Cedar Grove football beats Park Ridge in dramatic fashion to win regional title

EAST RUTHERFORD — Before heading over to MetLife Stadium, Cedar Grove coach Rob Gogerty wrote four letters on a whiteboard.

The four letters spelled a meaningful word, as well as an oft-used abbreviation: "GOAT".

"It means a lot of things to me," Gogerty said. "Small, feisty, hard-headed and also the greatest of all time. I told them if they won this game, they could argue with anyone and not many people can go against it."

That claim can now be made by the Panthers, who finished the a 12-1 season with a dramatic 13-12 win over Park Ridge in the North 1 regional championship game Friday at MetLife Stadium.

Alfonso Lombardi found Nick Iannacone for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 2:20 remaining to tie the game at 12 a piece. Christopher Babcock's extra point after the touchdown turned out to be the difference in the game. Both teams missed extra points after scoring first-quarter touchdowns. 

"My face just lit up with smiles," Lombardi said of the game-tying touchdown pass. "I put my hand up and that was it. I knew he was going to make that play."

Cedar Grove began the scoring with a six-play, 66 yard drive by Cedar Grove resulted in an Alfonso Lombardi 7-yard touchdown pass to Michael Marinelli.

Park Ridge answered with a 12-play drive, marching down the field before Matthew Manning's 19-yard touchdown run put the Owls on the board.

The teams were tied 6-6 going into the fourth quarter before Park Ridge scored on Manning's second touchdown of the day. The Owls failed to convert a two-point conversion after that one with 9:08 to go.

What it means

Cedar Grove can lay claim as one of New Jersey's best Group 1 teams, taking down a Park Ridge program that came into Friday with a 27-3 record over the last three seasons, including two sectional titles and a regional championship in 2019.

The Panthers were well represented in the crowd with a large fan base that included a vocal student section.

"I mean look at all of this," said Lombardi, who transferred from Paramus Catholic for his senior season. "As soon as I got here, it was family from Day 1. We built upon that and made it to MetLife. We won at MetLife."

By the numbers

The Owls controlled possession, holding the ball for 31:52, compared to 16:08 for Cedar Grove. Park Ridge converted on five fourth downs, including two fake punts that resulted in first downs. Park Ridge was just 2-for-12 on third downs and struggled inside the red zone throughout the game.

Park Ridge sacked Lombardi six times, including five in the first half. Lombardi finished 11-for-22 passing for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Lombardi was also the leading rusher for Cedar Grove with 34 yards on the ground.

Key play

Needing a big play trailing late, Cedar Grove faced a third-and-8 and found senior Patch McCarthy on a 35-yard catch and run that brought the ball near the Park Ridge 30 with two-and-a-half minutes to go. McCarthy broke four tackles on the play before finally being taken out of bounds.

"It was do or die," McCarthy said about the reception. "There was no way I was going down without a fight. I play angry. I play pissed off. I play the Cedar Grove way. It was great blocking by the line on a smoke right. It was a great play call by Coach Gogerty."

Game ball

The entire Panthers defense was tested by a Park Ridge team that averaged more than 31 points per game this season. The Owls used multiple wrinkles in their playbook for big plays to get into the Cedar Grove red zone, but were denied multiple times.

"They're battle tested," Gogerty said. "They had their backs up against the wall and were able to tap into a no-lose mentality."

Park Ridge had the ball on the Cedar Grove 2-yard line and was stopped on four straight runs.

A Michael Marinelli interception in the end zone also forced a touchback and foiled yet another long Park Ridge drive without any points.

They said it

"[Nick] Coletta and [Michael] Marinelli are both playing on one foot out there. They didn't practice all week trying to just get through the game. Those are the type of guys that we have and what it means to this group. That's what I'm most happy about that they get to go out on top." — Gogerty

"This is the best Cedar Grove team ever. You can debate me. I'm open. My DMs are open to debate me." — Cedar Grove senior Patch McCarthy.

Robert Aitken is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app. 

Email: aitken@northjersey.com

Twitter: @robertaitkenjr