Waldwick/MP wins the day(s)

WALDWICK – “Win the Day.” That’s what Waldwick/Midland Park football lives by and what it is trying to accomplish everyday. It was just last year that Waldwick/Midland Park lost to Glen Rock in the first round of the state sectional football playoffs. The Warriors finished with a 6-4 record, but showed promise towards the end of the regular season finishing with five straight wins to grab a playoff berth. And, they returned most of their young core this season.

One graduation loss that hit the Warriors hard was starting quarterback Dylan Ferrara, which meant that sophomore Will Dell’Aglio was next in line to fill the the starting. When Waldwick/MP opened up against Vernon at home this year he exceeded expectations. Dell’Aglio threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns while completing 65-percent of his passes, including a long 69-yard touchdown to wide receiver JJ Daniello. The offense was dominant in that game and provided lots of hope for the Week 2 matchup against Becton.

That was when adversity showed up for the first time this season. The Warriors hit an unexpected speed bump when Becton pulled out a 24-20 win. Any doubts that might have crept in with that loss were pushed aside as Waldwick/MP then beat Glen Rock, Elmwood Park, Creskill/Emerson and Pompton Lakes by a combined score of 174-23.

The Warriors went on a dominant four-game winning streak that set them up for the biggest game of the season against Rutherford. It was one game to win the division. The Warriors went into undefeated Rutherford’s home turf facing their toughest challenge yet. And this game did not disappoint. It was an offensive shootout with a combined 774 total yards and 85 total points and it all came down to the final play of the second overtime.

The Warriors found themselves down, 42-35, in the overtime period before EJ Cozzupoli ran in a 5-yard touchdown to make the score 42-41. Warriors head coach Dan DiStasi faced his toughest decision of the season and elected to go for two and the win.

Asked about taking that risk and going for the win he said, “I just felt at that point in the game, it was the second overtime and it was just an opportunity for us to be a little aggressive there. And I felt like I had confidence in our players, our players had confidence in our coaches and I just felt like it was an opportunity to take the game.”

The Warriors lined up in the shotgun with Dell’Aglio rolling out to the right looking to throw, but he couldn't find a receiver and decided to take it himself. He cut to the corner of the endzone and took it in for the 2-point conversion and a dramatic win.

The Warriors showed off what their dominant run game could do, rushing for 335 yards and five touchdowns with junior running back Luciano Mayer contributing 219 of those yards and three of those touchdowns.

When asked about how important and how dominant the running game has been for his team, DiStasi said, “Running the ball is definitely our identity. We had all five of our offensive linemen come back from last year so we had a pretty good running attack. We knew that we had to replace the running that Dylan (Ferrara) did but we knew it would be a big part of what we were going to do. So I don’t know if anybody thought we would be running the ball as well as we have but it has been an awesome thing for us.”

After a 21-7 win in the NJIC Semifinals against Wood-Ridge the Warriors were on the road for another big game at Garfield looking to win the NJIC Championship. Waldwick/MP started out with the lead 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, but Garfield responded in the second and third quarters to go up 21-14 entering the fourth quarter. With the season on the line with the Warriors down 28-20, Luciano Mayer ran in a touchdown and Dell’Aglio added the 2-point conversion attempt to send the game into overtime.

After Mayer ran in his third touchdown of the game and kicker Thomas Del Rey made the extra point to force Garfield to respond. Garfield scored on a 1-yard run then lined up for the 2-point conversion, the same choice Waldwick/MP did against Rutherford.

When asked what he said to his team before that play, DiStasi said, “I just remember saying to the kids in the huddle beforehand, one play here to win the championship. You’re either winning it or you’re losing it.”

When Garfield decided to try and run the ball in for the win, the Warriors pushed back and stopped the conversion attempt a yard short of the goal line to win the first ever NJIC championship in program history. The Warriors dominated in the run game again rushing for 273 yards and five touchdowns en route to their 1-point win.

While the NJIC Championship is a huge accomplishment, the Warriors are truly focused on winning a sectional championship, something they haven’t done since 1988.

The Warriors earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and DiStasi expressed how important that is when he said, “To be able to play at home, we love playing at home as we are pretty good here with our fans, to not have to go on the road at all is a major advantage, especially in the playoffs. You know we love the atmosphere here so playing at home is going to be huge for us and hopefully set us up for an opportunity at a sectional championship.”

The top seed has proved to be an advantage for the Warriors as they have won their first two state playoff games. They took down Indian Hills 21-7 with another huge game from Luciano Mayer, who ran for 140 yards and a touchdown. They also beat New Providence, 27-7, thanks to a huge game from junior TE/LB Rocco Marquis, who dominated on both sides of the ball. He sacked the quarterback four times and also added on three receptions for 25 yards and two touchdowns.

The Warriors will play Hoboken for the sectional championship on Friday, November 13 at 7 PM as they will look to “Win the Day,” one more time and continue their dominant run that has put Waldwick/Midland Park football back on the map.

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Waldwick/MP wins the day(s)

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