Football playoffs

When pre-season practice camps opened in August, all the young men exercising, lifting, running and learning plays had one common thought -making the state playoffs. After last weekend, four local teams are alive in their quests for NJSIAA sectional crowns. They are co-SCIL champions Hopatcong and Pope John along with Sparta and Vernon. Hopatcong 35, Indian Hills 0 Joe Martinek toted the pigskin 15 times, churning out 376 yards rushing while scoring four times, He surpassed the 5,000-yard plateau in career rushing, upping his total to 5,212. The state record is 6720 held by Kenny Catouse, a graduate of Keyport. Newton 61, River Dell 42 In NJSIAA consolation games, Newton outscored River Dell of the Bergen County Scholastic League American Division, 61-42, as sophomore Scott Paul scored five touchdowns on runs of 10, 8, 1 and 16 yards plus a TD pass reception of 27 yards from Steve Zander, who tossed four TD aerials. The others were 50 and 5 yards to Sam Paul and 21 yards to Jared Zappa. Pope John 31, Holy Spirit 18 Pope John’s reward for defeating Holy Spirit of Atlantic County 31-18 is a confrontation with the Green Knights of St. Joseph Regional in Montvale for the third straight year. Jeremy Tucker rushed for 163 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 57, 5 and 41 yards. Quarterback Eugene McGuire opened the scoring in the first quarter when he flipped a three-yard TD pass to Jorge Posada. Doug Shea booted four PATs and split the uprights with a 32-yard field goal. Voorhees 33, Kittatinny 28 Voorhees of the Skyland Conference edged Kittatinny 33-28 while Mount Olive of the Iron Hills Conference posted a 35-31 win over High Point. Vernon 31, North Bergen 14 Vernon surged to a 31-6 lead by the intermission and ousted North Bergen from the Group IV playoffs by a score of 31-14. Justin Gannon scored twice on runs of 42 and 59 yards as he finished with 158 yards on 18 touches. Ryan Azelone opened the scoring by booting a 35-yard field goal and then hauled in a 12-yard TD pass from Dan Lisa, who tossed touchdown strikes of 12 and 10 yards to Casey Manning. Jefferson 31, Pequannock 27 Jefferson defeated Pequannock of the Northern Hills Conference 31-27 as sophomore tailback John Katschack rushed 20 times for 145 yards and hauled in four passes for an additional 84 yards. He scored three times on passes of 14 and 34 yards from B.J. Stokes and a run of 8 yards. Kayschack and his teammate Ken Monarque, a linebacker who recorded nine tackles and sacked the quarterback three times, were named the sussexcountyinterscholasticleague.com Co-Players of the Week, Wallkill 29, Lakeland 27 Tyler Wenz split the uprights from 20 yards out with five seconds remaining as Wallkill Valley rallied to edge Lakeland of the Northern Hills Conference by a score of 29-27. Mike Hern scored three times on runs of 6, 1 and 42 yards while J.J. Conrad electrified the crowd when he raced 98 yards into the end zone with a kickoff return.