Sports
Sports Report: Panthers Football Stomps Lodi in Season Opener
Glen Rock teams across the board are expecting big results
The fields at Glen Rock High School are once again filled with student athletes and their coaches working toward their season goals.
One thing is for certain, the varsity teams have high expectations once again, with many hoping to contend for league and state titles.
Football (1-0) Beat Lodi 27-6
That's the word that coach Jim Kurz has been trying to drill into his football team since training camp began.
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After an up-and-down season in 2010, the team is looking to finish out games and secure themselves a playoff spot — and on Saturday, they took a big step in that direction.
Leading Lodi by a score of 10-6 at the half, the Panthers rallied in the second half to put up 17 unanswered points en route to a 27-6 victory.
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The team got supercharged their passing game and looked rock solid defensively, allowing Lodi to score only once on a second quarter run.
- Diamo Streaser proved that he could be a huge asset in close games this year as he connected on two field goal attempts of 34 and 36 yards.
- Freddie Pulzello had a big day, catching numerous passes, none bigger than his 71 yard TD snag in the first quarter.
- It was a good day for Glen Rock quarterbacks, as senior Tim Miller threw for 166 yards and 2 scores, and ran for 48 yards.
- Backup quarterback Mike O'Neill entered the game for a series and led the Panthers on a scoring drive, completing two passes and then rushing for an 8-yard touchdown.
Up Next: The team takes on Elmwood Park at home on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Check out the video for highlights from the 27-6 win over Lodi as well as interviews with Freddie Pulzello and Coach Jim Kurz
Girls Soccer (3-0)
Heading into this season, the girls soccer team looks focused.
After falling in the semi-finals of the loaded North I Group II playoffs last year, the team brings back many of those core players and is ready to make a big run this season.
Things couldn't have gotten off to much of a better start, as the team blanked Pascack Hills 5-0 on Saturday and then upended Garfield 8-nil on Monday.
This team possesses tremendous speed and veteran leadership, which will bode well for the rest of the season — much of the starting defense from last season's division champion team (18-2-1) is back.
They followed up their first two wins with a 6-0 victory over Rutherford as the team continues to pour in the goals while playing terrific defense as well.
Sophie Lederer, Colleen DeMaio, Hannah Petrone, Rachel Gross, Grace Taylor and Caroline Taylor all netted goals for the Lady Panthers.
We will be featuring the girls soccer team next week.
Up next: Friday 4 p.m. @ Lodi
Boys Soccer (2-0)
After finishing last season with a state sectional title, the team is back for another run in 2011.
So far, they're right on pace.
The team kicked off the season with a 3-0, clean sheet win over Rutherford on Friday, and followed up that effort with a 3-1 win at Lodi.
The team has been looking to have a more balanced scoring attack this season — in two games so far, all six goals have come from different scorers. Chris Dubelbeiss, Garrett Nygren, Jake Quiat, Breaden DeWan, Mike Dwyer and Darragh Quinn have all netted goals for the Panthers.
Up Next: Thursday 9/15 @ Pascack Hills 4 p.m.
Volleyball (0-3)
After losing a majority of their squad from last year, the volleyball team is working towards finding perfect chemistry.
The team dropped a 2-0 (21-25, 17-25) match to Pascack Hills on Friday, but followed that game up with a hard fought, close 2-1 (22-25, 25-21, 21-25) loss to Garfield on Monday.
The team then took on Rutherford on Wednesday and dropped a 2-0 decision (23-25, 13-25).
Look for this team to continue to improve as the season goes on.
Up Next: Friday, 9/16 @ Lodi 4 p.m.
Girls Tennis (2-1)
The Girls Tennis team is off to a nice start this season, as they've won two of their first three matches.
The team got things started with a 5-0 win over Emerson on Thursday and they followed that up with a 4-1 win over Park Ridge the next day.
Though they did drop their first match of the season to Pascack Hills on Monday — by a score of 4-1 — this team is ready for a big season.
Up next: Thursday 9/15 @ Garfield 4 p.m.
Cross Country (Boys 1-0 Girls 2-0)
On Wednesday the teams got off to a good start to their seasons as the boys team beat Manchester 15-50 and the girls team beat Manchester 15-50 and Mary Help by tiebreaker 15-15.
- John Leibu turned in the fastest time for the boys, finishing the Garret Mountain course in 19:35
- Katie Vandervalk turned in the fastest time for the girls, running a 22:09
Up Next: Boys/Girls Wednesday 9/21 vs. Eastern Christian and Pascack Hills 4:00pm @ Darlington
