'Winning Plays' help Knights

turn back Par Hills, 17-10

     ROCKAWAY - Mike Sabo calls them "winning plays."
     They don't always appear on the stat sheet ... or the scoreboard ... and they are not always highlight-reel material, either.
     And you might not even know it's a "winning play" when it happens.
     Sabo, the head coach of the Morris Hills High School football team, can point to several "winning plays" from his team's 17-10 victory over Parsippany Hills at Parsippany on Friday, Sept. 18.
     First off, the three obvious plays that led to Morris Hills' second win in as many games to date this season:
       --- Cory Mundt's first-quarter 38-yard field goal that put Morris Hills on the board after Parsippany Hills had taken a 7-0 lead on its first possession was a winning play.
       --- Ditto Mickey Weiks' 40-yard interception return for a TD with 2:42 left in the second quarter that gave Morris Hills a 10-7 lead at the half, a half in which the Knights had been outplayed by Par Hills.
       --- Joe Casale's winning TD, a 1-yard blast with 2:16 left in the game that broke a 10-10 tie that had been created earlier in the quarter when Par Hills kicked a field goal.
      "Winning plays" all ... every one of them.
      But Sabo is also quick to point out other plays in the game that, after further review, also had an impact on the outcome.
      Sabo talks about the way the quarterback Willie Rzucidlo - and the rest of the team - bounced back from the interception Rzucidlo threw that led to Par Hills' first touchdown.
      "We talk about not being perfect ... we know there are going to be times when we make mistakes - some worse than others," Sabo says. "The key here is how well do we respond when we mess up ... do we let it bother us or do we bounce back?"
      Against Par Hills, Rzucidlo & Co. bounced back.
      On Morris Hills' next possession, Rzucidlo hit a tight-end dump pass to Weiks for a 20-yard game that became 35 yards when a Par Hills penalty as tacked onto the play.  Certainly a key play - a "winning play" - in the Knights answering scoring drive.
     "We continue on and Mundt kicks his field goal and we get some of those points back," Sabo says. "We didn't pack it in ... we came back with a scoring drive of our own."
      The score stayed 7-3 in Par Hills' favor with Morris Hills giving up more yardage than it gained until Weiks put the Knights ahead with his interception return for a TD.
     "You can make a case that Parsippany Hills outplayed us in that first half," Sabo says. "Which is what makes Weiks' play so huge for us."
     Par Hills had two drives cut short by Rzucidlo interceptions - one of which was in the Knights' endzone at the end of the third period and the other near the end of the game after Casale had put Morris Hills ahead for good.
     First, the winning TD drive - a drive containing several "winning plays" and came on the heels of Par Hills' game-tying field goal with 7:37 left in in the game.
     The Knights started their scoring drive by being penalized for having too many players on the field. With first-and-15 and 88 long yards to go, Sabo's Knights gained zero yards on two plays and faced a third-and-15 deep in their own territory on their 12-yard line.
     But Morris Hills  bounded back again with Rzucidlo hitting Mundt over the middle for 16 yards and a first down.
     "Mundt caught the ball maybe a yard shy of the marker but kept his feet and was able to struggle forward for another two yards and a first down," says Sabo in describing the play. "That was probably the biggest play of the game for us ... the biggest play in a game of big plays."
     Then Rzucidlo scrambled for a big gain, going 54 yards down the left sideline on a play that was designed to go right.. 
     Just another couple of ?winning plays? for the Knights.
     Then it was Casale's turn - seven straight "turns," in fact - converting a fourth-and-1 by the length of the ball with 3:45 left with one rush and then later punching in the winning TD on his 1-yard blast with 2:16 left to play.
     Par Hills had all three timeouts left and came out throwing. Rzucidlo made his second big interception of the day, picking off a ball that Casale first tipped and then hit off at least two other players before Rzucidlo grabbed it just before it hit the turf.
     Another "winning play" ... and with only 1:30 left on the clock, there was still time for another.
     With Morris Hills facing a fourth-and-one, Sabo called for a tight end dump pass and Rzucidlo and Weiks came through again to give the Knights a first down and allow Rzucidlo to take a couple knees to run out the clock.
     "We didn't have a terrible offensive outing, but it was not up to our standards," Sabo says, pointing to the 325-270 edge Par Hills had in offensive yardage. "But even when we weren't having our best offensive game, we were able to go 88 yards in 12 plays to score the winning touchdown.
     "Bottom line ... we  bounced back.?
      ... with the help of a several"winning plays."
    NOTES - Rzucidlo finished 8-for-14 passing for 137 yards and added another 70 yards rushing on eight carries ... Casale struggled for 48 rushing yards on 22 carries ... running back Albert Gambale rushed seven times for 23 yards and caught three balls for another 60 yards ... on defense, Rzucidlo had a game-high eight tackles and two interceptions from his corner spot ... linebackers Gambale and Casale were also up there in tackles, Gambale finishing with seven and Casale with six, including one for loss ... DL Mike McCormick knocked down a pass and had five tackles, one for a loss ... Mundt had five tackles and an interception at linebacker ... D-lineman John Morrison had a sack ... this was the third time in the last three seasons Morris Hills has won at Parsippany Hills ... "And the third time in three season they took a 7-0 lead on us, too," Sabo points out ... Next up for Morris Hills is Jefferson at Gifford Field on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1 p.m. ...

