Get your blankets and heavy weather gear ready folks: The Verona High School football team secured a North 2 Group 2 playoff berth with a pre-Nor’easter win over Glen Ridge High School on Friday afternoon.
The 40-7 Verona victory was another hat trick for senior Nick Riggio, who scored once in the first half and twice more in the second.
Matt Aldiero got Verona on the scoreboard first just before the end of the first quarter. He would also go on to snag an interception, one of five times that Glen Ridge involuntarily delivered the ball into Verona hands (congrats too to Matt Frungillo, Shane Lawless, Jake Milmoe and Patrick Yeates).
Once again, Hillbilly football delivered its knock-out blows in the second half. Frank Riggio took the Ridgers’ opening kickoff 80 yards for a Verona TD, and his older brother followed shortly with a 45-yard run that made the score 27-7 Verona. A few short plays later, Nick Riggio walked one over the goal line to up the lead to 34-7 Verona. Riggio put up 177 rushing yards in the Glen Ridge game, pushing his season total to 1,120 yards.
Quarterback Cael Zebrowski, who had 65 yards on the afternoon, finished out the game with a pass to Jake McConnachie for the final Verona score.
The win means that Verona finished the regular season with a 6-2 record. VHS is expected to host the first playoff game on Friday, November 2 at 7 p.m.
Photos copyright Andy Yeates. Used by permission.
