Maroons Football Finishes Strong, Boys XC Take Sectional Title

The place did not matter for the boys cross country team, as the Maroons nipped Hackensack in the end for the Group 4 North 1 state championship.

On the girls side of cross country, only one team was better than Ridgewood in the Group 4 North 1 state sectional race and that was Randolph.

The Maroons boys soccer team was also victimized by Randolph this coming in the Group 4 North 1 state semi-finals, a 3-0 loss.

The football team missed out on a state playoff bid, but they had an easy time on Saturday against Passaic, 49-0, at home last Saturday and will instead play a consolation game in Morris Knolls on Saturday.

The Ridgewood girls gymnastics team garnered second in the state sectional meet last Saturday, only behind Ramapo.

Read on for details on the week that was in Ridgewood sports.

Boys Cross Country

Led by senior Travis Spicer, Ridgewood nipped Hackensack, 51-60, in the Group 4 North 1 state sectional meet that was moved from Garret Mountain to Thompson Park in Jamesburg.

Spicer was able to help take home the team title, but just missed winning the individual title that went to Hackensack senior John Pujols. Spicer was 10 seconds behind Pujols, 16:16 to 16:06.

Six Maroons runners came in the top 25. Junior Nick Salamone was the second Ridgewood runner to pass the finish line. Salamone came in fifth place with a time of 16:36, while senior Levi Jennings was seventh with a time of 16:41. Juniors Storm Dublirer and Will Ades were 15th and 24th place respectively with times of 16:56 and 17:10. Just behind Ades was sophomore David Frering in 25th at 17:13.

Girls Cross Country

Ridgewood might have had more runners finishing in the top 20, but Randolph had the top three runners.

The Lady Maroons had their top six runners finish in the first 20 runners to hit the finish line, but Randolph's Samantha Jones won the race and led a procession of a top-three finish for Randolph runners.

Ridgewood sophomore Emily Fishbein led Ridgewood, placing sixth with a time of 19:27.

The Lady Maroons were just 15 points short of catching Randolph, 37 to 52.

After Fishbein, seniors Hanako Shigenobu and Caroline Davidson came in eight and ninth, respectively, with times of 19:36 and 19:41. The next Ridgewood runners also came in together, seniors Victoria Pan and Tinny Gibble at 14th and 15th respectively, with times of 20:08 and 20:09. Sophomore Laura Weisberger crossed the finish line in 18th at 20:17. Freshman Genev Felsenstein was just outside the top 20 with a 25th finish and a time of 21:03.

Boys Soccer

Ridgewood fell a game short of the Group 4 North 1 state sectional final after falling 3-0 to Randolph at home on Monday in the semi-final contest in Ridgewood.

The Maroons finished with a 15-3-1 record and won its first state playoff games in more than a decade.

Despite the lopsided score, the Maroons were only down 1-0 through much of the game. Ridgewood received a penalty kick, but Ridgewood striker Yusuf Hamza's kick was stopped by Randolph goalie Michael Lansing.

The stop was a heartbreaker for the Maroons, and Randolph took advantage of it with two goals in the last 15 minutes of the game.

Football

Ridgewood qualified with the victory over Passaic at 4-4, but it was just not good enough to get to the top eight in the Group 4 North 1 state sectional playoffs that start this weekend.

The Maroons finished with 84 points and the 10th spot in the power points, 10 behind the eighth seed in Roxbury and the finals spot in the playoffs. In Morris Knolls on the Saturday, Ridgewood will take on the team that was ninth in the power points and also have a 4-4 record.

Against Passaic the Maroons pounced early, jumping ahead 21-0 after the first quarter.

In a balanced running attack, Jason Canella, Blake Feagles and Peter Reuter collected 57 more rushing yards or more. Reuter led the way with 83 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair in the first quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Jamal Locke did not have to throw much at all, completing 4-of-7 passes for 103 yards and a 30-yard first quarter touchdown pass to Blake Feagles. Feagles caught three passes for 92 yards. Locke also added a 30-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Tripp Telesco and Mike Camporini led the way on defense. Telesco had four solo tackles and 13 assisted tackles while Camporini added three solo tackles and nine assisted tackles.

After the battle with Morris Knolls, the Maroons will look to win the annual Thanksgiving contest with Paramus at home this season on Nov. 24.

Girls Gymnastics

Ridgewood has pretty much been perfect if it wasn't for Ramapo.

The Maroons squad has been snake bit by the Green Raiders throughout this season and it happened again on Saturday in the North 1 state sectional meet in Ridgewood.

The Lady Maroons just fell short of catching Ramapo, 108.85 to 108.55.

Despite the loss the future is ahead of Ridgewood freshman Yurina Harada who won the overall title with a score of 37.275, beating out Ramapo's Kayla Yosif. Harada won the balance beam and the floor exercise events.