West Morris Wins Thriller over Roxbury

The clock was winding down … 20 … 19 … 18.

West Morris was inside the Roxbury 40 … tie game … Overtime was looming, right? No way could the Wolfpack go downfield and score in such little time, right?

Wrong! 

Somehow, run-happy West Morris connected on a long, unlikely pass play and scored in the closing seconds.

Wolfpack 22, Roxbury 14.

If there ever was an instant classic, it was this one.

“For us to get the win,” Julian Healy said, “was crazy.”

You could say that again. It was Healy who caught a 36-yard bomb from QB Matt Zisa to put the ball at the Roxbury 1. Deacon Frayne then powered in from the 1 for the go-ahead score and added the two-point conversion for good measure.

“I knew Julian has great speed and is one of our fastest kids,” Zisa said. “He was who I was looking for.”

The irony is that coach Kevin Hennelly’s team has been a Wing-T school for many, many years.

The only time the Wolfpack pass is in case of an emergency – which this was. 

“We thought we were headed for OT,” West Morris two-way standout John Garcia said. “I was tired. We were all tired. We were beating up on each other the whole game and I thought it would be a battle in OT. 

“We are not really a throw-the-ball type of team. We only in the past two years, I think, threw one deep ball. I wasn’t expecting it. It was crazy when Julian caught it.”

This one had all of the earmarks of a playoff game in November, not a regular-season game in mid-September.

These were two of Morris County’s heavyweights slugging it out – until Zisa, Healy and Frayne delivered the knockout blow.

It all started with Zisa getting Trey Left Fire Fire Bobby Right from the sideline.

“It’s not a Hail Mary, where we all run streaks,” Healy said. “I just knew I had to run a streak and I was just gonna run as fast as I could down the field.”

“I read the safeties, see what they are doing,” Zisa said. “You can’t just pick one guy and throw it blindly. You look for who beats their man. I knew he has speed so I threw it to Julian.” 

“I remember seeing the ball in the air,” Healy said. “I thought I wasn’t gonna get there. I put it to another gear and ran faster and I got there. When it landed in my hands … I came down with it, and there was a guy on my left and on my right and it landed perfectly, right in my arms.”

Said Zisa, “I saw it happen. It felt great. And then being able to punch it in was huge.”

That was Frayne (25 for 113), who went in from 1 yard out while standing up. 

Backfield mate Brendan Dwyer rushed three times for 56 yards – including a 45-yard touchdown run through the middle of Roxbury’s defense in the fourth quarter.

West Morris’ Jonathan Cabarle rushed nine times for 48 yards. Healy rushed three times for 19 yards and caught two passes for 46 yards – including the one that set up Frayne’s go-ahead touchdown.

Zisa was 5 for 9 passing for 65 yards. He earned the starting QB spot in the summer by virtue of his leadership skills. He is a Division 1 college catcher headed for FDU-Teaneck. 

“I can see the field and manage the team, manage the offense and defense, and keep the pace of the game,” he said. “Catching definitely  correlates to playing quarterback.”

HIs ability to stay calm under pressure sure came in handy.

“When Julian caught it, I didn’t want to get too ahead of myself and I had to stay composed because we were only at the 1,” he said. “We couldn’t get too excited because we hadn’t scored yet. But once (Frayne) punched in that touchdown, we were in a pretty good mood after that.”

In the second quarter, Frayne’s 3-yard touchdown put West Morris ahead, 6-0 (a poor extra point snap caused the Wolfpack to miss on the point-after), after a scoreless first quarter.

Roxbury QB Frankie Falco (19 for 134 rushing) was dynamic as a runner and followed with a 56-yard TD run. PK Josh DiPasquale followed with his first of two extra points.

In the fourth quarter, Falco put Roxbury ahead, 14-6 with a 14-yard touchdown run. 

But the fun was only beginning. Dwyer burst through the middle to tie it with his long touchdown run.

The win put an extra hop in West Morris’ step. The Wolfpack were dominated by seniors last year and handily beat the youthful Gaels twice, including once in the sectional semifinals, on the way to their fourth sectional championship in five years.

But Hennelly’s team was ravaged by graduation and returned less than a handful of starters. Roxbury, meanwhile, brought back the guts of last year’s team and remains one of Morris’ best teams.

“We knew they would be a tough opponent,” Zisa said. “We have been hearing it all year that we wouldn’t be as good, but I don’t think we have skipped a beat. In the offseason, we worked really hard.

“We have been hearing all offseason that we lost a lot of guys and key parts. But we are not rebuilding, we are picking up where we left off.”

Added Healy, “We always thought we’d be pretty good but people in town and other towns doubted us because we’re a newer team. But people see we are now 4-0 and we’ll be a good team the rest of the year.”

The win was one of the most exciting ever for a program that has had many, many big ones.

“It was the craziest thing I ever saw,” Garcia said of the Zisa-Healy connection. “Matt stepping up as a senior the way he did … insane. What a throw, what a catch.”

What a win for a program that was thought to have taken a step back.

“In the summer, we were not sure,” Garcia said. “Missing (All-State two-way lineman) Tommy Borgia and the other guys, and the guys we had on defense, took up a ton of blocks. Now, we have almost a completely new O-Line and D-Line. We were not sure how it would all play out.”

Now they know and so does Morris County: The new-look Wolfpack are doing just fine.