It was one of those bend-do-not-break-type of games for Chatham High School (N.J.) football, as the contest hung in the balance to the very last play after it fought back from an early deficit.
But Chatham held on to outlast Warren Hills, 29-22, Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field.
Chatham (5-2) head coach Evan Picariello praised the Blue Streaks for their talent and not making the victory an easy one for his squad.
However, the Cougars accomplished what they set out to do and ultimately came up big when it mattered most.
“First of all, Warren Hills is a good football team,” Picariello said. “What they did gave us some challenges. Any time a team is living empty (no running backs) against you, you have to be able to defend that.
“Like I told our kids, I’m proud of them,” he continued. “It wasn’t our best effort, I don’t think. But offensively, we scored when we needed to, we executed when we need to. Defensively, we got the biggest stop at the end of the game.”
The Blue Streaks jumped out to an early 7-0 lead with 8:25 to go to in the first period.
But Chatham responded with a touchdown of its own when junior quarterback Ryan Hogan connected with senior Sonny Arden on a four-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:07 left in the first quarter.
After a senior Michael MacAniff interception thwarted a Warren Hills’ drive, on the ensuing play, the Hogan-Arden connection worked their magic again on a 35-yard TD reception for a 14-7 advantage early in the second period. Then came a third touchdown hookup from Hogan to Arden, this time a 25 yarder, which gave the Cougars a two-touchdown lead with 8:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Not to be outdone, Warrens Hills’ senior running back Davey Rhinehart found paydirt on a six-yard rush, followed by a junior quarterback Cohl Stevens‘ successful two-point conversion run to close the gap at 21-15 with less than two minutes to go in the third period.
Fortunately for the Blue Streaks, they kept the tilt to within striking distance after blocking a Chatham field goal attempt.
After a few offensive plays, Stevens cashed in on a four-yard scoring rush to help Warren Hills surge ahead, 22-21, with 3:01 left in the third quarter.
Refusing to surrender, Hogan broke through on a five-yard touchdown keeper, and Arden reeled in a Hogan two-point conversion pass to make it a seven-point game with Chatham leading with 11:10 to go in the contest.
After Warren Hills forced the Cougars to punt, it drove the ball to midfield. But MacAniff turned away the Blue Streaks with his second pickoff of the day.
Seemingly running out of time, Warren Hills used a hook and latter pitch to advance the ball deep into Chatham territory with 10.9 remaining in the affair.
The Blue Streaks managed to move the ball to the six, and Stevens spiked the pigskin to stop the clock with little time to go in the tilt.
With one more play left, MacAniff came up big again when he batted down a pass in the end zone to end the game on a glorious winning note.
“Our defense was a little slow on that last drive, but I rocked over to the middle of the field, and I saw the QB look back,” MacAniff explained. “I used my volleyball skills to swat it down.”
Game over!
The Cougars host Parsippany Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and can capture the Liberty Blue Division title in the Super Football Conference with a victory in the regular season finale.
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