HILLSIDE, NJ — All-purpose athlete Darson Jeanty made three individual plays that were critical to the host Comets eventually coming out on top on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Standout defensive lineman Zamir Hawk was in on three consecutive stops to halt visiting Delaware Valley on a second-quarter goal-line stand that kept his team ahead right before intermission.
Then Jeanty joined two other Hillside players, Jhamari Hill and Caleb Ramos, in preventing Terriers quarterback Jack Bill from scoring what would have been the tying points inside of two minutes remaining.
These plays enabled Hillside, which also scored three touchdowns on the day, to not only hold off a 6-0 Delaware Valley squad, but clinch a three-way share of a division championship.
Give Delaware Valley a ton of credit for coming back the way it did in the fourth quarter, but Hillside was able to hold on for a hard-fought 21-19 win over the Terriers in Saturday afternoon’s Big Central Conference–Division 2A clash at John Zappulla Field.
As a result, Hillside improved to 6-1 overall with its fifth straight win, while Delaware Valley slipped to 6-1.
As far as Division 2A is concerned, Hillside, Delaware Valley and Bernards all finished 4-1 in the six-team league, so they are tri-champions for the 2021 season. Bernards defeated Hillside 14-7 at Rutgers on Sunday, Sept. 5. Then Delaware Valley beat Bernards 28-14 at home on Friday, Oct. 1. Then Hillside downed Delaware Valley 21-19 on Friday, Oct. 16.
Both Hillside and Delaware Valley scored three touchdowns in the Oct. 16 game — one each in the first half and two more in the second. Both scored in the first quarter, while Hillside produced its next two in the third quarter and Delaware Valley its final two in the fourth.
It was Hillside’s accuracy with extra points, however, that allowed the team to take the lead and remain in it.
Junior placekicker Giovanni Lavoura was a perfect three-for-three on his extra-point kicks for the Comets, with the third one coming from as far away as 35 yards out, after a Hillside penalty.
Delaware Valley missed the kick after its first score, while Hillside also stopped the Terriers from tying the game late on a two-point attempt that did not reach the end zone via a running play.
“I love games like this,” said Jeanty, who intercepted a pass in the first quarter and then, in the third, hauled in a 49-yard touchdown pass and scored again on a 35-yard run.
“This was a dogfight,” Jeanty said. “This is why we’re out here.”
Jeanty scored three touchdowns in the previous week’s 42-14 home win against Roselle, which happened to be on his 18th birthday.
“His mom took him to Las Vegas the next day,” Hillside head coach Barris Grant said. “When he got back, we were calling him ‘slot machine’ and hoping his number would come up.”
After a mistake-filled first half in the game against Delaware Valley that saw six turnovers, including four on four consecutive possessions and three total by each team, Hillside began separation in the third quarter after both of Jeanty’s scores.
On second-and-9 from the Delaware Valley 49 on Hillside’s first third-quarter drive, Hillside junior quarterback Caleb Salters dropped back and let the ball go down the right sideline. Jeanty had pretty good single coverage on him but was first able to get his right hand up and enough of the perfectly thrown ball that he could bring it into his body to hold on with both hands.
The next thing he did after he caught the ball was reach the end zone for six points.
“I saw the ball, put a hand on it and grabbed it, just bringing it in,” Jeanty said.
On Hillside’s next possession, this time on first-and-10 from the Delaware Valley 35, Jeanty burst through a hole on the left side and then just raced forward for another score.
“That’s what people want to see — a dynamic runner,” Jeanty said. “That’s the kind of player I want to be.”
“We’re super proud of him,” Grant said. “He’s a four-year player who just started varsity for the first time last year. His confidence now is off the roof.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Hillside drove all the way to the Delaware Valley 11 and looked like it was going to score again to seal the game. However, the Terriers made a fine defensive play, with senior lineman Sam Thomas getting to Salters and stopping him for a huge, drive-ending, 8-yard loss.
Although Delaware Valley had to punt the ball back after escaping that predicament, Hillside senior lineman Mathew Ihemesie had a big sack of Bill for a 9-yard loss, and the Terriers held Hillside again and proceeded to move the ball once it was back in their possession.
This time, Bill found Patrick Garlinghouse open in the right corner of the end zone on fourth down, with Garlinghouse catching the ball falling down on his back for 6. Bill kicked the extra point successfully this time to pull his team to within 8.
Bill then, again on fourth down, reached big target Logan Blake in the end zone for a second touchdown pass, this time making it a 2-point game at 21-19 with less than two minutes remaining. Both teams were out of timeouts.
