At MetLife Stadium, a true fairy tale, something that seemed as if it were from a movie, occurred. The Wayne Hills Patriots beat their crosstown rivals, the Wayne Valley Indians, by a score or 31-24, in an absolutely nail-biting overtime period.
Throughout the first half, it seemed like the winning side would be Valley, who shut down the Patriots, completely taking ownership of both the momentum and the game with the only blips on the radar being a Jaaron Hayek interception on Grant Ferrauilo’s first pass of the game and a Jason Modak forced fumble late in the second quarter. Thanks to two touchdowns and a field goal by the Indians, they were up 17-7 over the Patriots.
The second half was a completely different story. With Hills down 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter, they were able to shut down the Valley offense, which was clicking on all cylinders the first half, and came back to tie the game at 24-24. This was thanks to absolutely absurd runs by Tyler Hayek and Luca Grave. The last 10 minutes of the fourth quarter were the most gut wrenching of the game, where there were costly turnovers and penalties that neither team were able to effectively capitalize on.
The overtime period is the same as the one utilized in the College Football games, where there is no game clock and the team in possession has the ball in the opponent’s territory to start off. The pivotal play of the game came on a fourth down on Hills’ first overtime possession. On a trick play widely called the “Statue of Liberty” and what Hills calls “Magic”, DeVera faked a throw and handed the ball off to Hunter Hayek, who looked like he was going to be tackled in the backfield and then turning over the ball on downs, shoveled a pass back to Brendan DeVera, who with incredible strength and patience was able to run past multiple Valley defenders and miraculously get a first down, which would eventually lead to Luca Grave’s winning score.
The last play of the game was absurd, as Valley junior Greg Poloso caught a pass and looked to be able to score or make his way only a few short yards away from the end zone. Poloso bobbled the ball and the ball ended up out of bounds in the end zone, resulting in a touchback for the Patriots, and a State Finals victory.
In a storybook ending, the Patriots were able to come on top in the grandest stage of them all and win the game. Wayne Hills was able to break their 4 year long cold streak of not winning a State Championship, and beat their bitter crosstown rivals in the process. This game and team will surely go down in Wayne Hills history forever.