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With a state football playoff bid in their back pocket, the Pompton Lakes Cardinals took care of business on a rainy Saturday in what will likely be their final home game. The Cards stopped visiting Manchester Regional 20-0 in a game affected by rainy weather.
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The Cardinals played a well rounded game on both sides of the ball. Pompton Lakes capped off the regular season with a victory in spite of playing without starting quarterback Sean Carey and having to overcome the poor weather conditions.
Backup QB Paul Mason had a strong game with two touchdown passes in the first quarter. Brian Minarovich caught a 9-yard pass from Mason to open up the scoring. Later in the period, Mason connected with P.J. Rodriguez on a screen play that went 79 yards for their second touchdown.
The Cardinals' special teams had a huge game with two punt blocks. Matt Grosser accounted for both blocks, one of which he recovered in the end zone to give his team a 20-0 lead. Pompton Lakes was able to contain a Manchester team that was truly one dimensional. Although resilient, the Falcons' running attack was not consistent enough to make any damage. The Cardinals had an impressive goal line stand late in the third quarter, taking over on downs thanks to the defensive line led by Tommy Duncan and Grosser.
The football game overall was sloppy due to the weather conditions. Pompton Lakes made the plays when it counted, and as expected won without difficulty.
The Cardinals had some late season injuries that sidelined a few starting players. However, coach Scott Mahoney said, “We will have our starters back going into the state tournament”.
Their first New Jersey high school state tournament tournament game is expected to be against Hasbrouck Heights, the team that knocked them out of last year's sports playoffs. The contest would take place Friday night at the Aviators' home field. --Emir Liguori for Jersey Sports Now
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