Watchung Hills Pop Warner Kicks, Blocks and Tackles During Busy Weekend

Courtesy of Jason Taub

Mitey Mites Gold

The Pop-Warner Watching Hills Wolverines Gold team played the Delaware Valley Dawgs this past Sunday, battling to a score of Delaware Valley 8, Watchung Hills 6.

The Wolverines played exceptionally strong on defense. Will Grabko had three tackles and Dylan Braunstein had two tackles. Other tackles were make by Lorenzo Percario, Brett Christopher, Vincent Lee, Kenny McGolrick and Quentin Tao. Dylan Braunstein had a spectacular fumble recovery in the second half.  Quentin Tao had an amazing interception as well.

On offense, Vincent Lee ran the ball for 74 yards and Riley McCann accumulated 92 yards and scored a touchdown.  John King picked up a few yards for the Wolverines as well.  The final score was Delaware Valley 8, Watchung Hills 6. 

Gold Flag

The Wolverines of Watchung Hills battled the Dawgs of DelVal. The Wolverines put everything together on a day when they scored five times and only allowed one. The offense dominated the line of scrimmage allowing huge runs from the backs. The line was anchored by Timothy Velasquez, Chase Miller, Charles Morreale, William Morreale and Max Phillips. Ryan Johnson had a big day rushing for 95 yards and reaching the end zone three times. Kyle Checchio added 105 yards on the ground and two scores. Jack Clintock and Jayden Fernandez each added 35 yards rushing to the offensive total.

The Wolverines defense was aggressive throughout the game stopping many of the Dawgs runners behind the line of scrimmage. Colin Kolakowski continued to dominate on defense grabbing nine flags on the day. Ryan Johnson and Kyle Checchio were big parts of the defensive effort pulling eight and seven flags respectively. Chase Miller got in on the action pulling five flags while Jayden Fernandez and Jack Clintock each grabbed three. Jackson Acosta finished the day with two flags and Timothy Velasquez pulled one. 

Blue Flag

The Watchung Hills Wolverines took on Washington Rock in an evenly matched contest. The Wolverines offense continued to rack up yards on the ground with their potent running game. Jadon Prinzivalli reached the end zone three times and rushed for 55 yards. Brayden Kelly scored the fourth touchdown of the game and finished the day with 60 yards rushing. Byron McCann scored the tying touchdown late in the game when he took a handoff from quarterback Mason Kelly, lost a shoe in the backfield, and then raced 40 yards for the score.  

Byron finished the day with 75 yards rushing.  

K.J. West rushed for 30 yards on three carries while Gerald Tobia, Perry Weingarten and Mason Kelly each added 20 yards rushing to the offensive total.  Offensive linemen Jack Martin, Kevin Butler and Michael DiNardi won the battle in the trenches opening up huge holes for the running backs.

The Wolverines defense battled a speedy Rock offense, but were able to keep the game tied. Gerald Tobia disrupted the Rock backfield all day long and finished the day with four flags.  Tobia was assisted on the defensive line by Brayden Kelly who pulled six flags and Jack Martin who pulled three. Michael DiNardi and Byron McCann grabbed two flags each while Mason Kelly, Jadon Prinzivalli and Perry Weingarten pulled one. 

Junior Flag

The Watchung Hills Junior Flag team squared off against the DelVal Dawgs that ended in a 4-4 tie. Cameron Kolakowski had a big day on offense rushing for 65 yards on only four carries and scored twice. Charlie Betzner made the most out of his two carries adding 25 yards rushing and one touchdown.  

Maximus "Mad Max" Yaeger reached the end zone on a 10-yard blast up the middle.  Aidan Grochowski rushed for 45 yards on three carries. Every player on the Wolverines ran the ball and contributed to the 200 total yards gained on the day.

The Wolverines defense held their own and were led by Lucas Garcia, Aidan Grochowski and Charlie Betzner with three flags each.  Maximus Yaeger and Cameron Kolakowski pulled two flags each while Kyle Ling and Nicholas Valenti each pulled one.

Watchung Hills Pop Warner 2013 Mitey Mites WPHW v. Washington Rock Raiders 

The Wolverines rushed, tackled and blocked their way to a nail-biting win against the Washington Rock Raiders last Sunday Eight hard-hitting tackles by Dylan Simon, Martin Howell, Elhannan (Ellis) Wilson, Miguel Sauceda, and Scott Drews kept the Raiders from advancing most of the game.  

