Dukes Cheer
On Saturday, the Dukes Jr. Pee Wee and Jr. Varsity Cheer teams competed and the Mighty Mite Cheer team exhibited at the NJ Garden State Cheer Competition at the Cure Arena in Trenton.
Both the Jr. Pee Wee and Jr. Varsity teams were crowned the NJ State Pop Warner Champions. Both teams will be headed to their Regional Competition in November with the hopes to qualify for Pop Warner Nations in Disney World the first week in December.
Jr. Pee Wee Football
Sunday, the Hillsborough Dukes went up against the Metuchen Bulldogs in the hopes to walk away with the Jersey Valley Conference Championship – and we did just that.
The second offensive play of the game, Quinn Hayden ran for a touchdown of 50 yards and later had a second touchdown of 10 yards. Logan McDermid also helped with two touchdown runs of 30 and 40 yards. To top it off, Kevin Jones had a 50-yard reverse putting the Dukes up 32-6. We had strong, powerful runs which were led by William “Bubba” Hayse. He helped set up several of the touchdown runs.
Defensive standouts were Joshua Malek and Jason Strachan. Josh who put pressure on the quarterback, had two sacks, and several key tackles. Jason on 4th and 2 made the tackle on the running back before he gained the first down.
Bubba Hayse, Quinn Hayden, Logan McDermid, and Kevin Jones had strong defensive performances which led to a victory of 32-13.
Next week, The Hillsborough Dukes Junior Pee Wee team will advance to the Regional Playoff Game against Asbury Park in Asbury Park.
Pee Wee Football
The Hillsborough Dukes Pee Wee Football team took the field on Sunday morning competing for the JVC Conference Championship against the Metuchen Bulldogs. The visiting Bulldogs were looking to avenge an early season loss and the game would prove to be tight once again. As both teams moved the ball, neither team could find the end zone in the first half. But the Dukes came out of the halftime and drove down the field behind offensive lineman Victor Nedeski, Jake Susan, and Julian Brunell and used big runs from Peter Sorbera and Dylan Downey into the red zone. But on 4th and goal, it was Cole Hayden connecting with Peter Sorbera for a 5-yard passing strike to put the Dukes on the scoreboard with a 6-0 lead.
Metuchen fought back hard, but strong play by the defense suffocated the Bulldog attack led by JB McCrea, Peter Sorbera, Dylan Downey, Tyler Oram, James Grohe, Cole Hayden, Jamel Powell, Alex Wildgoose, Luc Vanraes, and Heath Miller.
The Dukes now move onto the first round of Regional Playoffs next Saturday. Best of luck to the Pee Wee Dukes team!
Jr. Varsity Football
Sunday afternoon the Hillsborough Dukes Junior Varsity football team claimed the Jersey Valley Conference Championship at home with a decisive 33-6 win over the Port Reading Golden Saints. Having given up just three touchdowns during the past four games leading up to the conference title match, the Dukes defense continued its scourge with veterans Luke Scott, Billy Meszaros and Chris Spinelli leading the team in tackles and cornerbacks Jackson Roberts and Antoine Hinton Jr. trammelling any passing attempts by the Golden Saints. Logan Press also contributed with a fumble recovery during the third quarter.
Offensively, the Dukes vanquished Port Reading with a varied ground and air attach, the latter of which included quarterback Michael Schmelzer completing touchdowns to wide receiver Jack O’Donnell and tightend Kyle Kolans. Sophomore sensation Jackson Roberts also contributed to the scoring effort with an electric 54 yard touchdown run down the home sideline and quarterback Jack Moran also found Zion Harrison for a 47 yard touchdown to given the Dukes a 27-0 lead at half. Not wanting the scoring blitz to cease, Luke Scott also added a 19-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give the Dukes their final score in the rout.
The win secures the Dukes Junior Varsity team an invitation to the Eastern Region Pop Warner Football Championship, with first round action to begin this Sunday, November 4 when the Dukes battle the Jersey Shore champ in Manville.