West Morris football blows by Cranford to win first regional title

EAST RUTHERFORD – West Morris only needed 24 minutes of football to secure its place in history.

The Wolfpack raced out to an insurmountable halftime lead on Friday to knock off previously unbeaten Cranford, 53-14 in the NJSIAA North Group 3 regional championship game at MetLife Stadium.

Stefano Montella scored two of West Morris’ four first-half touchdowns and Noah Turner scored three times as a total of five players found the end zone to lead the Wolfpack to their first regional title in school history.

"I didn't see this one coming. As a matter of fact, they're the biggest high school football team I've ever seen and I've been doing this for a while. This is not the score I expected," West Morris coach Kevin Hennelly said. "This is one of the most fun teams I've coached, but they're as good as any team I've coached. We don't have any one superstar, but as a unit this is a great group of kids."

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West Morris (10-3) completed a playoff run for the ages, winning all four postseason games in dominant fashion. The Wolfpack outscored their opponents, 151-45, including two shutouts. 

West Morris closed out the season with five straight wins and won six of its last seven. Last week, the Wolfpack claimed the eighth sectional title in program history  by defeating West Essex, 21-0, in the North 2, Group 3 final.

"We've been running the ball so well leading up to this game and we knew it was a good opportunity to open up the offense and passing game," said Montella, who rushed for a game-high 134 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns.

"We were able to run and pass and that gave us the advantage. I felt great running on this turf. It just seemed faster. Northing like getting a win at MetLife Stadium."

The Wolfpack defense limited Cranford running back Colin Murray to 76 yards, well below his average of 216 yards per game. Murray entered the game with 2,379 yards and 33 touchdowns. 

West Morris took a quick 6-0 lead just moments into the game when Montellacaught a middle screen pass from quarterback Trevor Hillier (6-for-9, 141 yards, 2 TDs) and raced 52 yards on the fifth play from scrimmage.

Cranford (11-1) took a brief 7-6 lead less than five minutes later when quarterback Shane Van Dam scored on a 4-yard keeper. 

But the Wolfpack regained the lead, 12-7, before the end of the first quarter when Hillier connected with receiver Ryan Brady on a 38-yard post. It was the start of a run resulting in 34 unanswered points that carried into the third quarter. 

What it means

West Morris is a NJSIAA regional champion for the first time in program history. 

After winning four of its first five games of the regular season, the Wolfpack dropped two of their next three before winning their final five games. 

Key play

Leading 12-7 late in the first quarter, West Morris extended its lead to 11 points when Hillier hit Van Dam running out of the pocket and forced a fumble that Brady recovered at their own 49-yard line.

Six plays later, Turner took a handoff 22 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown to give the Wolfpack an 18-7 lead with 6:50 left in the first half.  

By the numbers

► West Morris outpaced Cranford in total yards, 389-204.

► Turner rushed for 85 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns.

► Van Dam threw for 130 yards on 11-of-19, one touchdown and one interception.

► Brady had three receptions for 75 yards and one touchdown. 

► The West Morris defense recorded four sacks and an interception return for a touchdown.

They said it

"We did a great job up front. Our line really got after it. I really didn't think they'd play as well as they did. Our defense was lights out and that credit goes to my son Kevin, who is calling the defense for the first time this year. He obviously knows a little more than me." – Kevin Hennelly

"They had some really big defensive linemen. For the most part we wanted to stay away from them, but we took advantage of their secondary. The schemes we drew up were fantastic. Once we started rolling, a lot of opportunities opened up. We were picked to lose by just about everyone. I was trying to find someone that picked us to win. We wanted to prove that Morris County football is good. We wanted to represent well and make this one count." – Hillier