Dover Executes Flawlessly in Victory

Dover, NJ (Youth1) – Hamilton Athletic Complex in Dover, NJ played host to the Youth1 Game of the Week on Saturday night, pitting the visiting Morris Hills Jr. Knights against the home Dover Tigers.

 

Emotions were running high throughout the week, as the collective eyes of Dover were centered on the battle between conference rivals and classmates.

 

“This is a big game for both teams,” said Dover head coach Scott Mack.  “Personally, I know our kids really get up when we play Morris Hills because some of these kids are classmates.  They take a lot of pride in this game.”

 

Receiving the opening kickoff and starting with good field position, Dover was shut down on their first possession by a hungry Morris Hills defense led by #55 Bobby Sugot. However, after the three and out possession, Dover returned the favor forcing a Morris Hills punt on their opening possession as well.

 

#12 Jorge Gutierrez put Dover in great field position after the punt and the Tigers were now in business.  After being set up by a QB keeper around the right side by #3 Dallas McCall, Dover punched the ball in for the game’s opening score, when #27 Jordan Figuero bounced a run outside and broke 2 tackles on his way to the end zone. The scoreboard read 8-0.

 

As a result of a Morris Hills botched snap on offense, Dover got the ball back and again had nice field position deep in Morris Hills’ territory.  But the Morris Hills defense stood tall as #19 Andrew Castelli and #12 Michael Dietrich made big plays to force a turn-over on downs-ending the quarter.

 

After forcing the Jr. Knights to punt on the ensuing drive, Gutierrez again delivered a nice return up the Dover sidelines to put Dover in the red zone to start their drive.  It took only a few plays for Dover to find the end zone again when offensive lineman #57 Kevin Naranjo collapsed the right side of the Morris Hills defensive line, leaving Figuero to go in untouched.  Morris Hills did however block the extra point when Sugot busted through the line and let out a defiant yell as if to let everyone know Morris Hills wasn’t about to quit.

 

After a Guitierrez interception, Dover again took over in Morris Hills territory and wasted little time getting on the board again as McCall rolled right and fired a pass to #18 Alejandro De La Cruz who was wide open on a corner route.  The score gave Dover a 22-0 lead as the first half came to a close.

 

Morris Hills received the ball to start the 2nd half, but a botched punt snap gave Dover the ball on the Morris Hills 26 yard line. Dover then gave the Jr. Knights a heavy dosage of #4 Dimitri Oliveras as the small but shifty running back carried the ball on three of the four plays en route to a touchdown and a 30-0 score.

 

Morris Hills began their next drive at their own 32, and the never-say-die Jr. Knights began to move the ball.  Led by #54 Kenny Hudson and #21 Jesse Maka, the Jr. Knights began to chip away at Dover’s defense by running quick hitters up the middle. Hudson and Maka ran over several Dover defenders and moved the ball into Dover territory.  However, Oliveras put an abrupt end to the Morris Hills drive as he snatched an errant pass out of the air to give Dover possession.

 

Dover added one more touchdown to the board in the 4th quarter as Oliveras, who took over at QB, broke 5 Jr. Knights tackles on his way to the end zone on a QB sneak, to cap the scoring as Dover went on to the 37-0 victory.

 

After the game Dover coach Mack added, “I’m happy we came out on top tonight, but the important thing is that these kids go to school on Monday and continue their friendship.  That’s much more important.”

 

 

 

 

By Alan Popadines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: youth1.com