Old Tappan football dominates rematch with West Essex, wins sectional title

OLD TAPPAN − Old Tappan claimed its second football sectional championship in three years, and fifth overall, with a 41-13 win over West Essex in Friday’s North 2, Group 3 final.

"You need some good breaks and we got some tonight," head coach Brian Dunn said. "We have had our share of bad breaks along the way. It's not easy but we will enjoy this one."

West Essex opened the scoring with a seven-play drive capped by a 35-yard touchdown run by Max Garcia to take a 7-0 lead. Old Tappan responded with a touchdown drive of its own, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run for Alex Orecchio, whose extra point tied the game with 6:01 left in the first quarter.

Nine seconds later, Old Tappan scored again. After recovering a kickoff, Nick Rossi’s 38 yard touchdown run gave the Golden Knights a lead they never let go.

Later in the first, Zach Miceli floated a pass to Orecchio, who ran for an 81-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead after one quarter. Orecchio connected on a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter, along with a 4-yard touchdown run for a 31-7 halftime lead.

"Coaches called good plays like always, the defense got the ball and our playmakers made plays," Miceli said. "It was electric on our sidelines."

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Miceli added an 8-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, followed by a 32-yard field goal for Orecchio in the fourth quarter.

Anthony Drago’s 25 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter ended a string of 41 straight points for the Golden Knights. A two point try was unsuccessful.

What it means

Alex Orecchio was the quarterback for Old Tappan during last season's sectional final. Late in last season's sectional final against West Morris, a pass by Orecchio was intercepted amid controversy and ended the season on a sour note. Orecchio is no longer the quarterback for the Golden Knights, but seemingly still does it all for Old Tappan with two rushing touchdowns, a receiving touchdown, two field goals and five extra points on Friday.

"Our senior class has made it to three sectional finals," Orecchio said. "We were 1-1 and wanted to remain positive. Coming out here and being able to say we won this game is a great feeling."

Nick Rossi also played a big part of that sectional final loss and hasn't forgotten what the loss last season meant for the program.

"I think we took the game too lightly last season and we let it slip away," Rossi said. "This week we looked at it as the hardest game we would play and it was. We practiced hard all week and we played really well tonight because of that."

Key play

The play that turned the momentum for Old Tappan came halfway through the first quarter. Following a touchdown that tied the game at seven, the ensuing kickoff fell into an area that West Essex was not prepared for. A pooch kick off the foot of Orecchio hit the ground near the Old Tappan sideline and was recovered by the Golden Knights.

"We wanted to keep the pressure up," Orecchio said. "We were lucky enough to get it and then we just did what we do best, which is run physical and get into the end zone again."

Rossi's touchdown run came on the next play to put Old Tappan in the lead for good.

"No better feeling," Rossi said. "It's the best feeling by far."

They said it

"I get to play football another week. That's the main thing. I get to play the game I love with the guys I love. There's no better feeling." - Orecchio.

"I'm filled with a lot of emotions right now, but excitement is the number one right now. I'm full of juice right now. I have to celebrate a little bit to get some of this energy out." - Rossi.

Up next

Old Tappan (10-1) eliminated West Essex Friday and handed the Knights two of their three losses for the season, also defeating them in Week 0. Now the Golden Knights get another rematch next week, facing Pascack Valley (10-1) in the Group 3 semifinal. The Panthers handed Old Tappan its only loss of the season with a 27-21 win on Oct. 25.

West Essex finishes the season 8-3.