FOOTBALL

Final score not indicative of St. Joseph's football playoff performance

Greg Tufaro
Courier News and Home News Tribune
St. Joseph's Jordan Davis is the GMC Week 5 Player of the Week.

As he has done following the conclusion of every home game at Brenner Family Field, St. Joseph High School head football coach Rich Hilliard stood with his back to the scoreboard while addressing his players.

The first-year mentor glanced over his shoulder at the final result of Saturday’s Non-Public Group IV final, which Paramus Catholic won 35-7, and astutely noted the outcome does not reflect how well his team played.

“The senior class set the bar high for the rest of our days at St. Joe’s for many years to come,” Hilliard said of St. Joseph’s upperclassmen, who helped the Falcons finish undefeated for a second consecutive regular-season en route to defending their Greater Middlesex Conference White Division title.

“The seniors bought into what we were doing. They established our bend-but-don’t break defense. Our offense got more balanced, throwing the ball and running the ball. I can’t be more proud of a group of seniors that stuck with us. We are going to be St. Joe’s football from now on out. We have a high standard set and we’ll get ready for next year.”

Senior quarterback Paul Cocozziello, who completed 11 of 19 passes for 172 yards despite enduring five sacks in the heat of a fierce pass rush, noted the Falcons return key skill position players such as Nate Wyatt and Jordan Davis and four-fifths of an offensive line that includes John Olmstead, one of the best tackles in the country.

“I have closure,” said Cocozziello, who missed two thirds of last season with a broken leg. “Our team gave everything they got. That’s all I can ask. The score doesn’t reflect our effort. They probably had the best defense I ever played against. You take your hits and you pop up. That’s football. It was definitely a good experience playing them because when I go to college, I’m probably not going to be playing teams that are better than this. I want (the underclassmen) to know that next year I want them to win this game. The best experience they could ever have is playing a team like this.”

The Paladins play in the North Jersey Super Football Conference United Red Division, widely regarded as the state’s toughest division.

Paramus Catholic, which defeated St. Joseph 42-7 in a first-round playoff game last season, scored 22 points in the final 15 minutes on Saturday to pull away.

The three tide-turning touchdowns including an interception return and two scoring drives on which Paramus Catholic’s offensive line asserted its dominance, allowing running backs Xavier Devore and Christian Byrd to take control of the game as the Paladins wore St. Joseph down with their depth. The backfield duo finished with a combined 290 yards on the ground.

Devore broke off a 40-yard scoring run in the first quarter and Byrd had a 63-yard touchdown jaunt in the second quarter to help the Paladins build their 13-6 halftime lead. With the exception of those big gainers, St. Joseph played a solid opening half.

St. Joseph trailed 13-7 with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter when the Paladins blocked Jon Sot’s 42-yard field goal attempt and took possession at their own 34-yard line.

From there, Paramus Catholic went to work, mostly on the ground, riding Devore and Byrd, who combined for 56 rushing yards on a seven-play scoring march that gave Paramus Catholic a 21-7 lead with 15 minutes left.

St. Joseph responded through the air and drove past midfield before Christian Abraham jumped a route to intercept a Cocozziello pass, returning the pick 55 yards to help the Paladins build their advantage to 28-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Undaunted, Cocozziello marched the Falcons downfield yet again on their ensuing possession. He threaded a pass between two defenders to Sot, who made a brilliant catch on a 41-yard reception, only to have the ball stripped from his hands just before he crossed the goal line as the Paladins took over at their own 20 yard line following a touchback after the loose ball rolled out of the end zone.

Fifth-seeded Paramus Catholic (5-5), whose roster does not feature nearly as many two-way players as fourth-seeded St. Joseph (9-1), responded with an 80-yard drive – nine plays, all on the ground – to produce the final margin with under three minutes remaining. The march epitomized the Paladins’ ability to wear down opponents.

“We made a few mistakes and those mistakes didn’t help us at all,” said Davis, whose bone-jarring tackle forced a fumble that Garrett Klurman returned 35 yards to set up Sot’s field goal attempt. “If we didn’t make those mistakes, it would have been a whole different ballgame. (The score) doesn’t reflect how hard we played and all the work we put in this season.”

St. Joseph was limited to a total of two rushing yards including the 31 yards Cocozziello lost on five sacks. Manny Resto finished with 33 rushing yards on 16 carries. Sot had two receptions for 53 yards, Davis caught three passes for 36 yards and Wyatt finished with three catches for 49 yards.

Wyatt made a brilliant over-the-shoulder 38-yard fingertip catch in stride on a ball that Cocozziello slightly overthrew to set up St. Joseph’s lone touchdown, a 1-yard quarterback keeper with 9:23 left in the second quarter.

The Falcons received stellar play on special teams. Sot consistently helped St. Joseph win the field position battle with several booming punts and Ryan Granito made two terrific open-field tackles on Paramus Catholic returns.

Junior linebacker and fullback Brian Reilly served as a key blocker in the backfield, especially on passing downs, and anchored a defense that kept the game close for 33 minutes.

St. Joseph limited opposing quarterback Shelton Applewhite, who entered the contest average 143 passing yards per game, to 42 yards on 4 of 10 passing.

“It’s sad,” Wyatt said of his senior teammates. “This is their last ride. There’s nothing we can really do about it at this point. I’ve got to be more of a leader now. I’m going to be a senior (next season). I’ve got to help these young guys get better so we can come out here and beat (Paramus Catholic) next year.”