Football: Fake field goal sparks Pequannock

By Steve Janoski

PEQUANNOCK — It may have taken four weeks of struggle, but things finally fell together for the Pequannock Panthers on Friday night as a powerful running game combined with a suffocating defense to lead the team to a 21 – 7 victory over the Boonton Bombers.

That running game, which was led by back AJ Adamcyzk (15 carries, 89 yards and a touchdown) and quarterback Luke Foukas (10 carries, 145 yards and a touchdown), was a result of the Pequannock offensive line finding its stride, Adamcyzk later said.

"The line blocked amazing tonight, the holes were there… it was an all around good effort," he said.

After a slow start, the Panthers fell into a rhythm late in the first quarter as five straight runs by Foukas and Adamcyzk took Pequannock from the Boonton 41 down to the 11. From there, they set up to attempt a 28 yard-field goal — or so everyone thought, until holder Anthony Rosano tucked the ball and dashed for the endzone in a well-masked fake.

After the game, Rosano said that he and head coach Ed Kopp had spoken about the play beforehand and agreed to give it a shot.

"(We) were talking about that before the game and we said that if we got inside the 10 or 20, we'd definitely run our fake field-goal," he said. "We executed it, and it worked out well."

The play put the Panthers up by seven, a lead which they added to late in the second quarter on a long drive that was kept alive by Foukas, who, on a second and two from the Pequannock 28, turned a broken pass play into a 55-yard gain when he took off down the center of the field. He was stopped from scoring only by a shoestring tackle by Boonton safety Isaac Spann.

Two plays later, Adamcyzk saw a huge hole open for him on a second and eight from the Boonton 15, and after what he called "a few arm tackles" that barely slowed him down, he broke through for Pequannock's second score of the night. Going into halftime, the Panthers held a surprising 14-0 advantage.

"(The line) blocked, the hole was there, and I saw the endzone and I went for it," Adamcyzk said. "If I see that thing (the endzone) I'm going for it."

Boonton struck back quickly, however, with Spann taking the opening kickoff of the second half 63 yards for a touchdown. In the past, this is where Pequannock might have faltered, but instead, they rallied on the following drive to take the ball 69 yards over six plays and score, this time on a 17-yard Foukas touchdown run.

It was that drive, Kopp said, that might prove to be the turning point in the season.

"This was the first time our team actually responded, and we drove the ball down the field and punched it in… that takes an awful lot of belief and confidence in each other," he said.

Pequannock's defense then took over, forcing Boonton to punt on the ensuing drive and stopping them on fourth down twice in the following two.

The win means everything not only to the Panther seniors, the coach said, but also to the younger players, of whom there are many on the inexperienced squad.

"This is huge in terms of building the (winning) habits and making it through the grind of the season," he said. "Every little thing that goes right gives you a little more confidence to do it well the next time…and we finally came out on top."

Email: janoski@northjersey.com