By: Darren Cooper, Columnist / Record Sports
RUTHERFORD – And then there were four.
Rutherford became the last team to clinch a spot in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference semifinals behind a dominating defensive effort to shut out Manchester 28-0 Saturday afternoon at Tryon Field.
The victory means the Bulldogs will travel to face New Milford Friday night in one conference semifinal. Hasbrouck Heights will face Wallington in the other.
It will be the first time since 1993 that New Milford and Rutherford have met in the regular season, although the two did meet this year in a pre-season scrimmage.
“It was a pretty good game, but they got the upper hand on us,” said Rutherford senior Vinny Nikolic of the scrimmage. “We have to come together.”
“I think it was 14-0 when we pulled the starters out,” remembered Bulldogs coach Andy Howell. “They know what we do and they did some things to counter that. Bill [Wilde] is a great coach. He knows what we run and he’ll be ready for us. He’ll have his kids ready. I just hope our kids are a little more prepared.”
The Bulldogs (6-0) certainly were prepared for the Falcons (5-1). Manchester had crafted one of the best stories in North Jersey football this fall, after years of struggles, they had gotten to this point, basically a play-in game to reach the NJIC semifinals.
But the Falcons ran into a brick wall. Manchester had just four first downs, two by penalty. Its deepest drive was the Bulldogs 43.
“I thought defensively we were lights out from start to finish, minus two or three plays,” said Howell, who has now guided the Bulldogs to three straight NJIC Colonial Division crowns. “Offensively, we improved each series and we only punted once. When you only punt once, you’re doing something right.”
Manchester only totaled 69 yards on the ground and completed five passes. Howell said the Bulldogs did different things to try to keep the Falcons speed in check.
“It depended on what formation they were in, there were times we wanted to spill [the runner] to our defensive backs to run it down, and other times, we try to box them in and force the ball back inside,” Howell said. “I would say for the most part, we executed our assignments.”
The Bulldogs offense got a huge lift from the play of senior Rich Marques. The transfer from St. Mary lined up at quarterback, running back and wide receiver Saturday and had 144 total yards.
“I’ll do anything they ask me to do,” said Marques. “Just as long as we get the win and keep going.”
Rutherford converted on a big fourth-and-15 play on their second drive with quarterback Kyle Russell finding Marques on a fade. On the next play, Marques raced in.
Russell and Marques combined again on the touchdown to make it 14-0, this time, Russell firing a pass to Marques in the back of the end zone, with Marques making a leaping grab.
“Kyle gave me a heck of a ball,” said Marques. “He couldn’t have placed it any better and I made the catch. It was the perfect play.”
Marques would help set up the Bulldogs third touchdown with his arm, connecting on a 41-yard pass to Joe Ivanovic to the Falcons two. Marques would score on the next play, but limp off as he got an ugly looking cramp in his leg.
“As soon as I landed in the end zone I felt it,” smiled Marques. “It was worth it, but it definitely hurt a little bit.”
The game was not pretty by any means. Early on, Manchester lost senior Jeremiah Williams to an arm injury. He was stretchered off. And it seemed like we couldn’t go three straight plays without a penalty and a conference by the officials.
But the Bulldogs seemed to like it that way. They take pride in practicing on a muddy grass field near the river, and remember Nikolic’s helmet? How did it get that way?
“Just nailing people honestly,” Nikolic said with a smile. “Honestly, that’s all there is to it.”
Last year, Rutherford lost to Pompton Lakes in the NJIC semifinals. They won’t be the favorite against New Milford, but they aren’t going to back down either.
“New Milford is a serious team,” said Marques. “They have a great quarterback and a great tight end and some good wide receivers. It will be a challenge to stop them, but I think we have gotten better and better and we’re up for it.”