Dylan Kelly scored all three Wolverines touchdowns, including a 60-yard kickoff return and two runs for 15 and five yards each. Elhannan (Ellis) Wilson rushed for 45 yards and coverted two extra points by diving into the end zone.  

Dylan Kelly sealed the game with an amazing forced fumble and recovery with less than a minute to play, giving the Wolverines their 1st win of the season.

Watchung Hills Pop Warner Junior Pee Wee 

The Watchung Hills Pop Warner Junior Pee Wee team improved to 5-1 on the season with shutout win 25-0 over Delaware Valley at home on Sunday, October 6, 2013. Game captains were Arnav Ramidi, Scott Cunningham, Jack Reale, and Nick Lourenco.

A strange start to the game saw both teams trade interceptions on their first drives. It was Justin Drews who had the takeaway for the home Wolverine squad. On the following possession, LG, Josh Claxton had a great block that sprung Justin Ferreira for a 1st down run. 

Drews carried a few plays later for a Wolverine touchdown as RG, Thomas Johnson had the key block on the play.As the first quarter ended, Jack Valenti made a crushing tackle which caused a Delaware Valley fumble and Claxton quickly grabbed the loose ball for the fumble recovery. 

Early in the second quarter, Bryce Rooks and Justin Drews made a perfect 'down block' which cleared a wide path for Justin Ferreira to reach the end zone. Tyler Piggot and Shane Kelly both had strong runs for the Wolverines. The half came to a close as Jack Reale pressured the Del Val quarterback and forced a poor pass. Ferreira's 'pick 6' on the play made it an 18-0 advantage at the half for Watchung Hills.

There was no scoring for either team in the third quarter but Jack Valenti had an interception and Logan Schiebler made a nice tackle for the Wolverines. The Watchung Hills defense was strong all day and Luke Malfetti had a 'tackle for a loss' early in the 4th period. When Watchung Hills got the ball back, Adam Cardoza, normally the quarterback, took a hand off and raced right down the middle of the field for a 57-yard touchdown run. Jack Reale tacked on the successful extra point conversion and Watchung led 25-0.

The Delaware Valley squad could not move the ball very far at all and turned it over on downs to Watchung Hills as time was running out in the game. The Wolverines probably could have scored again after receiving good field position but elected to display the proper sportsmanship. Jack Reale 'took an knee' on the final two plays of the game allowing the last minute to expire. The win sets up Watchung Hills for a showdown with first place and undefeated Bridgewater next weekend to conclude the regular season.

WHPW Pee Wee team vs. Hudson Valley

The Watchung Hills Pee Wee Wolverines continued their winning ways by defeating the Hudson Valley Knights 8-6 this Sunday. The Knights from Poughkeepsie, N.Y. arrived undefeated and having not been scored upon this season. The team came down to New Jersey to find a game, that is exactly what they got.

The Knights threatened to score on their opening drive and were first and goal from the 3-yard line when a fantastic goal line stand occurred. The defense anchored by the defensive line of Adam “Big Country” Claxton, Matty Colantuono, Matt Drews, Charlie Everhard, and George Rooks held the knight offense on first down.  

On second down the Wolverine linebackers Connor Cook, Owen Kovacs, Andrew Reale, and Jack Taub stuffed the knights running back with Jack Taub stripping the ball end ending the knights scoring opportunity. This hard hitting battle was 0-0 after 3 quarters with both teams keeping the offenses at bay. The Wolverine defense had standout efforts from the  secondary of Joey Denave, Sean Dillon, Mario Martino, and Patrick Stefurak with each of them making great open field tackles keeping the high powered knights offense off the board with Dillon adding a pick.  

Early in the fourth quarter the Knights drew first blood scoring on a yard touchdown run, after an 8 play 25 yard drive. The extra point was a pass attempt slapped away by Cook to stop the conversion.  With five minutes left on the clock the Wolverine offense started the drive on its own 25-yard line. The running game started it off with great blocks by Claxton, Everhard, Michael Fornaro, Rooks, and Anthony Tomaro which sprang Cook and Taub for a first down.

When Colantuono hit Reale on a 65-yard pass to tie the game Kovacs converted the kicked to take the lead 8-6. The Wolverine defense continued to shut down the Knights offense to preserve the win and move the Wolverine record to 6-0.  The wolverines take on Phillipsburg Colts next Saturday in Phillipsburg.