From NorthJersey.com / EAST RUTHERFORD — Park Ridge stuck to its game plan and the result was a win in the final minutes.
The Owls executed a two-tier strategy in their championship contest against Boonton on Saturday and rewrote history in the process, topping the Morris County school 28-21 in the North Group 1 regional title game at MetLife Stadium.
Senior Vincent Pinto engineered a late fourth quarter drive as the dual threat quarterback connected with running back Justin Wagner on a 36-yard touchdown pass with 1:38 left in the game to break a 21-21 tie.
“We knew we had a lot of time and we didn’t want to go crazy right away. We had great play calling and on that last play I felt confident throwing the ball because I knew he [Wagner] was going to make the play. He had one or two steps on him and I just threw it and he [Wagner] made the play. That play is designed for him, but it hasn’t been a game-breaker for us this year. But it turned out great for us today.”
Park Ridge’s first priority was to stop Boonton’s vaunted triple option attack, an offense that has produced more than 5,000 yards in 12 games.
The Owls second plan was to monopolize the clock and put the ball in the hands of Pinto and Wagner, who have combined for more than 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Ultimately, both plans were carried out successfully.
Park Ridge (11-1) jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead on short touchdown runs by Pinto.
But Boonton scored 21 unanswered points, starting with a 13-yard touchdown run by Corey Dempster in the second quarter with 6:56 left in the first half. Boonton’s first score was set up moments after Park Ridge fumbled a punt at the Owls 21-yard line.
Boonton (9-4) pulled within seven points midway through the third quarter when quarterback Danny Portas scored on a 1-yard keeper. Seven minutes later, the Bombers took their first lead of the game at 21-14 when Portas connected with receiver Michael Kreitz on a 77-yard catch and run early in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been down before and never once did we ever think we couldn’t come back,” Pinto said. “We trust our coaches and our players. We have athletes and we just go out there and play our hardest no matter what.”
Park Ridge would tie the score at 21 when Pinto raced 63 yards down the middle of the field on a keeper with 10:07 left to play.
“It’s so real. No one in Park Ridge history has done this before,” Pinto said. “I’ve been playing with these guys since fourth grade and it’s just amazing to celebrate with them.
What it means
Park Ridge is the North Group 1 regional champion for the first time ever.
The Owls finish 2019 with 11 wins, the most in a season in school history.
Key play
With the score tied at 21 with 6:14 left to play, Boonton was driving and faced a fourth-and-3 at the Park Ridge 28. The Owls defense came up big when sophomore safety Kyle Bratcher filled the gap and stopped Boonton short of the first down.
The stop gave Park Ridge the ball, which eventually led to the game-winning drive.
By the numbers
► Pinto rushed for 222 yards on 29 carries and three touchdowns and was 10 of 16 passing for 144 yards and 1 TD. Pinto had scoring runs of 10, 1 and 63 yards.
► Wagner had 8 receptions for 129 yards and 1 TD and had 48 yards rushing on 10 carries.
► Dempster rushed for 101 yards on 14 carries and 1 TD.
► Danny Portas was 4 of 9 passing for 125 yards and 1 TD and scored on a 1 yard run in the third quarter.
► Park Ridge had 400 yards of total offense, compared to Boonton’s 302 yards.
Did you know
This was the second-ever meeting between Park Ridge and Boonton. The Owls defeated the Bombers 48-26 in last season’s NJSIAA North 1 Group 1 semifinals.
In the first meeting, Pinto ran for six touchdowns.
They said it
“This is tremendous. We’ve done a lot with this team the last two years. We have a great group of kids and seniors and hats off to them. They battle and fight every single day at practice and today it showed. They [Boonton] broke a couple of big plays, but other than that we did a great job against their offense.” – Park Ridge coach Tom Curry, Jr.
“What I love about this team is no matter what there are other guys on this team that are there to pick each other up when we’re down. Some days we don’t even have enough guys to practice on two sides of the ball. Coaches will have to come in and fill in at that position. The sense of camaraderie we have is just unbelievable.” – Justin Wagner.
