STATE C H A M PS
On the m orning o f D ecem ber 9th, 1989, the St. P eter’s Prep footb all team ventured up to Montvale, N ew J ersey, to attem pt to capture the Paro chial S tate Cham pionship that had eluded the team for 31 years. T h e Prep gridders w ere going up against St. J o e ’s Green K nights, w ho had taken hom e the title three yea rs in a row . The critics and reporters had labeled a Prep win as im possible, and the on ly w ay to silence them was to just win. it w asn ’t the win that w as am az ing, but rather how it w as achieved. Head C oach Rich Hansen had stressed that if a player couldn’t g e t em otion a lly prepared to play in a g am e like this, then he w asn’t a player. It w as em otion that carried this team to the top, for St. J o e ’ s had the speed, the size, and the power, but Prep had the heart. B efore the g a m e the intensity in the lock er room w as so thick that one could have cut it w ith a knife. T h e first quarter progressed a s the reporters had predicted. It look ed as if a rom p w as in store as St. J o e ’s quickly ju m ped on top 14-0, just ten plays into the gam e. A s the second quarter start
ed, the K n ights w ere in control o f the ball again, m ovin g into Prep territory, but a fum ble recovery by safety Tim H aw kes g a v e Prep som e life. Six plays a fter the recovery, Prep put som e points on the scoreboard when quarterback Anthony Guma hit Jim Francesco for a 13 yard TD pass. Gum a’ s P A T m ade the score 14--7. The Knights thought they had put the gam e a w ay for good when they scored their third touchdown to close the scoring at 21-7 at half-time. O nly em otion could have picked up the bat tered Prep squad, which had m any key starters playing with injuries. Coach Hansen would use the passing arm o f Guma and a determ ined de fense to g et back into the gam e. Th ey closed the gap to seven at 21-14 on an eight-m inute scoring drive, capped o ff by a seven-yard, diving touch down reception by tigh t end Brian McMullen from Guma. Th e defense shut down St. J o e ’ s in the third quarter, led by the fine play o f lineback ers Dan Gronda and Ken Ferrante, linemen Keith Bucher and O rville Gonzalez, and safeties Francesco and H aw kes.
St. J o e ’s controlled the ball for the entire fourth quarter but couldn’ t seem to score any points. Then with only four minutes and fifteen seconds remaining, St. J o e’ s feature running back Greg Telem aqu e w as about to score, but he w as stripped by Brian McMullen at the one-yard line. Prep had to g o ninety-nine yards in just four minutes in order to tie the score. Remarkably, the Maurauders did just that, taking only three minutes and eleven plays to do it. “ The D rive” w as capped by a 22-yard pass from Guma to Francesco with exactly one minute left. Then Coach Hansen had to decide to either go for the extra point for a tie and play an overtim e period or to g o for a tw o point conversion for the win. The gutsy Hansen chose the latter. Guma took the snap and scram bled right, hitting Prime-Time Paul Mulcahy with the pass that enabled Prep to grab the victory and the first state championship since 1958. St. J o e ’s g a v e one m ore valiant at tem pt to score but that drive w as stopped in its tracks by a diving interception by John Wolfe.
“ Coach Hansen, y ou 've just won the state champion ship; what are you going to do n ow ?” “ I’m going to Disney W orld!” 113