NORTH CALDWELL- It was a comeback for the ages, and will be remembered for years to come.
Trailing 14-0 in the first quarter and 21-6 at the half, the Caldwell Chiefs struck for 26 unanswered points in the second half to stun West Essex, 32-28, in a Super Football Conference crossover tilt on a comfortable Friday night at Travis Field.
The winning score came on an 82-yard touchdown pass from Adam Sepe to Dante Placenti with 2:43 left.
“I mean, that was the greatest feeling I’ve ever felt in my life” beamed a jubilant Sepe. “For losing to them on nailbiters the last two years and then going into halftime down 21-6, and then coming back and winning in that fashion, you can’t ask for a better feeling”.
Following a West Essex punt that was downed at the Caldwell 8, the Chiefs were forced to go 92 yards with 4:24 remaining. Sepe started the drive with a 7-yard pass to Nico Sozio, then got the first down on a 3-yard keeper. On first down from the 18, Sepe was flushed out of the pocket, rolled right and found Placenti near the sideline at the Caldwell 42. The junior wide receiver broke a tackle and raced down the sideline the remaining 58 yards to the house to give the Chiefs their first lead of the night.
“It was a sail across the middle of the field” said Placenti. “At the beginning of the game I ran that route and I was open and I knew we were gonna’ come back to it. I knew I was gonna’ get that ball again.
“And, as soon as I got that ball again I saw green grass and I just kept going”.
West Essex then drove down the field in search of a potential game-winning touchdown. Senior QB Gaetano Iavarone connected with Anthony Conforti for 39 yards to the Caldwell 43 and the Knights were in business. Three consecutive completions moved the ball to the 13. A holding penalty moved the ball back to the 20, and on 3rd-and-17 Caldwell’s Santino Vlacich sacked Iavarone at the 26. The fourth down pass fell incomplete, and the Chiefs clinched an improbable victory.
When asked about the comeback, Caldwell coach Todd Romano was at a momentary loss for words. After composing himself, when asked if he could realistically think that this was possible, he responded, “Just the way this unfolded, no. They gave it to us in the first half. There’s no doubting that. We couldn’t stop them. They were beating us up physically.
“The resilience of our guys today is something I’ll never forget!”
The comeback began in the third quarter, after the Knights took the second half kickoff and drove 75 yards in seven plays to extend their lead to 28-6. Iavarone found TE Dylan Fiore wide open for a 25-yard touchdown with 7:04 remaining in the third.
Caldwell responded with a TD drive of its own, going 76 yards in nine plays. Sepe accounted for 59 of the yards, with the remaining 15 coming on a penalty. First down completions of 20 yards to Erik Gadhok and 14 yards to Santino Russo set up the Chiefs at the WE 12. Facing 4th-and-5 from the 7, Sepe rolled right and found the end zone, and it was 28-13 with 3:37 left in the third to start the comeback.
