In addition to the Varsity & JV wins last Saturday, Junior Warrior teams of all ages showed their grit, scoring win after win.

WHJW Pee Wee Red 20 – Ridge White 19

(submitted by Chad Harter)

It was a cool and breezy morning at Mountainside Park in Basking Ridge and a pee wee battle was brewing between the Watchung Hills Jr Warriors Pee Wee Red and the Ridge Jr Devils  Pee Wee (White). The Jr Warriors won the toss and took the ball first. On the first play from scrimmage Jake Harter #32 rumbled 42 yards deep into Jr Devil territory. A few plays later, the Jr. Warriors were stopped and turned the ball over on downs. The Jr Devils took advantage of the turnover on downs and in 3 plays marched in for a score taking a 6-0 lead after a failed XP attempt. The Jr Warriors appeared to be marching toward a score of their own after Nick Monty #18 ripped off a 38 yard run to the left and sizable gains by #27 Trevor Bokach with a 19 and 10 yard run of his own. Unfortunately for the Jr. Warriors, they were stifled at the 1 yard line when the Jr Devils #52 caused a fumble that was recovered by the defense. With the Jr. Warriors trailing by 6 and the Jr. Devils ready to drive the Warrior defense was stout, Sean Krug recovered his third fumble of the season on 2nd down and the Warriors were poised to take advantage.

The Warrior offense took the lead on a three play drive that culminated in a TD run by Nick Monty and the XP attempt by Trevor Bokach 7-6 Warriors lead. The Warrior defense held again; although Ridge put together an 8 play drive, they were unable to score.  Until, that is, the Warriors returned to offense and Ridge picked off a pass intended for Cameron Collins from Jake Harter. The Jr Devils took advantage 2 plays later, scoring their 2nd TD of the day and taking a 13-7 lead. The score remained 13-7 at the half.

The second half proved no less exciting. The Jr Devils offense was stalled on the first drive and they were forced to punt. The next Warriors possession was a big one for #27 Trevor Bokach as he ripped off two big runs of 20 and 25 yards – the second leading to a TD that tied the game at 13 after the XP attempt failed.

The Jr Devils second possession proved to be a short one that ended with a 60 yard TD run right up the gut of the Warrior defense. With only approximately 8 minutes left in the game, the Warriors found themselves down 19-13 in a back and forth battle.

Watchung Hill’s second to last possession proved to be the most important of the day, a 9 play drive in which QB Jake Harter hooked up on 2nd and 9 with Christian Gonzalez for a 35 yard pass downfield. Trevor Bokach converted for a 1st down on a 3rd and 4 play with a 15 yard run, putting the Jr Warriors ever so closer to tying or taking the lead once again. After two incomplete passes intended for Christian Gonzalez and Trevor Bokach, as well as a false start penalty, the Warriors found themselves in Ridge territory, behind and facing a big 3rd and 15. QB Jake Harter ran through would be tacklers and through sheer determination, willed himself to a 1st down, inside the Ridge 10 yard line. On the next play, Nick Monty scored his second TD of the day and tied the game at 19 all. Trevor Bokach on the XP attempt would not be denied and put the Warriors ahead by one, 20-19!

With only a few minutes left, the Ridge Jr Devils were forced to punt but the Warriors fumbled on two consecutive plays forcing a three and out. The Jr Devils took the ball and were threatening to turn the tide, but ran out of time after key tackles by Vincent Rizzi, Reilly Jones, Joseph Merklinger, Trevor Bokach and Jake Harter.

Key defensive plays in the game were also made by Christian Gonzalez who recorded his second sack in as many games. 

The Jr Warriors were lead in rushing by #27 Trevor Bokach on 10 for 108 yards 1 TD, #32 Jake Harter 8 for 67, 1 pass completion for 35 yds, and Nick Monty with 2 TD’s and 6 rushes for 64 yards.

The defense was lead by a similar group of names Jake Harter 15 tackles, Trevor Bokach 14 tackles and Christian Gonzalez and Nick Monty both contributed 6 a piece.

Despite the outstanding efforts by the stat leaders the entire Jr Warrior Red team fought through mistakes and never let themselves be taken out of the game mentally. They battled as team to the last whistle.

WHJW Pee Wee Silver 33 – North Hunterdon White 20

(submitted by Phil Keenan)

The Watchung Hills Junior Warriors Peewee Silver used its speed on Saturday to overcome a strong rushing attack from North Hunterdon Peewee White and prevailed to capture their second straight win of the season by a score of 33 to 20. 

Offensively, Silver was led by Jaiden Stowers  who rushed for 3 touchdowns.  Additional TDs were provided by Omari Hennix-Vail and Jared Gardner, who each had scoring runs.  Evan Geprags added 3 more points with extra point conversions – 1 point running and the other 2 with a kick through the uprights (which is worth 2 points via league rules). 

The touchdown runs were aided by solid interior line blocking from Chad Keenan and Jonathan Martins and strong perimeter blocking provided by Kyle Wickey, John Lindeworth and Brendan Vlasak. 

The Silver defense contended with a talented backfield from North Hunterdon and had no answers during the first half of the game surrendering two touchdowns and an extra point.  A half-time adjustment, where 4th grader, Ryan Sarti was moved from outside linebacker to defensive end while Geprags and Hennix-Vail moved to linebacker, helped shut down the North Hunterdon attack. Watchung Hills Silver only allowed one touchdown in the second half on a fourth down broken play, where the North Hunterdon quarterback pitched the ball while being sacked – catching Silver off guard and resulting in a touchdown run.  This was the only blemish in an otherwise stellar second half effort. Defensively, Silver was led by Stowers who had 10 tackles and a forced fumble plus sturdy defensive line play from Martins and Jeffrey Meslow. Watchung Hills Pee Wee Silver will be back in action this Saturday at Basking Ridge at 10 a.m. for their first road test of the season.  Come down and cheer the boys on!

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Additional Junior Warrior Victories from Saturday

WHJW Biddy Red 19 – WHJW Biddy White 0

WHJW Midget White 31 – Bridgewater Midget Red 0

Also, if you are a Junior Warriors’ fan, please support the teams by attending games and by joining the Facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/383192278368863/