By Andy Loigu

Warren Hills and Hackettstown both had something special to celebrate over the weekend.

The Blue Streaks won the sectional championship in field hockey with a 3-1 win over West Morris and the Tigers’ football team reclaimed the Beater Board with an impressive 48-21 win over Warren Hills in the 94th meeting of their traditional neighborhood football rivalry.

Ladies first

Warren Hills broke a 1-1 tie with a pair of second half goals, on Friday, to capture the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 field hockey title in a battle of highly ranked teams in the NJ.com top 20.  The Blue Streaks now stand at 22-1 and ranked sixth statewide, all groups. The West Morris Wolfpack is now 20-2-1 and ranked 13th, after losing for the first time in a month. The game was a matchup of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament champions against the Morris County Tournament champs.

“We were ready for a real struggle,” said Warren Hills coach Josie Potter, who was a first team All-State player for a Warren Hills team which reached the Group 3 final a decade ago. “We and West Morris had several common opponents during the season (including Hackettstown) and the scores were amazingly similar.”

Sarah Korczukowski scored two goals for Warren Hills. Her second one broke a tie with 21:26 left to play in regulation. Warren Hills was awarded a corner and she one-timed the feed toward the goal. The ball “had eyes” as the baseball expression goes, finding its way through a myriad of legs and sticks past the goalkeeper’s pads. “I was going to shoot as soon as it hit my stick,” Korczukowski said afterward. “It does not matter if it was pretty or ugly, it went into the cage.”

Samantha Dugan hit the post with a shot at 16:18 but scored on a rocket launch at 10:22 to give the Streaks a two-goal lead. Maddie Summitt and Kate Fenner each contributed an assist for Warren Hills. “This is a goal-hungry team,” Potter remarked. “A lot of different girls have scored goals this year and we have a great counter attack. The girls have carried on a season long run for redemption this year, out to make amends for being a second place team in everything last season. It’s great to see them keep putting pressure on the defenses by firing shots. Sometimes you miss opportunities by making that extra pass.”

West Morris goalie Victoria Bodnar made 12 saves, while senior Julia Webber made 13 stops for the Blue Streaks, including a couple of diving saves in the last three minutes, as the Wolfpack kept attacking and refused to go away quietly.

Good luck to the Streaks as they move on to the state semis and finals (hopefully) against the other three sectional champs in Group 3.

Tigers growl on the prowl

Coming into Saturday evening’s football game with a 1-6 record, Hackettstown knew that a win over visiting Warren Hills would be a nice way to put a good spin in their stretch run. And spin they did. The Tigers played their best offensive game of the season and blew the game open with three late touchdowns to reclaim the Beater Board with a 48-21 win, narrowing a slim Warren Hills lead in the 94-year series.

When Warren Hills scored midway through the third period, the Hackettstown lead was 27-21.

Hackettstown quarterback Nick Gagliardi expertly handled the triple-option offense and made the right decisions all night long.

Shortly before halftime, Alejandro Castro scored on a 93-yard sprint down the sideline to give the Tigers a 27-7 lead. What made the play was Gagliardi’s recognition that the Blue Streaks’ defense was loaded up to stop Jason Kuehner up the middle. He pitched the ball outside to Castro, who had plenty of open space for a big play. Castro only carried the ball three times, but he gained 118 yards.

It’s all about reading the defense and giving the ball to the right guy at the right time.

Kuehner, a senior, scored four touchdowns and gained 126 yards, earning him the Offensive Player of the Game Award for Hackettstown. Linebacker Zeb Burke earned Defensive Player of the Game honors.

Each year, the WRNJ broadcasters who call the game choose offensive and defensive standouts for both teams. The players who are chosen receive classy trophies at a joint luncheon of the Hackettstown and Washington Rotary Clubs a few days after the game. The winning coach gets to keep the Beater Board for a year.

Geir Nemeth and Braden Philhower were named the offensive and defensive stars for Warren Hills.

A special shout out goes to Bruce Schott, a member of the Warren County Hall of Fame, who has been the caretaker of the Beater Board and trophies for the past 33 years, carrying on a marvelous local tradition.

Over the years, several players have told me they would have liked to carry the Beater Board off the field, the way North Hunterdon and Voorhees players have done with the Milk Can for 40-plus years in their traditional game in nearby Hunterdon County. But, by having the presentation done at a luncheon, the player of the game winners get a few hours off from school and a much more tasty lunch than they would get at the school cafeteria. 

Talk about incentive

After longtime coach Bob Lockhart’s Warren Hills teams won this game 12 years in a row, the athletic directors expressed concern that the rivalry had become non-competitive, that Warren Hills had too large an enrollment advantage for Hackettstown to compete anymore. There was talk of ending the series. However, since breaking through with a stunning win in 2005, the Tigers have held their own for over a decade and the rivalry is alive and well and as spirited as ever. 

….Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.