       ROCKAWAY - Willie Rzucidlo throws for two touchdowns and recovers three fumbles ... Joe Casale scores a TD and runs for 104 yards ... an opportunistic Morris Hills defense forces three fumbles and intercepts a pass ... and that same defense allows but 152 yards for the game.
      And the game ball goes to ...
      Joe Barchetto.
      That's right ... Joe Barchetto. Runnerup honors go to Mike Gallucci.
      Joe Barchetto is an assistant coach on Mike Sabo's football staff at Morris Hills High School and Barchetto, as it turns out, was somewhat of a "secret weapon" for the Knights in their 20-0 opening-day victory over sister-school Morris Knolls on Gifford Field on Saturday, Sept. 12.
      Barchetto, you see, was a quarterback for Morris Knolls coach Bill Regan and ran his Houston Veer offense for him before graduating in 2000.
      "As soon as we found out we were playing Knolls in our opener, Joe became our scout team quarterback," Sabo was saying over the phone the day after the opener. "Thank goodness Joe is still young enough and good enough to run around like because it was a huge help to our defense to have a former veer quarterback to go up against all summer."
 Gallucci devised the Knights' defensive game plan and the unit showed how well it had learned its summer lessons by holding Knolls to 152 yards (all on the ground) on 44 plays.
      Forty-five of those yards came on a run by Knolls Mark Spano that enabled the Eagles to pick up their only first down of the second half with less than five minutes to play in the game.
      The Morris Hills defense was clicking right from the start as the Knights held Knolls to a three-and-out on the Eagles' first possession.
      The Knights moved 55 yards in nine plays with the TD coming on a fourth-and-9 pass from senior QB Rzucidlo to senior TE Mickey Weiks that was good for 24 yards. Cory Mundt kicked the extra point and Hills had a 7-0 lead.
 In the third quarter, Rzucidlo recovered a fumble on the Knolls 10-yard-line and threw a 10-yard TD pass to senior WR Azem Koliq on the next play. Mundt?s PAT kick was blocked and the Hills lead was 13-0.
      An interception by Weiks set up the final TD of the game. Weiks returned the pick 14 yards to the Knolls 26 and, six plays later, Casale bulled over from the 3-yard and Mundt's kick was good for the final points of the game.
     The victory was the sixth straight opening-day win for Sabo in his tenure at Morris Hills.
      "I think that shows the coaching staff that we are doing a good job of getting our players ready for the season ... and it shows the players buy into it," Sabo explained. "We knew since last January that we would need a tremendous effort to beat a Bill Regan-coached team. 
       "After a lot of long, hard working days this past summer, we got what we needed ... this was a great team effort by the players and the coaching staff."
       Especially by Joe Barchetto, who can now go back to coaching instead of running around in practice the way he used to do at Knolls.
       NOTES: Casale carried 18 times for his 104 yards and his TD ... Rzucidlo was 9-for-15 passing for 76 yards and two TDs ... Rzucidlo also added another 19 yards on nine rushes/scrambles ... Albert Gambale had five receptions for 27 yards, including two nice one-handed grabs in the flat ... Koliq had three catches for 25 yards and one TD and Weiks caught one ball, his 24-yard TD reception ... on defense, junior C.J. David finished with five tackles and three sacks; senior Derek Corry had five tackles and forced a fumble; junior John Morrison had five tackles ... Weiks had "two TD-saving tackles" according to Sabo, to go along with his pass interception ... next game is at Parsippany Hills on Friday, Sept. 18, at 2 p.m. ...

