The Wayne Hills Football season has ended with their last game being against Bellville on Wednesday, November 3rd. As winter approaches and the off-season has begun, let’s take a recap on how the Patriots football team did.

They opened up their season with their game against Harrisonville in Missouri. The Patriots put up a fight with the game leading to a tied game at 30-30 with 10 minutes to go on a fourth-down pass from Riina to Nick Hogan for a 4-yard score. Riina also completed the two-point conversion to Geraghty. Matthew Geraghty caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Joe Riina to put Wayne Hills ahead by a touchdown with just 2:22 remaining, but the Wildcats answered with a long scoring run and the conversion run to pull out a 38-37 loss in Harrisonville.

The teams first in-state game took place at Paterson Kennedy, with Wayne Hills achieving a winning score of 32-7. John Sees had 41 rushing yards and Joey Rina had 92 passing yards. Along with Matthew Quagliana having an interception. The team then had their next game in Passaic with a flawless victory score of 35-6. Joey Rina had 100 passing yards and John Sees had 94 rushing yards. 

While there were a handful of mentally and generally defeating games, there were also unforgettable ones against our long time rivals, Wayne Valley and Ramapo. The game against Valley was an absolute dogfight with the game going back and forth, ending up in a tied game of 21-21. The game then settled to a double overtime. Riina scored the first points of overtime when he connected with Makai Gray for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Wayne Valley tied the game 21-21 when Erik Scheuplein delivered a 10-yard scoring strike to Cole Wolford. After scoring its second overtime touchdown to tie the game 27-27, Wayne Valley decided to go for the win with a two-point conversion. With the game on the line, Wayne Valley quarterback Joey Riina took a shot for the corner of the endzone, but Wayne Hills managed to tip the throw, and Chetirkin picked off the ball to end the game,with the final score being 27-28.

In their game against Ramapo, the team really held their own for facing off against Ramapo who’s current record is 10-1. Both teams played good defense with not much happening until the fourth quarter. The Raiders took a 14-0 lead into the fourth quarter, but Ben Contella gave Wayne Hills life when he punched in an early fourth quarter touchdown to make it a one-score game. Ethan Moran helped Ramapo respond quickly by rumbling in a long touchdown rush to make it 21-7 for Ramapo just minutes later. Wayne Hills’ Joey Riina threw a touchdown pass to Gray Makai with about three minutes left in the contest, but Ramapo’s offense wound down the clock before its defense got the final stop. Leaving Wayne hills on a tough loss with the final score being 14-21.

“We really put up a fight against Valley and Ramapo, next year we will come back stronger and better than ever,” says Junior Wide Receiver Matthew Quagliana.

The student section is what kept our players going and they were louder and wilder than ever.  While this year wasn’t the most ideal season for our players, with their final record being 3-7, it won’t be a forgettable one.