The outcome of Verona’s first five football games this season wasn’t ever really in doubt: The Hillbillies started strong and powered their way to substantial victories over Caldwell, Boonton, Newark Collegiate, Shabazz and Weequahic. But Friday night in Hoboken, fans really got to see what this year’s team is made of.
Yes, Verona did get on the board first once again. It was midway through the first quarter went Cael Zebrowski fired out a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jake McConnachie. But Hoboken came back quickly, as Kyrin Rhone made a 21-yard run to the goalposts.
The Redwings flew into the lead in the second quarter when Damon Murray snagged a 48-yard pass from Hoboken quarterback Jason Blanks. Just before the half ended, Frank Riggio evened things back up for Verona when he muscled his way into the end zone.
The nail biting wasn’t over. With 7:13 left in the third, Hoboken’s Jason Jeannot moved them back into the lead and the Redwings’s next drive was headed for the end zone until they came up short on a 4th-and-1.
But the Hillbillies put their heads down and put Jake Maisano in position to tie the score at 20. Good, but still not a win, and it wasn’t until just about 5 minutes from the end of the game that Verona began to get in position to make that happen. With Hoboken’s defense bearing down on him, Zebrowski found Shane Lawless to give Verona a 26-20 lead. The Redwings rallied one more time and Blanks fired a Hail Mary into the end zone, only to see it swatted away by Lawless.
The 26-20 win improves Verona’s record to 6-0. The Hillbillies head over to 6-1 Cedar Grove for their next game on Friday, October 25.
Photos by Joanna Breitenbach. Used by permission.
