Sepe continues to be able to effectively mix his passing targets with Russo (3 receptions for 40 yards), Placenti and Sozio all very capable and fleet-footed pass-catchers.

“Our passing game is really special,” said Russo. “We have a lot of different weapons which really opens things up for our offense. We can pound the rock with Nicco and Lucas Alcazar (6 carries for 37 yards), and when defenses begin to collapse in the box we can begin to expand, throw right or left, which gives our coaches a lot of different concepts to work with, and we usually do a good job at executing that game plan.

“We knew that even when we left points on the field in the first half, we just had to keep grinding while our defense would continue doing its thing, and – eventually – things would really click, which happened in that third quarter.

“We’re not where we need to be yet, but we have the talent here to make this a special season!”

Caldwell is at Mountain Lakes (3-1) next Friday night (Sept. 25) and two weeks away from a much-anticipated showdown with neighboring rival West Essex (4-0) on Oct. 2nd in North Caldwell.

NOTES- Russo, who like Placenti is also a standout outfielder on Caldwell’s baseball team, had a superb all-around game on Friday night. “Santino was electric on both sides of the ball,” said Romano. “Nicco Capaldo was also excellent defensively and had a good game running the ball.”…Caldwell’s depth will be continually tested with only 27 upper classmen on the 43-man roster that includes 16 freshmen and just 8 sophomores. And, one of the more talented sophomores, starting linebacker Chase Petriw, suffered a season-ending knee injury vs. Pequannock in the previous week’s game…”Certainly, we hope to avoid injuries,” said Romano. “We have the tools to get where we want to be, but staying healthy is going to be a key.”..Hanover Park’s offense continues to struggle with a second straight week being shut out as Hornets had also lost at West Essex, 31-0, on Friday, Sept. 11, after a 2-0 start to the season…Second-year head coach Nick Liberato’s staff includes his dad, former Hanover Park head man John Liberato, who has also previously served as an assistant coach at Summit and Kean University.

HANOVER PARK (2-2)      0     0      0      0     - 0
CALDWELL (3-0)               0     7     20     0      -27
C- Adam Sepe 2 run (Matt Murtagh kick)
C- Nico Sozio 50 pass from Sepe (Murtagh kick)
C- Nicco Capaldo 15 run (pass failed)
C- Capaldo 6 run (Murtagh kick)

Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister