FOOTBALL: Delaware Valley dominated at Hillside

HILLSIDE – The Delaware Valley High School football team has had a lot of good days this season, winning games behind standout performances and even playing well against good teams in defeat.

Saturday was not one of those days.

The Terriers were dominated on both sides of the ball in a 49-8 loss to Hillside at Woodruff Stadium at Conant Street Park, as the Comets outgained Del Val 347-77 in the first half – including 322-15 on the ground – and 544-224 for the game. Overall, Hillside outgained the Terriers 509-118 running the ball Saturday.

Hillside had its way with the Delaware Valley defense, ripping off huge play after huge play, as four of the Comets’ seven touchdowns came on runs of 76 yards or more, including 81 and 83-yard scoring runs by James Louis, who finished with 10 carries for 218 total yards, a 76-yard touchdown gallop by Brian Ugwu, and a 92-yard TD scamper by Nahree Biggins.

Hillside led 28-0 at halftime, before tallying another touchdown on the third play of the second half on Biggins’ run. Hugo Carrico then kicked the extra point to make it 35-0 – he finished 7-for-7 on PATs – and the Comets activated the running clock that would tick for the duration.

“It was very shocking,” said Delaware Valley head coach Michael Haughey, whose team fell to 3-4 and will likely miss the playoffs. “I didn’t think we played that first half with heart, and that’s what happens. We cannot afford as a team to not be mentally and physically into a football game, or else that is the product of what happens. Really, really talented teams around the state can do that and maybe get away with it, but we cannot. So when we show up and we are not mentally and physically into it, that’s the exact result that happens.”

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But it wasn’t just the Hillside offense that excelled, as Delaware Valley had plenty of issue attacking the Comets’ defense. The Terriers’ troubles began on the game’s first play from scrimmage, as it attempted to run a reverse to Tyler Neal, but the junior lead back was stuffed for a nine-yard loss, a harbinger of the day’s frustration.

“First play, we get into the wrong formation, try and run a trick play we worked on all week, and there’s a total lack of focus,” Haughey said. “And from the start of the game until the end. And I didn’t see that all week, I thought we had a great week of practice. I thought the kids didn’t dwell on (last Friday night’s 23-13) loss to Voorhees, I thought they got back and worked. But I think maybe just the different environment, a Saturday game, and I think all those things got in their heads, and as a mentally tough team, you can’t let that bother you.

“I think if the beginning of the game was different, obviously, it would have been a whole different ballgame. Obviously, they’re a lot faster than us. One broken tackle and they were gone. But tackling is usually our strong point. It all comes back to the fact that I don’t think we were mentally into it, and it showed.”

Delaware Valley quarterback Jared Pershyn was one of the lone bright spots, as the senior completed 12-of-19 passes for 106 yards, adding 12 rushes for 104 yards, including the Terriers lone touchdown. Trailing 49-0, Pershyn piloted a seven-play 63-yard drive in the final minutes of the game, scoring on a hard-fought 13-yard run with 47 seconds remaining, before Joey Beljan ran in the 2-point conversion.

The Terriers entered the week 11th in the Central Group II power point standings, needing to beat Hillside to stay in the playoff hunt, before playing host to Governor Livingston next Friday night. Now, barring a mathematical miracle, Del Val will miss the playoff for the second straight year.

“It’s disappointing,” Haughey said. “I think we’d been playing some great football, with our youth and the kids we have, and I thought we had been doing a fantastic job all year, until today. Today I think we really took a step back as a program. Now we’ve got to take two steps forward.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached at SPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN

DELAWARE VALLEY (3-4) 0-0-0-8 – 8
HILLSIDE (5-2) 7-21-14-7 – 49
SCORING PLAYS:
H – Ugwu 17 run (Carrico kick)
H – Ugwu 76 run (Carrico kick)
H – Irby 7 run (Carrico kick)
H – Louis 81 run (Carrico kick)
H – Biggins 92 run (Carrico kick)
H – Ugwu 23 run (Carrico kick)
H – Louis 83 run (Carrico kick)
DV – Pershyn 13 run (Beljan run)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:
RUSHING: DV—Pershyn 12-104, Neal 13-7, McCarty 1-7, Carney 1-0; H—Louis 10-218, Ugwu 8-149, Biggins 4-98, Willis 2-26, Delva 1-4, Irby 4-20, Okungbowa 1-(-6).
PASSING: DV—Pershyn 12-19-0-0-106; H—Irby 3-4-0-0-35, Melendez 0-3-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: DV—McCarty 5-31, Neal 3-34, Beljan 3-41; H—Amissah 1-10, Willis 1-15, Delva 1-3.