WEST ORANGE The Ramapo Raiders have been one of the most successful high school football programs in North Jersey for many years, so when they fell behind at West Orange in Thursday night’s opener, there was no need to panic, even though they lost 23 seniors from last year’s team.
Trailing 12-0 at the half, the visiting Raiders took advantage of Mountaineer mistakes in the second half, rallying for two fourth quarter touchdowns for a 13-12 win on a muggy evening at Suriano Stadium in the first day of the third annual Mountaineer Classic sponsored by the NFL Giants.
Late in the third quarter, senior linebacker Jack Schneider picked off a West Orange pass and returned it 30 yards to the Mountaineer 15. From there, junior running back Joey Gorga took over. He hauled in a pass for six yards and his two runs gave Ramapo a first-and-goal at the 5. On first down, Gorga blasted in for the touchdown and that made it 12-6 after the PAT attempt was blocked.
“We trusted our team, we trusted everybody,” said Schneider. “If you’re out on the field, we have so much trust.
“It takes everyone all week to build and there’s no worries when we send a guy out for the first time. Even last year, when the guys weren’t playing, they still got their reps in practice; they were still on the scout team.
“Every rep counts in practice from your sophomore year to your senior year, so everyone’s prepared.”
The Ramapo defense then forced a three-and-out on the next possession, and took advantage of a special teams blunder when the snap was mishandled, giving the Raiders the ball at the West Orange 47. A pair of Gorga runs moved the ball to the 34, and on 2nd-and-9 sophomore quarterback Luke Magerko, in his first varsity start, found Cole Seyffer over the middle for 27 yards and first-and-goal at the 8.
It then came down to 4th-and-goal at the 4, and Gorga found a hole off tackle and reached the endzone to tie the game at 12 for the moment. Philip Kay’s kick was good and Ramapo had its first lead of the night with 6:10 remaining.
West Orange had two more possessions, but after a successful first play each time, the Raider defense held and stopped the Mountaineers on four straight plays. The final play was an incomplete pass with 1:17 left, allowing Ramapo to take a knee and leave with an opening night victory.
“I’m very proud of them,” said Ramapo coach Nick Guttoso. “All I ask my kids to do every day is to play as hard as they can. And they did that every single rep. Even the reps where they got beat on.
“You know we’re going to make mistakes. It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to that. And the kids proved that tonight and I can’t be more proud of them.”
The Mountaineers took advantage of a pair of big plays to take a 12-0 lead in the first half. Veteran senior quarterback Daniel Lewis found junior Evian Mishoe deep down the left side for a 76-yard score on the second play of the second quarter, and midway through the quarter the two connected for a 24-yard touchdown for a 12-0 West Orange halftime lead.
Late in the half, the Mountaineers drove to the Ramapo 24, but lost a fumble with 30 seconds left.
That would be a harbinger of things to come.
