.

Quarterback Jake Long rolled out to his right, with Nutley applying a substantial pass rush. But Long got a pass away and found junior wideout Justin Perini in the right corner of the end zone. Perini went up for the ball, somehow kept his grip on the football after catching it, and somehow kept a foot inbounds in the back corner, for a 12-yard touchdown as time expired. Warmington then did come on to kick the extra point that gave West Essex a 14-0 halftime lead, secure in the knowledge that they'd also be receiving the second-half kickoff.

"I like the way our passing game has been coming along, Jake Long has been running the offense well, and the weather also played a role (in my decision)," Benacquista said of the choice to go for the touchdown. "I knew we wanted a big play to end the first half. Perini has come a long way. Last year, teams were able to bracket (wideout) Anthony Drago, but when you add Justin into the mix with the way he's come along, defenses aren't able to just do that now."

It was the second touchdown of the season for Perini, who caught three passes for 27 yards on a day when West Essex stuck mostly to the ground in its textbook Wing-T offense.

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With members of West Essex' 2004 Group 2 sectional championship team on hand to celebrate their 20th anniversary, this year's Knights posted their first shutout of the season (after allowing just one touchdown in a 40-7 win over Lakeland last week). The 2004 West Essex team held 10 of 12 opponents to a touchdown or less.

"I love shutouts," Benacquista told his team after the game. Later, he said, "Our defense is always something that this team prides itself on."

West Essex (4-1), which has now won four games in a row, held Nutley (2-3) to 54 yards of total offense, with 40 of those yards coming on one pass play midway through the third quarter. The efforts of linemen Michael Brier and Dylan Fiore, DBs Drago and Nick Sangillo and linebackers Brady Phillips and Mikey Cerisano helped spur the Knights' dominant defensive effort.

The Knights had taken a 7-0 lead with 10:20 to go in the second quarter, when Sangillo, at halfback, capped a 14-play, 80-yard drive with a 5-yard run and Warmington added the extra point. There were no gains of longer than 10 yards on that drive, but there were three of those -- a 10-yard run by Michael Lozito, a 10-yard pass from Long to Drago and a 10-yard run by Max Garcia to the Nutley 9-yard line two plays preceding Sangillo's touchdown.

After Perini's half-ending TD catch, West Essex took the second-half kickoff and marched 63 yards in eight plays to score on a 2-yard run by Lozito. Two plays earlier, Long had given West Essex a first down on the Nutley 3-yard line with a 14-yard run. After Warmington's third PAT, the Knighs led, 21-0, with 7:15 to go in the third quarter.

Nutley penetrated to the West Essex 14-yard line on its next possession, but the Raiders surrendered the ball on downs. Then, Nutley got to the Knights' 25 on its next possession before Sangillo recovered a fumble to give the ball back to West Essex.

That ignited an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped by Sangillo's 2-yard TD run with 5:12 left in the game.

"We haven't been running the ball consistently before today," Benacquista said. "We like to spread the ball out (among several ball carriers), and they all block for each other. Our offensive line played very well today."

Four Knights rushed for between 41 and 65 yards apiece. Unofficially, Lozito had 65 yards on 14 carries, Garcia 61 yards on 10 carries, Sangillo 42 yards on 13 carries, and Long 41 yards on eight carries. Not counting losses on sacks (pass plays), Long had six carries for 51 yards.

West Essex now heads into the toughest portion of its schedule, with road games against Passaic Valley and Hanover Park (with a bye week in between), and a home game against Morris Knolls. Those three teams have a combined record of 11-1 this season. But West Essex is the defending North Jersey, Group 3 champion.

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