Oooo Lala, Hackettstown Wins Epic Triple-OT Battle over Kittatinny

There were approximately 150 snaps taken in the Hackettstown-Kittatinny game Friday night.

But the biggest one – by far – was the final one.

In an all-out defensive war, the host Tigers walked away with a clutch, 14-12 instant classic victory that lasted three overtimes.

Hackettstown came away with the win when wide-open receiver Ciro Lala caught a two-point conversion pass from QB Carter Bujno to end the game in stunning fashion.

Rarely has a 3-yard pass meant so much.

This battle was an epic one.

“There were a lot of snaps,” Hackettstown Coach Mike Arekalian said. “There are a lot of two-way guys. The kids all played hard on both sides, but we were able to finish it.”

Sure enough, Arekalian’s team made it happen on the two-point. 

Bujno took the snap and rolled left in an effort to find Colton Maney, one of the area’s best receivers. But with Maney double- (and maybe even triple-) teamed, Bujno looked for an alternative. He spun back to the right, avoided one defender, and found a wide-open Lala in the right corner of the end zone.  

“Whoever was covering Ciro left him,” OT Jake Donlon said. “We held our blocks for 5-7 seconds. Our running back Tristan (Beam) made a big block to keep it going. Carter rolled out to the right and his pass was perfect.” 

“Ciro was wide open,” TE Bryce Lambo added. “I couldn’t believe it, honestly.”

So much had to go right for the Tigers to pull it off. Bujno kept his focus and didn’t melt under pressure. The Hackettstown O-Line (Donlon, Jonathan Bendel (who replaced injured starter Trevor Stephany in the second quarter), Tyler Caine, Cole Strelec, Samir Mrad, Lambo and Colin Durna) were disciplined to know not to drift downfield, which would have been a penalty.

“We trusted Carter and he performed when he needed to,” Maney said. “I was on the backside and I saw Carter running around doing his magic. We had so many people step up. We have had a bunch of injuries, so everyone doing their job was huge.”

Most of all, Lala had to free himself, or it was quite possible the game would have ended in a tie. He did and made the clutch catch, which was quite a feat for a sophomore with exactly zero catches this year and last.

“We were running a play on the left side with me on a slant, but I was covered,” Maney said. “Carter rolled right and the defender missed him. I rolled right, I’m running with him and it looked like he threw the ball. I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, it is overthrown,’ but Ciro was hiding in the corner of the end zone. I was gonna dive for the ball, but I saw him sitting on the ground with the ball.”

Even if he hadn’t caught the ball, Lala had already played a role in the win – on defense.

“He played about 25 snaps at linebacker,” Arekalian said. “He’s good in the weight room and a tough kid who is a hard worker. He takes a lot of pride in being in the right spot.”

A few moments earlier, Hackettstown knew it had its work cut out when Kittatinny’s Waylon Harper rushed for a 25-yard touchdown, making it 12-6. 

But the Tigers stopped the Cougars two-point conversion when Maney forced a fumble and then recovered it.

“They lined up and were running a jet sweep to the left,” said Maney, who was lined up at right outside linebacker. “I thought with the game on the lane, I had to make a play. This was a must-win game, so I had a good jump on the play. I split the blocker and tackled the kid in the backfield.”

But there was a lot more work to be done. Hackettstown had drawn to a 12-12 tie when Maney pushed his way into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown run. He was hit at the 5 but chugged his way into the end zone, carrying several Kittatinny would-be tacklers on his back. 

“Earlier in the game, there was a time when we were fourth and 1 and I was trying to make a play that was bigger than what we needed and that cost us,” Maney said. “So in OT, I knew I couldn’t do that again. I put my head down and twisted around and ended up in the end zone.”

At that point, the Tigers simply had to score the two-point, or Maney’s TD would have been rendered almost meaningless. 

The team knew one thing: There was no possible way they were coming out of this game tied. 

A tie would have felt more like a noose.

Said Lambo, “I knew we had to get it back. It was life or death right there. A must-win game for us, for sure.” 

“We get back to the sideline after we stop them,” Maney added, “and Coach says, ‘You stopped them, and now we are gonna get our TD and win the game.’”

Hackettstown did just that, pulling out one of the area’s best clutch performances in the young season.

Said Donlon, “We all knew that we couldn’t give in. This is it, no matter what. They didn’t make the two-point. We were telling ourselves that we were gonna score and win. No matter what.”

“The win was really emotional,” Maney said. “We worked so hard in the offseason and practice. It really makes everybody feel good that our hard work paid off.”