The victory gave the Red Wings a perfect 12-0 season and enabled the school to secure its first state championship in six years. It was the seventh state title in the school's history, but the first for new coach Lou Taglieri, who enjoyed an undefeated campaign during his first year at the helm.
The state title was the first for Hoboken in the Group I (less than 500 students) enrollment bracket. All of the six prior state titles (1980, 1994 through 1996, and 1998 and 1999) were in the Group III classification, when Hoboken had a much larger student population than it currently owns.
The Red Wings also redeemed themselves with the win. A year ago, the Red Wings played Cedar Grove for the same sectional title and dominated every facet of the game - except for the final score. Cedar Grove came away with a 6-0 victory that evening.
The chance for redemption was a motivating factor for the entire team throughout the 2005 season and certainly was on the minds of everyone on the Hoboken sideline last Friday night.
"Let's just leave what happened in the past in the past," said senior running back Rashawn Brown, who scored the game's first touchdown on an 8-yard run in the second quarter. "Sure, what happened last year was on our minds, but this was a new year, a new start."
"Last year was terrible," said Bates, who had 120 yards on a workman-like 32 carries and scored the team's final touchdown in the fourth quarter. "We couldn't have that happen again."
The Red Wings weren't about to allow history to repeat itself, taking command of the game in the second quarter with a strong ball and clock-controlled attack, then letting the defense take over.
After a scoreless first quarter, one that saw the Red Wings dominate both the action and the clock (holding the ball for more than five minutes), the Red Wings methodically went to work on their second possession of the game, scoring a touchdown that would set the tone for the remainder of the evening.
Holding them off
After holding Verona (10-2) to just one first down in the first quarter, the Red Wings got the ball to start the second quarter on their own 44-yard line. From there, Bates went to work, pushing the ball forward more and more with every carry. Bates, who rushed for more than 1,700 yards for the season, didn't get a chance to break the customary big run that he normally does, but he continued to move the ball forward, along with the help of fellow backs Brown and Willis.
In between, quarterback Norman Smith hooked up with talented receiver Duval Kamara on two passes, one of seven yards and a big one for 21 yards, keeping the drive alive. The second pass to Kamara brought the ball down to the Hillbillies' 8-yard line, where Brown went the rest of the way for the game's first score and a 7-0 Hoboken lead with 5:50 remaining in the first half.
The Red Wings marched 66 yards on a systematic 13 plays, taking 6:10 off the clock.
Scoring the first touchdown enabled the Red Wings to settle down tremendously and eliminate any negative thoughts of a repeat performance of a year ago. The Red Wings did the same thing against Cedar Grove last year - moving the ball at will - only had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.
"I think my touchdown opened up the game for us," Brown said. "It let us calm down. We were getting four and five yards a pop and that was better than getting 80, like we did during the season. It just let us control the game."
The Red Wings got a break to score their second touchdown. Tuquan Ashley stripped Verona running back Mike Canfora of the ball and Kamara alertly pounced on it, giving the Red Wings the ball at the Verona 42-yard line with 4:20 before halftime.
Again, it was more of Bates straight ahead. The powerful Bates carried the ball five straight times, only gaining more than 10 yards once, before Smith attempted a pass into the corner of the end zone that Kamara didn't seem to have a prayer to gather.
But somehow, Kamara flagged down the Smith toss to make a brilliant over-the-shoulder, arms fully extended grab for a 13-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 14-0, after Courtney Slack's successful PAT (point after touchdown) kick, with just 1:49 left before halftime.
If one touchdown gave Hoboken a commanding lead - especially with the way the Red Wings were controlling the line, the ball and the clock - then a two-touchdown advantage would be virtually impossible to overcome for the undermanned Hillbillies. They were forced to start freshman Carlo Calabrese at quarterback, after junior starter Mitch Roshong broke his foot in the Thanksgiving Day game against Cedar Grove.
Ironically, Cedar Grove lost its top running back, David Sinisi, in its Thanksgiving Day game against Verona in 2004 and still managed to defeat Hoboken in the state title game in Giants Stadium.
"There were some eerie similarities between this year's game and last year's," Taglieri said.
Second half
Hoboken got the ball to start the second half and appeared to be moving forward toward its third touchdown that would have salted the game away, especially after strong runs by Willis (12 yards) and Brown (13 yards). But the Red Wings were stalled after a sack of Smith and a fumble that they recovered, turning the ball over on downs back to Verona.
The defensive stand by the Hillbillies gave them some life and enabled the Essex County school to march for its lone score.
Getting possession at midfield, the Hillbillies moved 50 yards on six plays, with the biggest play coming on a 31-yard screen pass from Calabrese to tight end Chris Riggins. Canfora went the final five yards for a touchdown that sliced the lead to 14-6 with 5:13 remaining in the third quarter. Hoboken's Matt Lee was quick on the PAT kick attempt and raced in to block the kick, keeping the score at 14-6.
Verona had another chance to score in the third quarter, but the threat was thwarted by Red Wing freshman linebacker Bernardo Nunez, who raced in to sack Calabrese for a 12-yard loss, forcing a punt.
The Red Wings then put the game away, thanks to a roughing-the-kicker penalty against Verona, keeping the final scoring drive alive.
After Verona roughed Bates attempting to punt, the Red Wings marched 77 yards on 12 plays, taking almost eight minutes off the clock. Bates again was the workhorse, carrying the ball nine times on the drive for 55 yards, including his two longest runs of the night, both for 11 yards. Bates then capped the evening with a 4-yard run for a touchdown that gave the Red Wings the 21-6 lead with 4:20 left.
Interceptions by Smith and Jonathan Cartegena in the final minutes sealed the victory for the Red Wings and set off a championship celebration.
History
"We came out and played the way we wanted to play, controlling the ball and the clock," Taglieri said. "The kids played well under pressure. They didn't let anything get to them, and it's to their credit that they came back here and won this game."
"People didn't believe we could come back here and win," Bates said. "But we stayed focused. We played steady, physical football and played hard. We all knew that if we did that, we could win this game, as long as we were able to drive the ball and not turn the ball over. It feels great to get this one."
Hoboken wasn't the only Hudson County school to win a state title last Friday night. St. Peter's Prep defeated Don Bosco Prep, 22-15, to win the Parochial (Non-Public) Group 4 title. (For more on that, see www.jerseycityreporter.com).
It was the second time that both schools won state titles on the very same day. On Dec. 2, 1994, Hoboken defeated Ramsey, 21-0, to win the Group III title, while Prep defeated Bergen Catholic, 26-24, to win the Parochial Group 4 crown, also at Giants Stadium.
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