WARREN, NJ - The Watchung Hills Pop Warner Wolverines started the weekend with a pep rally with fireworks on Friday night. Game updates are:
JR PeeWee
The Watchung Hills Wolverine Jr Pee Wee Blue team headed out to Union this Sunday to face opponent Linden. Both teams started the day undefeated but only the Wolverines would remain perfect on the season when the game ended. The Wolverines record now improves to 7-0 with one game remaining in regular season.
The game was a battle of the defenses with the Wolverines coming out on top with a final score of 8-0. The only touchdown on the day came from Ryan Johnson who ran one in for a score in the second quarter. Braden Fenton was able to kick the extra point rounding out the scoring on the day. Strong run games from Kyle Checchio, Brennan Fahs and Johnson kept constant pressure on Linden’s defense. The game however was won by the tremendous defensive play of the Wolverines as a team. Brayden Kelly had a key interception to end the momentum Linden was building and get the ball back to the Wolverines Offense. The defense was led by Rocco Salerno, David Dubas, Kyle Checchio, And Dylan Downey who all contributed many key stops to keep Linden out of the end zone. Max Philips had a great day on both offense and defense spending most of regulation on the field. The Wolverines face an out of conference team next Sunday to finish off the regular season. The JPW team hopes to finish the season with a perfect record and secure the JVC championship.
Mitey Mite
The 4-2 Watchung Hills Mitey Mite team faced off against the 6-1 Hillsborough Dukes this past Sunday on a perfect fall day for football. The Wolverines started out on offense and were stunned by a very aggressive Hillsborough squad. The Wolverine’s quickly rose to the occasion and stepped up big as the game went on. It was a hard fought see-saw battle the entire game. Both teams played outstanding defense and refused to allow either team in the endzone in the 1st half. The Wolverines were knocking on the door late in the 2nd quarter but they fell a few yards short as time expired leaving the score tied 0-0. The Dukes broke a long run in the 3rd quarter that helped set up the go ahead score. The Wolverines shut down the PAT attempt leaving the Dukes with the only score of the game.
There were excellent offensive efforts from Austin Kolakowski, Aidan Grochowski and Quadir Williams. Stevie Prisco, Christian Warnicke, Dom DiBella, Niko West, Ty Gechtman and Joseph Bateh were extremely impressive responding to a hard hitting, fast paced Duke defensive line. On defense David Thourbourne, Jonathan Okolo, Danny Attanasio, Michael Carroll, Joseph Bateh and Matt Dubois were equally impressive in the battle in the trenches.
It was a hard fought game from both squads and every player on the field walked off with their head held high. Despite the loss, it was one of the best performances of the season from the Wolverines on such a commendable effort against another great team.
The Wolverines will wrap up their season next week at home vs Flemington.
Watchung Hills Pop Warner Junior Varsity team (6-1)
A non-conference match up with Eastern Region powerhouse, the North Philly Aztecs, took place on Saturday, October 14 in Warren. The Aztecs are a Pop Warner Division I team with players selected from the city of Philadelphia and are coming off a highly successful season in 2016 after sending all 3 levels to Disney for the National Championships.
The Aztecs proved to be a tough test for the home town Wolverines and came out with a decisive victory. The Wolverines struggled on offense but were able to ground out some hard fought yards with runs by Jim Palaia and Sherrod Hudson. Hudson also caught a 12 yard pass. Defensively, the Wolverines kept things close early but two touchdown passes and a punt return for a touchdown put the game out of reach.
The Wolverines will look to get back on track next weekend as they resume play, likely against another non-conference opponent.