Delaware Valley Regional High School pounds North Plainfield with running game

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

The Delaware Valley Regional High School football team put on an impressive rushing display on Friday night.



And that's a good thing because the Terriers needed each and every yard to fend off North Plainfield 46-34 in a Mid-State 39 Conference Raritan Division game at Tab Webb Field.

Del Val ran for 518 yards and overcame its sloppiest defensive performance to date to remain undefeated heading into the final three weeks of the regular season - the toughest stretch of schedule.

"Offensively, that was as good as it gets," Del Val coach Mike Columbo said. "The offensive line mauled (North Plainfield) tonight. We have three great running backs that did a tremendous job but we have a lot of things to correct to get to where we want to be."

Senior quarterback Chris Fennell rushed for 249 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns and junior running backs Dionisio Roman and Sean Hogan each went over the 100-yard mark as the Terriers improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the division.

Roman ran 16 times for 145 yards and three TDs. Hogan ran for an even 100 yards on 11 carries and added a 9-yard TD reception from Fennell with 46 seconds left in the second quarter to send the Terriers into the locker room at halftime up 33-19.

Del Val built a 46-27 lead on Roman's third TD of the game - a 6-yarder on the final play of the third quarter - which seemingly put the game out of reach.

"Thankfully, we run the football the way we do," Columbo said. "We have to find some answers for what we saw tonight."

North Plainfield (1-5, 0-3) kept it close until that point by grinding out 288 rushing yards of its own and capitalizing on numerous Del Val penalties and missed defensive assignments.

"We have to fix what is broken right now," Columbo said. "How do we shut a team out one week and give up 34 points the next? That's unacceptable. We won't win another game if we play like we did tonight."

Del Val was coming off a bye week after hammering Voorhees 35-0 on Sept. 30.

The Terriers were gouged for a number of big plays by running back Marquis Rawlings and quarterback Tyler Grant, were flagged eight times for 85 yards - three of which negated runs of 43, 37 and 35 yards by Roman, Tim Ziegler and Hogan, respectively - and had two extra points blocked following touchdowns.

Rawlings finished with 162 yards on 13 carries, including a 67-yard dash around right end on the third play of the second half to cut the Del Val lead to 33-27.

"They went back to what they did to us last year," Columbo said. "They ran two tight ends and two wings. We saw a little bit of that on film. That's the way they played us last year and they moved the ball successfully. We prepared for that. But obviously, we didn't execute."

In the end, the Terriers were able to exact revenge on North Plainfield, which knocked them off 35-20 last season. Del Val entered that game 4-0 as well.

Del Val jumped out to a 6-0 lead when Roman ran 18 yards for his first TD.

Grant answered for the Canucks with a 61-yard scoring strike to Dexter Anderson, who was left all alone down the seam five plays later. De'shaun Morris' extra point made it 7-6.

Fennell got the Terriers right back on top, racing 82 yards for a touchdown on the first play after the ensuing kickoff.

"We were able to outscore them tonight," Columbo said. "But you don't want to have to do that every week. I expect more out of these kids. We're coming to the stretch of the season where you have to play your best football. We can't afford to play another game like we played tonight."

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