2009 Summit Youth - D Team

SUMMIT VS MORRISTOWN - What a great day for the Summit Hilltopper 5^th grade football team(and parents). The 5^th grade “D” team had an awesome first outing with several outstanding plays against a well coached Morristown squad.

The 5^th graders entered the 10:30am game (ok we arrived at 4am) with 37 gassers and 14 practices under their belt.  They were ready!  They were playing against an “NFL alumni” head coached Morristown squad.  (He played for PSU as well)

1^st and 10 on the 35 led to an awesome Summit sustained drive.  Sam “ZZZ-train” Zanelli ran the ball behind great blocks by Jack Fiore, Michael “Holy Cross” Huston, Liam “part deux” Higgins, Liam “Doc” Dougherty and Chris “big boy” McKee.  The scoring run came on a pitch to the right side with a run by Zanelli symbolic of Franco Harris …darting and doding his way into the end-zone.  The final block by Sean “I luv Rutgers” McGrath and Jack Fiore resulted in an early TD by Summit.  The extra point came after a great fake and run by Kohl “shake” Shaffer. Summit started off the 2009 season with a score on their first drive.  Who knew it would be the only score of the game.

The back and forth of the game was tiresome on this hot September day.   Summit’s black defense took the field with a vengeance.  Christian “not a fuss” Fusco, Brian Treger, Darion Strickler and Phillip “oh my gosh he’s fast” Angelo stormed the field and made the Morristown D walk away after 3 attempts.  The Gerry Donini coached defense stymied the Mtown O.  3 and out!!

Summit’s gold offense led by Justin “I got u babe” Hong, Mike Mahecha, Anthony “whoa nellie he’s a big-un” Clark, Mike ‘I weighed out” Flanagan, Jack “Daniels” Smith and QB Tommy “the Rass” Rasweiler took the field.  Great effort by this offense who gained a couple first downs but ultimately had to punt.

Summit’s defense held the Morristown Wildcats to a purrr for the rest of the first half.  Summit took a small lead going into halftime. The second half again saw outstanding defensive play by Casey Shoemaker, Patrick “better than my brother” Codey, Jake Froschauer, Michael Vega, Patrick Moriarty, Tom Tarashuk, Peter Galuppo, Dante Rodriguez, Matt Colon and Jamie Zusi.

Offensively, Summit’s potent offense was held back by some crucial penalties after great runs.  Superb offensive play was turned in by Jake Gieselman, Jack Smith, Sean McGrath, Patrick McGinn, Christopher Shelley and Conner Mayes. Summit’s 5^th graders left the field having accomplished everything they needed too, they rocked the house.   Summit parents were seen hugging and knuckle bumping everyone on the sidelines.  Great effort with many helmet stickers to come. Summit left the field with no regrets….but, we don’t keep score.

Summit vs Parsippany - What a great Saturday for football.  The Summit 5^th grade team hit the field with a ton of confidence after a great outing against Morristown.  They were face to face with a tough Parisippany team at home.  (FYI - We don’t lose at home) Summit’s captains Anthony “he’s huge” Clark, Liam “huddle” Higgins, Michael “I luv Penn State” Huston and Matt  “Big Cat” Sklar continued the successful coin toss.  Summit got the ball.

Summit started the drive on offense with Phillip Angelo running like a bullet.  Angelo ran 3x in a row for a first down.  Whooa Whaoo Angelo!  Jack Fiore ran for some hard earned yards but Phillip “man o man I’m fast” Angelo scored.   Summit failed on their extra point…but who cares…with that blocking.  The O-line led by Clay “gallon of nails” Galiardo,  Pat “waaay tougher than my brother” Codey, Liam “crusher” Dougherty, and Matt “good gracious me” Sklar, and Anthony “Big-un” Clark enabled the score!!