Sabo likes his 2009 team,
especially its inexperience

      ROCKAWAY - Mike Sabo has spent the bulk of his preseason getting his Morris Hills High School football team ready for the 2009 season.
       The rest of it has been spent getting ready for opening-day opponent Morris Knolls and its Houston Veer offense
       Sabo sees the early matchup against Knolls as a "good news, bad news" situation.
       "The good thing about facing Morris Knolls first is that we have a longer time period to prepare for their offense," Sabo explains. "What's bad about it is all the stuff we learned we won't be able to use again because nobody else uses that offense.?"
       Learning to defend Knolls' three-headed Veer offense and learning to look for and recognize keys has taught Sabo a lot about this year's team and how his players respond to his staff?s coaching.
      And he likes what he sees.
      "This is a good group of kids and it's a pleasure working with them," Sabo says. "They do everything we ask of them and they do it without hesitation."
       "These kids believe in the coaches, the Morris Hills football program and themselves ... it's exciting to go out and practice with them every day.
       "They have been constantly improving throughout the summer and the preseason and, since we now have a lot of players getting their first crack at varsity ball, we're all anxious to get into the season."
       Sabo, however, sees this lack of varsity experience as somewhat of a positive with this team.
        "We're 22-10 over the last three years and a lot of these kids have sat behind some very good players during that time," Sabo explains. "They have been patiently waiting their turn and, now that it is here, they are anxious to prove themselves and show us they can play varsity football.
      "I don't know if we're going to win 10 games or one game, but I do know these players have shown a lot of determination and commitment ... and their work ethic is really something to watch day in and day out."
     Morris Hills averaged 27.2 points a game last year and finished with a 6-4 record. The Knights rushed for 33 of their 39 TDs last season with the graduated Colin Be scoring 16 rushing touchdowns.
     "We're a running team ... we've always been a running team," Sabo says. "And we'll continue to do so this year, too ... there is no secret as to what we want to do with the ball and how we do it."
       Senior quarterback Willie Rzucidlo (5-foot-10, 165 pounds) will direct the Knights' Delaware Wing-T this season.
       He'll be handing off to senior fullback Joe Casale (5-9, 180) and junior halfbacks C.J. David (6-1, 195) and Albert Gambale (5-10, 185) with junior Matt Hulbert (6-0, 180) first off the bench to spell either David or Gambale.
       Seniors Cory Mundt (6-0, 185) and Mickey Weiks (6-0, 170) are the tight ends and senior Azem Koliq (5-9, 169) is at wide receiver.
     Senior Mike McCormick (5-11, 272) is at left tackle and the right tackle spot is manned by senior Andrew Boettcher (5-9, 255).
     Junior John Morrison (6-1, 215) is at left guard and junior Anthony Manno (5-9, 184) is the right guard.
     The center is senior Derek Corry (5-10, 175).
     Sabo runs a basic 4-3 defense with Morrison, Corry and McCormick rotating in at the two tackle spots and David and junior Antonio Castro (6-2, 200) at defensive end with juniors Zach Shipley (6-1, 205) and Mike Scholtz (6-0, 185) their backups.
      At linebacker, Manno is in the middle and Casale and Mundt are the outside backers.
     Koliq and Weiks are at the corners with Hulbert backing them up and Gambale and Rzucidlo are the safeties.
      Mundt does the punting and all the placekicking. Last year, he scored 26 PATs for the Knights.
      Morris Hills plays in the National Division of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference along with old IHC-Hills foes Mendham and Parsippany Hills. Besides Morris Knolls, the Knights' American Division opponents are Montville, High Point, Pope John, Jefferson and Sparta. 
      "We play five teams that finished 8-1 in regular-season play last year," Sabo says. "And every time we turn around we're running into another coaching legend in the state or an established program such as West Morris, Montville, Pope John or Sparta.
      "We face a tremendous scheduled ... they're all tough and they are all going to be bigger than us.
      "But we're looking forward to the challenge ... all of us."
       NOTES: The rest of the Morris Hills football coaching staff includes Joe Barchetto, Mike Bell, Jeff Danyus, Mike Gallucci, Bert Giovine, Tony Lusardi and John Struck ... the Knights' trainer is Scott Ellis ... Sabo takes a 30-22 record into his sixth season as head coach of the Morris Hills football program ...

Morris Hills 2009 Football Schedule:
     September 12, Morris Knolls, 1 p.m.; 18, at Parsippany Hills, 2 p.m.; 26, Jefferson, 1 p.m.;
     October 3, Montville (Homecoming), 1 p.m.; 10, at High Point, 2:30 p.m.; 17, Pope John, 1 p.m.; 24, Mendham (Senior Parents Day), 1 p.m.; 31, at Sparta, 1 p.m.
     November 6, at West Morris, 7:30 p.m.; 14, State Playoffs begin, TBA.