WEST CALDWELL- For the last decade, Cedar Grove and Caldwell have been two of the best small-school programs in North Jersey, and when they meet, it often results in a hotly-competitive game with outstanding individual performances.
Friday night’s SFC meeting at Bonnel Field was no exception.
Caldwell’s Nicco Capaldo contributed 167 yards from scrimmage (121 rush, 46 receiving and 2 TDs) but was outdone by Cedar Grove’s Jake Catanzarite with 230 yards (219 rush, 11 receiving and 2 TDs).
It was Catanzarite’s interception with 53 seconds remaining that set up his 59-yard TD burst on the next play that lifted the Panthers (7-1) to a 27-21 win, dealing the Chiefs their first loss of the season.
Caldwell (7-1) had the ball starting at their 37 with the score tied and 1:57 remaining. The drive began when Dante Placenti recovered an errant Cedar Grove snap on 4th-and-1 from the Chiefs 11.
After a pair of sacks moved the ball back to the 29, QB Adam Sepe scrambled for 23 yards to give the Chiefs a first down at the Panther 48. On the next play, Catanzarite picked off the pass at the CG 41. He then swept around left end, broke a tackle and raced 59 yards to the house to put the Panthers in front on the first play after the turnover.
Caldwell took over at their 25 with 31 seconds left and no timeouts, but was unable to move the ball and the Panthers celebrated their seventh win of the season.
“Nothing could live up to that game. It was a great game” beamed Catanzarite. “We knew we had to come out here and play tough.
“It’s the biggest game of the regular season. All our guys were locked in. We knew how much we wanted this game and we were locked in the whole week in practice going as hard as we could, and it paid off.”
The tone was set on the game’s first play, when Capaldo took a handoff, found a hole off right tackle and sprinted 80 yards to paydirt for a 6-0 Caldwell lead. It would be their only lead of the night.
Cedar Grove answered with an 11-play, 80-yard drive to take the lead. Nine of the plays were rushes, with QB Andrew Loftus contributing a pair of 10-yard runs and a 14-yard completion to Jack Velonas. Facing a 4th-and-1 from the Caldwell 19, Catanzarite (21 carries, 219 yards, 1 TD) scampered for six yards and a first down. Chris Miller then took an inside handoff and rambled his way into the endzone and it was 7-6 with 4:56 left in the first quarter.
The Panther defense then came up with a takeaway when Julian Cruz picked off a Caldwell pass at the CG 37, and the Panthers needed only six plays to extend the lead. A 33-yard completion from Loftus to Velonas moved the ball to the Chiefs 25, and three plays later Miller took the ball on a reverse and scampered 21 yards around left end for the score and a 14-6 Cedar Grove lead early in the second quarter.
The next Caldwell possession turned into a huge missed opportunity for the Chiefs. Starting from their 26 with 10:22 left in the half, they methodically drove the ball down the field behind the running of Capaldo and Sepe. The fifth first down of the drive resulted in a 1st-and-10 from the CG 11. After a 3-yard run by Sepe and a loss of 1 by Capaldo, Sepe found Matt Murtagh for 7 yards, setting up a 4th-and-1 at the 2 with less than 30 seconds remaining. The middle of the Panther defense stuffed Capaldo for no gain, ending the drive with nine seconds left in the half.
Midway through the third quarter, Caldwell tied the game. A 55-yard connection from Sepe to Murtagh set up the Chiefs at the CG 8. On third-and-goal from the 3, Capaldo (18 carries, 121 yards, 2 TDs) galloped around left end for the touchdown. Sepe then found Placenti for the 2-point conversion to tie the score at 14 with 4:25 left in the third.
