Football

Hopatcong, Kittatinny, Lenape Valley and Pope John have earned berths in the NJSIAA post-season football playoffs. The Chiefs are seeded No. 2 in North Jersey, Section 1, Group II and will host seventh-seeded Ramsey this weekend, while the Cougars are the sixth seed in the bracket and travel to Bergen County to clash with third-seeded Pascack Valley. Lenape Valley has been seeded No. 5 in Section 2, Group II and plays at Lodi, while Pope John is the second seed in Non-Public Group III and hosts No. 7 Delbarton in the first-ever meeting of the two parochial powerhouses. Vernon 30,Lenape 8 Vernon’s Dan Lisa was selected the SCIL/Richards and Summers Player of the Week by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers Association as the Vikings concluded their season at 6-3 by rolling to a 30-8 triumph over Lenape Valley. The senior signal caller toted the pigskin 15 times, churning out 93 yards rushing and connected on nine of 12 aerial attempts for 118 yards including TD strikes of 16 yards to tight end Mike Deutch and 50 yards to his brother Mark Lisa. Hopatcong 28, Wallkill 7 Joe Martinek scored three times in his final SCIL appearance on the gridiron as Hopatcong defeated Wallkill Valley 28-7. Martinek touched the ball nine times, rushing for 214 yards as he scored on runs of 80, 60 and 50 yards while teammate A.J. Pagano bolted 20 yards into the end zone for the other six-pointer. Sparta 28, Jefferson 6 Phil Takacs rushed for 193 yards and 33 carries to propel Sparta to a 28-6 victory over Jefferson, scoring touchdowns of seven, 20 and eight yards. Newton 20, High Point 18 Newton led all the way in defeating High Point 20-18 as the Braves finished 4-5. Scott Paul fueled the Braves’ ground attack, picking up 171 yards on 24 carries, including a TD run of 24 yards in the third quarter. Quarterback Steve Zander tossed for 155 yards including a 29-TD strike to Jared Zappa that opened the scoring in the first quarter. Zander raced 33 yards into the end zone to up the score to 14-0 early in the second quarter. PJ 35, Kittatinny 7 Pope John prepped for the state playoffs by defeating Kittatinny 35-7 with all the points coming in the first half. Jeremy Tucker, who scored on TD runs of 34 and one yards while hauling a TD pass of 27 yards from Eugene McGuire, rushed for 149 yards on 11 attempts. McGuire opened the scoring in the first quarter when he pitched a 58-yard TD pass to Connor McGrath and followed with a one yard blast over the goal line.