River Dell topples Bergenfield 42-0 for fourth straight win

posted in: Football, Local Sports Blog

The River Dell Golden Hawks(5-1) demolished the Bergenfield Bears(0-5) 42-0 at Bergenfield High School in Bergenfield, New Jersey.

River Dell followed a common theme in their three previous victories by jumping to a quick lead in the first quarter. The Golden Hawks received the opening kickoff, and the offense quickly went to work. Quarterback RJ Weiss, filling in for an injured Zion Yoon, completed a 50-yard pass to wide receiver Ryan Rossig.

Once inside the red zone, RJ Weiss ran the ball three consecutive times, culminating in a three-yard touchdown run.

Bergenfield’s first offensive possession went wrong with a fumble on first down as River Dell linebacker Mason Nagle recovered the ball at the Bears 41-yard line.

The Golden Hawks flashed the lightning capability in putting points on the scoreboard as RJ Weiss completed a pass to running back Chris Kelm. Then Kelm turned on the jet burners, racing down the left side of the field untouched into the end zone, extending the lead to 14-0 with less than eight minutes left.

Bergenfield appeared to have regained their composure with a solid kickoff return by Nasir Evans. The Bear’s offense relied on the running game to advance the ball into River Dell, but a fourth-down play at the Golden Hawks’ 36-yard line failed, with a running play falling short of the first-down marker and a turnover on downs.

River Dell’s offense flipped the field advantage as they converted a fourth down play inside Bergenfield territory. Facing a third down at the Bears’ 22-yard line, quarterback RJ Weiss took the snap then pitched the ball to Chris Kelm Kelm and Kelm followed a similar pathway with his first touchdown as he scampered down the left side of the field without being tackled and darted into the end zone for the touchdown that widened the Golden Hawks advantage to 21-0 with three minutes remaining.

In the second quarter, River Dell expanded its margin even further as RJ Weiss lobbed a pass to wide receiver Dean Marucci, who accelerated down the left side of the field to the end zone for the 36-yard touchdown.

Bergenfield, looking for any glimpse of momentum, started out on offense at their own 35-yard line. The Bears found some much-needed rhythm by mixing up the running and passing game to advance the ball into Golden Hawks territory. However, Bergenfield faced another crucial fourth-down play that again went south with an incomplete pass.

River Dell capitalized on the defense’s critical stop and picked up massive chunks of yardage on the ground. On second down at the Bears’ 40-yard line, RJ Weiss took the direct snap, followed his blockers, broke free through a wide-open gap, and raced into the end zone for the score that boosted the lead to 35-0.

Dean Marucci, coming off a dominant defensive performance the week before against Morris Hills with two touchdowns, made his presence known again by intercepting a pass in Bergenfield’s end zone.

The Golden Hawks offense, firing on all cylinders, hit the jackpot as Cain Lanza took a snap from backup quarterback Jayden Kim. Then, Lanza maneuvered his way to the left side of the line and by the sidelines.

Lanza appeared to have been stopped in his tracks but muscled his way out of the log jam, then cut back towards the middle and burst into the clear to the end zone for the phenomenal 39-yard touchdown that capped off the scoring.

River Dell cruised to its fourth win in a row and third consecutive shutout, improving to 5-1 on the season. The Golden Hawks outscored their last four opponents by a vast margin, 169-14.