Now its time for defense.  Summit defense allows no points.  I don’t know they just don’t.  Parsippany was good, Summit was better.    Great stops by Brendan McGinn, Darion Strickler, Michael Machecha, Brian Treger, Christian Greer, John Roberts, Peter Galuppo, and Griffin Breen lead to a turnover on downs.

Summit’s offense led by Joe Donini took the field.  Sean “Quinny” Quinn started the drive with a great run, then a great pass by Donini to Chris “10 syllables” Giangiulio for a big gain, and finally a great run by Connor “the Rock” Mayes led to great efforts but a  missed first down. Summits’s White D took the field.  1^st down is stymied by Sklar.  2^nd down  stopped by Mike “I weighed in” Flanagan.  The Summit D took over and crushed the Parsippany visitors.  Great stops by Casey “oh my gosh” Shoemaker ..not just once but multiple times….great effort!

Summit’s offense took the field and did very little, yet the D rocked.  Justin Hong stopped the Parsipp O for a 5 yrd loss, Christian Greer killed it with a great tackle and finally Peter “the Galupp” Galuppo owned it with a great tackle.  Parsippany Punt (that has a nice ring)

Much back and forth with great stops by Summit.  Great tackles by Sean Quinn, Chris McKee, Joe Donini and Casey Shoemaker.  Ultimately Sam “Z-train”  Zanelli scored.  After 4 plays and out by Parsippany, Kohl Shaffer threw to Zanelli for another score.  Goodness gracious….what a Summit day!!

Again ….everyone played and almost everyone scored (but we don’t keep score)…Great day for Summit

Summit vs New Providence - Summit took it’s perfect record (we don’t keep score) to their home turf against an always tough New Providence team.  Right from the start, and that actually includes the coin toss, New Providence came to play. 

Captains Anthony Clark, Liam Higgins, Michael Huston and Matthew Sklar completely jinxed us with a bad coin toss call.  Never in the history of 5^th grade football have we lost a coin toss.  Never. We always call heads and always win the toss.  (the coin may have 2 heads).  Michael “I never smile” Huston called tails with great vim and vigor…it was heads…shocker….Summit took over on defense to start the game.

Summit’s defense started the game with some snoring.  2 great stops early led to a 3^rd and pass situation (everyone in the stands could see it was 3^rd and pass).  Summit coaches forgot to mention “watch the pass” and a talented NP receiver got behind the defensive secondary and NP scampered into the end zone.  Summit fell behind early (but we don’t keep score)

Summit’s offense responded with a quick 3 and out.  NP took over, but Summit’s defense woke up.  Jamie “crusher” Zusi made the first tackle with gang tackle help by Jake Froschauer and Patrick Moriarty.  A second down run led to no gain after a hard hit by Michael “kinda smiling” Huston and Kohl “I can make Michael smile” Shaffer.  What a combo!  3^rd down and FUMBLE!!!!  Joe “perfect attendance” Donini comes up with it and quickly runs the ball to his favorite cheerleader.  Great job Joe (on the fumble recovery part).  Summit’s defense is back!

Summit’s gold offense sprints on to the field with all eleven players and no one tripped.  Christian “Spicoli” Fusco executed a perfect pitch to Phillip “scooter” Angelo for a gain.  Jamie Zusi took it up the middle for another modest gain.  And then it happened, finally someone called a good play.  Jake Froschauer got the ball from Angelo who got the ball from Fusco who got the ball from Eric “telephoto” Lenz who got the ball from the referee at the beginning of the play …and wow did Frosch run.  Jake Froschauer ran all the way into the endzone for a Summit touchdown.  Great blocks on this gold offense by Jack Smith, Christian Fusco, Phillip Angelo, Finn McTernan, Clay Galiardo Mike Mahecha, Eric Lenz, Liam Dougherty and Justin Hong.  Great team effort.  Summit was unable to convert but who cares.

