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Jake Tripucka was cold. The Mountain Lakes senior was ready to conclude his interviews and find someplace to warm up. Considering the brutally cold November weather, you could understand it. But just a short time earlier Tripucka and his teammates looked like it was any other Saturday as they dominated a sectional semifinal football contest.
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The second-seeded Herd trampled #6 seed Park Ridge High School, 45-8, to advance to a sectional final in two weeks. Mountain Lakes once again confounded the doubters who said they weren't ready to face sports teams from Bergen County.
For a brief moment it appeared the Owls might be able to slow down the Herd. They forced a punt on the first Mountain Lakes possession of the game. But when the Herd got the football right back, the offense went to work. Tripucka got it started with a 36-yard scoring burst to make it 6-0.
After Park Ridge punted again, Tripucka moved to quarterback and directed another scoring march, capping the drive with a one-yard run. And after switching back to running back, Tripucka added his third touchdown on a 50-yard gallop, putting the Herd into a comfortable 18-0 lead.
Of course, Mountain Lakes is far from a one-man football team. The defense again stopped Park Ridge and this time gave Tripucka a rest on offense. Greg DeLuca gained 43 yards on a sweep to move the ball into Owls territory, and Kevin Ryan capped off the drive with a 16-yard run.
"We just wore them down the first couple of quarters and jumped out on them," Tripucka said. Senior lineman Pat Flynn added, "We have some strong guys inside, so we just worked the inside basically all day."
Up 25-0 at the half, the Herd could have eased up. But this football team keeps the pedal to the metal at all times, in part due to the memory of their upset loss in last year's state playoffs. Mountain Lakes came out of the locker room and moved right down the field behind long runs by Tripucka and Nick LoBiondo. DeLuca finished off the drive from five yards out.
Moments later, the Herd ended any doubt when Scott McWilliams returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to make in 39-0. It was the second straight week that McWilliams scored on an interception return. James Callahan finished off the Mountain Lakes scoring before Park Ridge broke the shutout in the final two minutes.
Veteran coach Doug Wilkins once again praised his team's defensive effort. "Nobody has run against us thus far, and we're playing good pass defense," he said. "That's been the biggest improvement in our team."
The Herd will now face top seed Glen Rock in the North Jersey Section 1, Group I finals in two weeks. The Panthers survived a wild 34-27 contest with Hasbrouck Heights to advance. The game may be held at Giants Stadium, but the official announcement will be made in the coming week.
"It's hard to believe. I'm going to be playing in the state final my senior year," said Flynn.
Tripucka noted that the Herd reached the final two years ago and lost badly, 28-0 to Bogota, but said the focus has to be on Thursday's game against Kinnelon first. "We've got Thanksgiving, and then we've got the state championship game," he said. "We just want to win out." -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now
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