HHS falls two points short against top seed
By: Rudy Brandl
JACKSON Hillsborough High staged a valiant effort in last Friday night’s Central Jersey Group 4 football playoff game in Jackson. Unfortunately for the Raiders, even their best wasn’t good enough to defeat top-ranked unbeaten Jackson, which survived its toughest test of the season in a 23-21 victory.
The Raiders (5-4) played from behind all night and never caught up to the Jaguars, who scored on the game’s first drive and opened a 13-0 lead on their second possession. HHS rallied and never quit, making some huge plays late in the game to keep the fans on the edge of their seats on the coldest night of the season.
HHS played an inspired game on defense to contain the high-flying Jags and broke open the team’s biggest offensive gainer of the season to extend the drama all the way to the final gun. Jackson had to run out the clock to preserve the lead and send home the upset-minded Raiders.
"They’re a good football team, no doubt about it," HHS head coach Rick Mantz said afterward. "But I respect the hell out of our kids. They didn’t quit. We had a goal line stand, a 99-yard pass. They kept finding ways to stay in the game."
Jackson threatened to extend its lead early in the fourth quarter after moving the ball from its own 39-yard line to a first-and-goal at the Raider three. That’s when the HHS defense, led by the inspired play of linebacker Paul Mychalczuk, made its statement. The Jags had two shots from the 1-yard line but Mychalczuk and Joe Senerchia led the goal line stand and stopped Jon Reggio on third down and Mark Schiavone on fourth down to keep the Raiders within two points.
"Championship teams make goal line stands," Senerchia said. "We knew we had to do it. That’s where we worked the hardest."
The Raiders couldn’t pick up a first down so they were forced to punt from their own end zone and Jackson soon took advantage of the favorable field position. The Jaguars needed only three plays to cover 31 yards and score a touchdown that produced a 23-14 lead with 7:33 to play.
Hillsborough’s next drive stalled at midfield but the defense stopped Jackson on a three-and-out to force a punt. The Jags downed the kick at the 1-yard line, pinning the Raiders within the shadow of their own goal line for the second time in the quarter.
This time, they found a way to escape that dilemma. HHS senior wide receiver Dave Ellis made the biggest play of the season when he juggled a bomb from quarterback Marc Zamarin at midfield, grabbed it between two defenders and outran everyone to the end zone to complete an amazing 99-yard touchdown reception.
"Zam threw the ball where it had to be," Ellis said. "There was no way I was letting that hit the ground."
Troy Cyburt’s third successful PAT made it 23-21, giving the Raiders hope. Jackson recovered the onside kick but HHS still had two timeouts to kill the clock. The Jags picked up two first downs and ran out the clock.
The Raiders absorbed a few early punches from Jackson and were in danger or suffering a blowout loss after the home team bolted to a 13-0 lead. Jackson opened with a 11-play, 65-yard march that used nearly half the first quarter and ended when Jon Reggio bolted in off right tackle from four yards out.
The Jags made it 13-0 when quarterback Corey Lavin heaved a pop fly to the center of the end zone that resulted in a 30-yard scoring toss to Bobby Cole. That play came right after the Jags faked a punt for a 21-yard gain.
HHS clawed back to 13-7 midway through the second period when Chris Jordan broke loose for a 32-yard scoring play. After stopping Jackson twice in the second quarter, the Raiders took a chance and went to the air in the final two minutes to go for the tie and the lead. Zamarin was picked off in HHS territory but the Raiders forced the Jags to settle for a field goal at the end of the half to stay close.
"You have to take your shots," said Mantz, whose team was victimized by a similar situation in a loss at Phillipsburg last month. "We wanted to get something going. It just didn’t work out."
HHS opened the second half with an impressive scoring drive to cut the deficit to 16-14. Six running plays put the Raiders at the Jackson 16 but they were facing a 3rd-and-2 situation. Zamarin found Anthony Visicaro open in the left flat and the senior back outran the secondary to the flag for his team-leading 10th touchdown of the year.
Ellis intercepted Lavin to end a 10-play drive on the next possession, so the Raiders had all kinds of momentum in the late stages of the third quarter. Two dropped passes, including a bomb to Matt Hawzen in Jackson territory, forced the Raiders to punt.
The next Jackson surge ended in Hillsborough’s dramatic goal line stand, but the home team had gained the all-important field position edge. The Raiders still had some late heroics in their arsenal, but they weren’t enough to help the team advance to the semifinal round of the playoffs.
"We had a couple opportunities but we couldn’t cash in," Mantz said. "We made some mistakes, but we didn’t pack it in. The kids made some plays and found a way to stay in it. We’re proud of them."

