Nutley Football Falls To West Essex, 28-0; Boys, Girls Soccer, Girls Volleyball Post Recent Wins

NUTLEY, NJ - The Nutley High football team had done a good job of keeping West Essex in check for most of the opening half in its Saturday afternoon game in North Caldwell. But the Raiders surrendered a second opening half touchdown as time expired at intermission and Nutley ended up dropping a 28-0 decision to West Essex on the road. With the loss, Nutley fell to 2-3 this fall. West Essex, a Group 3 finalist last year, improved to 4-1 this season. Against West Essex, Nutley trailed, 7-0, before the Knights struck for a touchdown on the final play of the half and took a 14-0 lead into the locker room. "The kids played very tough, and the game was a lot closer than the score indicated," began Nutley head coach Chris Helm. "We were our own worst enemy with execution and didn't protect the ball well in bad weather as we dropped passes and fumbled the ball and had a handful of bad snaps. "West Essex did a better job of that, and that's what the difference was." Helm, now in his second season as head coach, was quick to mention the play of Raiders Nick Gallo Santino Cundiff and Jordan Small, who played solid defense against West Essex standout Anthony Drago. Nutley will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday, Oct. 5 when the Raiders travel to take on Millburn (2-2) at 4 p.m. "We are definitely growing as a young program and will bounce back as we learn," said Helm. "The kids fight, and the effort was there which was most important." Here's how the other Nutley teams have fared of late: Boys Soccer The Raiders won their third straight game on Sept. 24 with a 3-2 victory at Belleville. Duke Pilgrim had a goal and an assist and Sammy Buzariushvili and Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi also scored for Nutley, which improved to 3-4. Nutley, which bowed to Irvington at home, 3-1, on Sept. 26, will play host to Science Park on Monday, Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. Girls Volleyball Nutley improved to 6-3 with a 25-14, 25-22 win at Belleville on Friday afternoon. Leading the way for the Lady Raiders were Ava Lage (15 assists, eight service points, three digs, two kills, one ace), Alyssa Fresolone (two digs), Alexa McLaughlin (two digs, one kill), Hannah Pollail (three digs, three service points, one kill, one ace, one assist), Elianna Poplawski (two kills, two digs, one service point), Amanda Scaperotta (nine digs, one assist, eight service points, three aces), Megan Spina (one kill, one dig) and Sydney Tramontana (12 kills, five digs, five service points, five aces). Nutley, winners of six of its last seven matches, will play host to Columbia on Monday, Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. Girls Soccer Brooke Yero had two goals and an assist, Madison Heal also registered two goals, Rosa Harrington added a goal and an assist and Mackenzie Shedd, Isa Harrington and Skylar Florie each added a goal as Nutley powered to an 8-0 victory over Irvington on Sept. 19 in Irvington. Breele Robson (two saves), Sarah Berry, Allyson Roman and Abigail Leahy all combined for the shutout for the Lady Raiders (3-4) who will play at Belleville on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 4 p.m. Girls Tennis The Lady Raiders (2-8) were seeded 11th and scheduled to play at sixth-seeded Randolph in the opening round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 team tournament on Monday, Sept. 30.

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