The first 2-point attempt to tie the game was Bill throwing the ball to Blake again, this time in the right corner of the end zone. Hillside was called for pass interference.
Now, with the ball at the Hillside 1, Jeanty said, “At first, I heard my teammate, No. 1 (Kayvion Kennedy), say to, ‘Be great.’ Right then, I knew I had to make a play.
“When their quarterback went the way (to his left) that he did, then I had a beat on him, and we were there to stop him.”
Hillside also came up with a big stop on Delaware Valley’s fifth and final possession of the first half. It was a drive that began at its own 28 and reached first-and-goal at the Hillside 3-yard line with a little more than two minutes remaining before halftime.
On first down, Bill gained 2 yards up the middle to the 1. He was then stopped for no gain on second down, with Hawk leading the way with the first hit.
Hawk was there again with the first penetration on third down, and, this time, Garlinghouse was halted for a 1-yard loss.
On fourth-and-goal from the 2 with 1:55 left in the second quarter, Bill tried the middle again. Once more, he was stopped.
Again, it was Hawk who wrapped him up and brought him down.
“We believe in our coaches,” Hawk said. “They have faith in us being where we should be.
“We saw it on film. Their quarterback goes under center on a sneak. My team was there to help me. We showed our offense that they can rely on us to make big plays.”
The 2-point attempt by the Terriers at the end of the game was stopped by Hillside to prevent Delaware Valley from tying the division contest and sending it to overtime. Hawk said, the way he saw it, “We just followed the ball like heat-seeking missiles.”
“His father played here in the 1990s,” Grant said. “Hawk is like one of those great Union County tackles. He played well to his pad level, and today he finished. They tried to single-block him, and he made some really good plays.”
Hawk and his teammates celebrated another home victory, this one meaning a bit more for several reasons.
“This is my first year here, so when the clock reached zero and we beat a 6-0 team, I got goosebumps,” Hawk said.
At 5-1, Hillside is by no means perfect. In the first half, Salters was intercepted by Luke Brogan and Hillside lost the ball twice on fumbles.
“We still have much more to do, to work on,” Hawk said.
Delaware Valley fumbled the opening kickoff after Justin Kolpan got off a decent run. Gerald Thompson was there for Hillside to recover the fumble, which led to Hillside’s first score.
Brogan picked off Salters to halt Hillside’s second drive, with Brogan running 32 yards to the Hillside 3 to set up Delaware Valley’s first score.
In the first half, Jeanty grabbed a Bill pass with two hands that was intended for wide receiver Jaden Corbin. Then, two plays later, a high snap got past Salters, with Delaware Valley defensive lineman Tim Torrey falling on the ball.
On second-and-7 from the Hillside 8 on Delaware Valley’s ensuing possession, Kennedy stepped in front of a Terriers receiver and picked off a Bill pass, running the ball to the Hillside 23. Just one play later, however, a completed pass to Jeanty that was good for 8 yards saw the ball come loose, with Thomas recovering to give the ball back to Delaware Valley with 6:45 left in the second quarter.
“Delaware Valley came to play,” Grant said. “After we gave up the touchdown to see our lead go down to 2, our kids could have put their heads down, allowed the 2 points and then lost the game in overtime.
“Our kids didn’t do that, which is a sign of maturity. This was a playoff-type atmosphere versus a Top 8–level kind of playoff team in Delaware Valley.”
NOTES: Hillside rushed for 267 yards on 41 attempts, 21 for 105 in the first half and 20 for 162 in the second. Hillside junior running back Kyon Simonson, who scored the game’s first points on a 2-yard run, led all rushers with 103 yards on 17 attempts.
Muwaffaq Parkman had 94 yards on 13 carries and Jeanty 36 on two, including his touchdown.
Salters completed four of six passes for 68 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Bill completed 23 of 35 passes for 215 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Delaware Valley was limited to just 56 yards on the ground on 27 attempts, including 42 on 15 in the first two quarters and just 14 on 12 in the second.
Blake caught 10 passes for 101 yards and his one touchdown. Jeanty caught two passes for 53 yards and his one touchdown.
“This game featured the top two wide receivers in the division in Jeanty and Blake,” Grant said.
Delaware Valley junior wide receiver Nicholas Catino caught five passes for 32 yards.
Delaware Valley dealt Hillside an overtime loss at Delaware Valley last year to the tune of 20-14. That ended Hillside’s abbreviated season at 4-2, while Delaware Valley finished 6-1.
Both are situated in South, Group 2, so there is the possibility of a playoff rematch.