Over the course of the last three days, Harrison had its backs against the wall during the semifinals and finals of the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Tournament.
The Blue Tide found a way each time to rise above the adversity staring them in their face to win the program’s second NJIC championship in three years. Harrison brought home the gold with an overtime victory in the NJIC final against Leonia on Thursday night at Veterans Park in Edgewater.
Junior Kasandra Rodriguez struck for another game-winning score to lead the Blue Tide to victory, taking an end-around hand off into the end zone to send Harrison to a 12-6 win over Leonia.
It marked Rodriguez’s 11th rushing touchdown of the season and her second game-winning score over the last three games.
“Kasandra (Rodriguez) always comes up in the clutch,” Harrison head coach Dan Nankivell said. “She continues to have a great season.”
Harrison trailed Leonia by a touchdown heading into the second quarter of play.That’s when senior quarterback Talia Sosa threw a touchdown pass to freshman Adama Sowe to tie the game at 6-6 for the Blue Tide.
Sosa engineered a thrilling comeback by Harrison in the semifinals against Secaucus on May 19.. The Blue Tide were staring at a two-touchdown deficit to the Patriots entering the fourth quarter. Sosa, who had missed the last three games with a knee injury, came off the bench and went up to Nankivell to tell him that she was ready to come in to try to light a spark.
“She [Thalia Sosa] said let me go win the game for us,” Nankivell said. “We had nothing else to lose at that point. We needed a spark.”
Nankivell gave Sosa the chance and she delivered. The senior dialed up two touchdown passes to senior Mya De Jesus to help Harrison rally for a 14-12 victory over Secaucus and win the NJIC South Division crown.
Harrison (11-1) has won 28 of its 32 games over the last three seasons under Nankivell, who is a Harrison alum himself.
Helping lead his alma mater’s flag football program to great success over the last few years has meant a lot to Nankivell, and he knows it has for the Harrison community as well.
“This group has the backing of the people in the Harrison community,” Nankivell said. “You can see the pride our team has resonate with people in the community. It’s given them something to hope for.”
Next Up: Harrison advances to the North/Central Tournament.
The tournament features the champion of the Big Central Conference Tournament, the NJIC champion, and the two winners of the Super Football Conference Tournament. The semifinals of the state tournament is scheduled to take place on June 5.
