Leadership came in the form of four determined seniors especially after the Cranford High School football team learned a lesson after dropping its opening game. The Cougars relied on team captains, quarterback Tyler Veltre, linebacker Justin Hoeffler, linebacker Dylan Jones and offensive lineman Max Brown to lead the way, along with a number of talented seniors, to pick themselves up and finish with a 7-3 record.
The Cougars opened their season with a 32-14 setback to the top-20 ranked Somerville Pioneers, who would go on to win the Central Jersey, Group 3 title and finish 12-1. In the first half, the Cougars’ offense was fooled several times by the Pioneers’ deceptive defensive shift and were unable to get on the scoreboard until the third quarter.
Next, the Cougars wised up and shut down the Carteret Ramblers, 210, then totally tamed the South Plainfield Tigers, 38-0, before falling to an old foe, the Summit Hilltoppers, 21-7, in Summit. That loss sent the Cougars back to the drawing board and the lesson would pay off well as they would win their next five games.
The Cougars had a battle with the Rahway Indians but prevailed, 1413, then traveled to Scotch Plains and strutted home with a 45-13 triumph. Next, the visiting Colonia Patriots held a 13-12 lead in the fourth quarter but the Cougars dug deeply and scored to pull out an 18-13 victory. In the final regular-season game, the Cougars used the power of the “foot” to ice the Hillside Comets, 16-6, when senior Christiano Ambrosio kicked three straight field goals and touched it off with the extra point after sophomore Gabe Worrell plunged in for the score.
But the big revenge game was next as the Cougars trailed the Summit Hilltoppers in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 quarterfinal round late in the fourth quarter until Veltre pushed in for the touchdown to earn a 27-22 victory. The Cougars gave topseeded Old Tappan a run for its money but wound up on the short side of a 22-14 score. Old Tappan would go on to win the section title and the Group 3 title.
Veltre got in sync with his receivers more and more as the season progressed and completed 75 of 149 passes for 937 yards, which included four touchdowns (TD) and 10 interceptions. Sophomore quarterback Aidan Capizzi passed once for 11 yards.
If Veltre wanted to go long he would find senior wide receiver Niko Aloi, who would finish with 10 receptions for 241 yards and two TDs. For key needed yardage, senior Luciano Fiorenza was the man with 20 receptions for 265 yards. Junior Ryder Connors had 17 receptions for 207 yards and a TD. Junior JoeyAcinapura had five receptions for 42 yards and a TD. Hoeffler had two receptions for 50 yards. Four other seniors also got into the receiving act. Yousf Elashry had seven for 38 yards, Brandon DiPaolo had two for 31 yards, Jones had two for 14 yards and Amari Petgrave had two for minus one yard.
The second game into the season, the Cougars found their primary running back with sophomore Gabe Worrell, who finished with 805 yards and 10 TDs on 152 carries. Petgrave carried 64 times for 355 yards and five TDs. Jones and Veltre started carrying the ball more often during crunch time at the end of the season. Jones carried 47 times for 266 yards and two TDs, while Veltre carried 78 times for 148 yards and three TDs. Capizzi carried three times for 10 yards, including a TD against Scotch Plains. Sophomore Jared Acinapura carried five times for 42 yards and Connors carried four times for 15 yards.
On special teams, Joey Acinapura had a 34-yard punt return for a TD. Jones and junior Mike Tripodi were the primaries for kickoff returns. Ambrosio was 6-for-6 in field goals and was successful in all 26 of his points after TD.
Defensively, Hoeffler recorded 82 tackles, four throws for losses (TFL), a fumble recovery for a TD and an interception. JoeyAcinapura recorded 67 tackles, a sack, TFL, a safety and a blocked punt. Jones had 60 tackles, four TFLs, a sack and two interceptions. DiPaolo had 59 tackles (5 TFL) and a fumble recovery for a TD. Petgrave had 41 tackles (sack, 2 TFL). Senior Arthur Hrycak had 41 tackles (6 TFL) and a fumble recovery. Senior Kevin Gormley had 27 tackles (sack, 3 TFL). Fiorenza had 26 tackles and an interception.
Senior Mike Scotti had 27 tackles (sack, 6 TFL) and three blocked punts. Elashry had 19 tackles (sack, TFL). Aloi had 23 tackles and an interception. Junior Vince Silva had 10 tackles and a key game-clinching interception. Junior Quinn Smith had 14 tackles and senior Jake Zarzecki recorded 18 tackles.
Petgrave had both TDs against Somerville. Worrell scored all three TDs against Carteret and also had three TDs against South Plainfield. In the loss to Summit, Aloi had a 46yard TD reception from Veltre. Against Rahway, JoeyAcinapura had an 18-yard TD reception and Worrell galloped 137 yards and had a threeyard TD. Worrell had two TDs against Scotch Plains, while Jones, Capizzi and Petgrave ran for TDs, Hoeffler returned a fumble for a TD and Ambrosio kicked a field goal.
Veltre had two Philadelphia Eaglestyle sneaks for TDs against Colonia, Ambrosio kicked a 39-yard field goal and Joey Acinapura blocked a punt in the end zone for a safety. Ambrosio kicked his three field goals and Worrell had a one-yard TD run in the win over Hillside. Veltre passed five times for 183 yards, including TD strikes to Aloi (80 yards) and Connors (65 yards), and added a one-yard push TD, while Jones had a two-yard TD run in the sectional win over Summit. Jones carried for 112 yards against Old Tappan, DiPaolo returned a fumble for a TD and Petgrave had a TD.
A large number of talented athletes will graduate but one could bet that there remains a host of salivating Cougars just waiting to pounce on the openings.
