Football

Chiefs, Patriots advance in state playoffs Hopatcong and Lenape Valley advanced to the semifinal rounds of the NJSIAA post-season football playoffs while Kittatinny and Pope John had their campaigns ended with first-round setbacks. The Chiefs rolled to a 41-13 romp over Ramsey while the Patriots rolled to a 35-7 rout of Lodi. Kittatinny fell to Pascack Valley and Pope John’s hopes of an undefeated season were extinguished when Delbarton surprised the Lions 49-28. Hopatcong 41, Ramsey 13 Hopatcong, seeded No. 2 in the North Jersey, Section 1, Group II bracket, will host third-seeded Pascack Valley on Friday. Joe Martinek scored five times on runs of 49, five, two and five yards before picking off a Rams’ aerial and racing 61 yards into the end zone. Lenape 35, Lodi 7 LVR exploded with 21 unanswered points in the third quarter as the fifth-seeded Patriots toppled the fourth seeded Rams for the fourth straight time in state playoff game after having defeated the Bergen County squad in 1990, 1991 and 1992. Fullback Mike Groome, who toted the pigskin 22 times for 185 yards, scored three times on runs of two and two yards and hauled in a 10-yard TD pass from quarterback Rob Klinck. Jim Hamill put the Patriots on the board in the first quarter when he bolted five yards to paydirt and Rob Bergstrom completed the scoring when he blasted five yards into the end zone. Lenape Valley travels to play top-seeded Montville on Friday evening in Morris County. Pascack 21, Kittatinny 6 Pascack Valley jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first 12 minutes in defeating the Cougars. Kyle Hayes tossed a 58-yard TD strike to Kevin Ryan in the third quarter when Kittatinny cut the deficit to 13-6. Delbarton 49, PJ 28 Pope John fell behind 20-7 by the end of the opening quarter and the Lions could never catch up. Jeremy Tucker completed his scholastic career, scoring three times on runs of 41, 37 and 24 yards as he rushed 26 times, picking up 254 yards. Quarterback Eugene McGuire, who connected on eight of 15 aerial attempts for 151 yards, hit Theodore Lusardi with a 37-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to close the gap to 28-20 at intermission. Sparta 24, North Warren 0 While Sparta shut out North Warren 24-0. Sparta scored in every quarter while the “D” unit blanked the Patriots from Blairstown. Quarterback Brendan McDonough flipped TD passes of four and 27 yards to Derrick Freligh in the first half before Phil Tacakcs blasted one yard into the end zone. Chris Hoffman ended the scoring when he split the uprights with a 30-yard field goal as the Spartans finished the season at 6-4. Fair Lawn 14, High Point 7 High Point’s effort to get into the win column ended in Bergen County when the Cutters snapped a 7-7 stalemate at halftime. Matt Danko bolted two yards into the end zone in the second quarter and Bernie Wawzyanick booted the extra point placement. Northern Valley 24, Wallkill 0 Wallkill Valley finished 1-9 with its sole success coming against High Point midway through the season.