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Caldwell's Nico Sozio (3) had a busy night defending Rutherford's talented receivers including Will Holman (2) and also hauling in passes as Chiefs roared to 49-21 victory over the Bulldogs in the North 1, Group 2 semifinals at Bonnel Field. Santino Russo (4) and Dante Placenti (2) were among the other productive receivers for Chiefs,while QB Adam Sepe (15) both ran and passed for high productivity as Essex team moves into Nov. 13 N1G2 final at Westwood. (Photos by Jeff Stiefbold-jstiefbold.smugmug.com) (continued from page 1) After a one-yard run by Sepe tied the score, the Bulldogs regained the lead with a 10-play, 65-yard drive. Balchan connected with senior WR AJ Nunziato for 20 yards and a first down at the Caldwell 40, and his 21-yard gallop set up a first-and-goal from the 6. On 4th-and-goal from the 3, he found junior WR Quinn Weber for the score and a 14-7 lead with 9:25 left in the half. The Caldwell defense then took over, keeping Rutherford out of the endzone until early in the fourth quarter. Bachlan was sacked three times, and the secondary played a large part in that. Rutherford’s pass protection was good, but on multiple occasions, no receivers were open. Coach Romano was quick to praise the pass coverage. “The secondary played tremendous,” he stated. “They have two ‘plus-plus’ wide receivers in (junior Will Holman) and (Weber). They were dangerous coming in, and we knew that, and our secondary did a great job taking away the vertical routes, covering things up and letting our rush get home.” More numbers and notes: Although they did not run the ball much through the first three quarters, Caldwell had 141 yards on the ground on 24 carries, spread out among four runners...Bachlan had 98 yards on 23 carries and 1 TD. He was 12-of-24 for 175 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT…Weber led the Bulldog receivers with 5 catches for 48 yards and 1 TD…Westwood and Caldwell are quite familiar with each other as they met three times in four seasons between 2021 and 2024. The Chiefs blew past the Cardinals, 35-0, in the N1G2 semifinals in 2021 before then edging the Bergen County team, 13-7, in the 2022 Group 2 semifinals played at Franklin. Westwood then defeated the Chiefs, 35-13, in a regular season home contest in 2024. Westwood is the defending N1G2 champions after defeating Ramsey, 32-6, in the sectional final last fall during an 11-2 campaign. North 2, Group 1 semifinal: Follow Sideline Chatter on 'X' @Chattermeister
Caldwell lineman CJ Cifelli (56) lifts up teammate Dante Placenti (2), who had a big night for Chiefs, while running back Nicco Capaldo (0) breaks free and DB Erik Gadhok (7) is bringing down a Rutherford receiver during what was impressive Caldwell N1G2 victory. Ccopyright 2005 Sideline Chatter - comments - contact the webmaster
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