By Andy Loigu

Not only did the Warren Hills Blue Streaks’ football team keep possession of the Beater Board for another year with a 14-0 win over Hackettstown on Friday evening, they got a berth in the sectional playoffs, also.

By achieving a .500 record at 4-4 in time for the selection deadline, the Blue Streaks gained a spot in the Group 3 brackets opposite 6-3 Montville, a team which edged them by a single point on Oct. 14. This is the Blue Streaks’ 19th appearance in the playoffs. Back in 2000, coached by Bob Lockhart and a superb staff of assistants, they won the sectional championship with a rugged win over West Morris.

Speaking of West Morris, Hackettstown, despite the loss, qualified for the state playoffs, as well, and is scheduled to face West Morris this Friday night in Long Valley.

In addition to the traditional Beater Board being awarded to the winning team each year, the joint Hackettstown and Washington Rotary Clubs present offensive and defensive Player of the Game awards to players who gave it their all on the field.

Warren Hills junior running back Jayden Aziz gained 100 yards on 28 carries to earn an award.

The Blue Streaks scored on their first two possessions. A 13-yard touchdown pass from Luke Dugan to Ryan Cagnassola completed an eight-play 66-yard scoring drive. Then, after getting the ball back, the Blue Streaks kept it on the ground for 14 of their next 15 plays from scrimmage. Dugan finished the drive with a one-yard plunge into the end zone. Aziz then ran in a two-point conversion carry.

Junior linebacker Anthony Ferroni anchored a Blue Streaks’ defense which did not give up a first down on seven of the Tigers’ nine possessions, holding Hackettstown to 129 yards of total offense. Warren Hills head coach Marcus Gurdineer praised all his defensive players for stopping both the Tigers’ running and passing games by working together as a well drilled unit.

Hackettstown’s offensive player of the game was Christian Bujno and Jaiden Liferiedge, a key to the team’s 5-0 start to the season, won the Tigers’ defensive award.

Now 5-3, Hackettstown draws a tough opponent in the quarterfinals of the Group 3 playoffs, the 9-0 Wolfpack. Under veteran coach Kevin Hennelly, the Wolfpack expertly moves the ball down the field using a tested and true Wing-T offensive system.

Despite their brilliant five-game winning streak early on, the Tigers drew an unbeaten foe in the brackets because the power points system used by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association rated the Tigers’ schedule as a weak one compared to the other Group 3 qualifiers.

The Blue Streaks, by winning the Beater Board for the third straight year, now lead the overall series against Hackettstown 48-43-6.

The ties, by the way, came in 1909 (6-6), 1926 (0-0), 1927 (6-6), 1966 (0-0), 1972 (6-6) and in 1978, another 6-6 tie. The 1966 Blue Streaks finished with an 8-0-1 record.

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Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.