The Verona Eagles‘ football teams were out in full force last weekend. Here are highlights of some of the game action and photos of the C Varsity team’s 20-6 win over Livington, courtesy of Heidi Huze.
Eagles A Varsity: Cedar Grove 7 – Verona Eagles 0
The reigning Super Bowl Champion Verona Eagles A-Team started their 2011 season the way 2010 began, with a loss. Last year it was Livingston who defeated the Eagles on opening day, a loss the Eagles would avenge in the Super Bowl. On Sunday, it was the Cedar Grove Panthers who defeated the Eagles 7-0, in a sloppy game dominated by the defenses.
On their first drive, the Eagles were faced with a 3rd and ten when Matt Zebrowski dropped back and hit TE Mike Carlucci with a perfect seam pass for a 30 yard gain to the Cedar Grove 35 yard line. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out and the Eagles were forced to punt.
Defensively, the Eagles forced multiple fumbles, one recovered by AJ Pengue, and another by David Gautieri after a Mark Riggio bone-jarring hit. Brian Valentine and Sam Cummings each made plays in the Panthers backfield. But the day belonged to the Cedar Grove defense, who pressured Zebrowski all day. Riggio had some punishing runs in the second half, but none of the Eagles drives resulted in points, thus leaving them on the short end of the score.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier, as the West Essex Cowboys come to Centennial Field this Sunday for a 3:30 game. Coach Steve Lupo vows to have his Eagles ready!
Eagles AJV: Verona Eagles 21 – Livingston Lancers 14
The Eagles AJV improved to 2-0 by coming from behind to beat the Livingston Lancers 21-14.
As Livingston returned the opening kickoff of the 2nd half for a touchdown, it looked like the Eagles might regret not scoring on a 4th down from the Livingston one late in the first half.
However Zach Zaccone calmly led the Eagles right down the field capped by a TD pass to Mike Stanisci. Z then threw the tying extra point pass to Colin Kiernan and the game was tied 7-7.
The defense stepped up on Livingston’s next possession, behind the efforts of Jake “Hoot” Houthuysen, Stanisci, and Mike Mughetto. Sean Ryan pounced on a fumble and the Eagles were back in business.
That’s when the Eagles O-Line started blowing holes in the Lancer’s D. Running behind Austin Camp, Matt Gautieri, Carter Kenny, Devyn Bevilacqua, and Chris Lonergan, Ryan and Mughetto ripped off huge runs deep into Lancer territory. Zaccone then hit Peter Marlo on a scoring strike to give the Eagles their first lead. An extra point pass to Stanisci made it 14-7 Eagles.
However, the Lancers would not go quietly. They tied the score on their next possession as the2nd half turned into a shootout.
The Eagles final score came on the ground, as Mugsy Mughetto followed a Ryan block, and scampered into the end zone. Mughetto would also add the extra point to give the Eagles the game’s final score 21-14.
Eagles BJV: Verona Eagles – 6 Livingston Lancers –0
The Eagles BJV White team improved to 2-0 by edging a game Livingston Lancer team 6-0. Verona played without Anthony Zamloot, who is out for three weeks with a badly sprained thumb.
On The Eagle’s first possession, the offense mounted a 12 play scoring drive which turned out to be the only scoring of the game. Nick Giuliano completed several passes on the drive to Brian Hipp and Matt Frungillo, with Frung ultimately catching a TD pass.
After that, the game belonged to the defenses, with several players making huge plays. Gavin Freeman intercepted a pass, while Jack Gautieri, Nikolai Bujnowski and Brendan Wallace each tackled the Lancer ball-carriers for losses. The games biggest defensive play came from Frungillo, who ran down a Lancer ball-carrier inside the 10 yard line with seconds remaining in the first half.
Center Matt Aldiero handled all the snaps cleanly, and paved the way on several Eagle runs.
Next up for the Eagles are The West Essex Cowboys Saturday at Centennial Field.