The spark was lit and Summit never looked back.  NP took over on offense but fumbled on their first play.  NP recovered (because someone tried to pick it up and run with it and they really should have just fallen on it – who coaches these kids?).  2^nd down led to no gain.  3^rd and 15 and a classic Shoemaker sack.  Casey Shoemaker stalked the QB and drove him into the ground.  Punt by NP – luv when that happens.

Summit’s Maroon offense stormed the field.  Great blocking again by Huston, Higgins, Dougherty, Lenz, Flanagan, McGrath, McGinn and Fiore.  Summit took to the air, for a play or 2 with a great catch by Jack Fiore and a 4^th down converting run by Zanelli.  Finally another good play call when Christian Fusco took the snap from Liam Dougherty who originally got the ball from the referee.  Fusco pitched the ball to Kohl Shaffer who rolled right and threw the ball to Jake Froschauer for a long gain.  Then Slinging Sammy Zanelli took the ball and scampered many yards for a touchdown.  Summit converted the extra point on a great run by Sean McGrath.  Summit scored 2 td’s and 1 extra point – but no scores here.

 The rest of the first half was all Summit defense with great stops by Sean Quinn, Michael Vega, Hunter Meyer-Hanover, Patrick Moriarty,  Christian Heckleman, Will Freeman,  Tom Tarashuk and Hayden Fraser.  Great half.

Summit started the second half with the ball.  Great runs by Zanelli and Jack Fiore led to a couple first downs.  Then Summit took to the air with a great catch by Finn McTernan and good throw by Shaffer that resulted in an untouched TD.  The extra point was run in by Shaffer behind a great block by Casey Shoemaker.  Great pass protection all day by the well coached O line including Huston, Higgins, Hong, Sklar, Dougherty, Lenz, Mahecha, McKee and Galiarado.  Excellent job boys.

Suummit’s defense stopped NP in their tracks for the rest of the afternoon.  Zusi tackled with a vengeance, Phillip Angelo with Sean Quinn with Christopher Giangiulo gang tackled NP runners.  Other standouts on defense included Will Freeman with a stunning tackle, Hayden Fraser and Griffin Breen crushed people. 

Offensively, Sean Quinn and Conner Mayes ran extremely hard and gained valuable yards.  The QB play from Christian Fusco and Joe Donini was excellent. 

Great day all around and another successful outing for the 5^th grade Summit team.  Join us at home next Sunday against Springfield at 10:30 am.  Go Summit!

Summit vs. Springfield On this rainy, windy day Summit’s 5th grade football team had a sunny day. Summit’s captains took a page out of last weeks book by failing to convert on the coin toss. (What the heck!) Captain’s Tom “alottafight” Tarashuk, Chris “Big Mac” McKee, Sean “Rutgers finally won” McGrath and Jake “we crushed Mtown” Froschauer led a great week of practice and performed their duties well (except for the dang coin toss that they just can’t seem to get right). Summit’s black defense took the field against a rather large Springfield Minuteman offense. They were kinda scary big kids… or so the coaches thought. Springfield’s size didn’t threaten Summit’s players. On first down Jamie “what a crushing sack” Zusi lashed out with a remarkable solo sack. Ouch! Phillip “packapunch” Angelo and
Matthew “wowee” Colon teamed up to stop Springfield on second down. Conner “the hammer” Mayes and Zusi gang tackled on third down to lead the Minutemen off the field after just 3 plays. Great effort all day defense.

Summit’s offense unfortunately suffered the same 3 and out fate. Opening up with a pass from Kohl Shaffer to Jack “solid” Fiore for a small gain on first down. Sam “faster than my brother” Zanelli ran hard but only made a couple yards on second down and a Summit fumble on third down sent the Hilltoppers scampering off of the field.

It was a real back and forth first half with no points scored by either team on this rain soaked day. Summits defense was the highlight with many great stops and a bend-don’t-break philosophy. Jake Froschauer made a stop on first down and Hunter “27 syllables” Meyer-Hanover pushed the Springfield runner out of bounds on second down. On third down Joe “dontmesswithme” Donini recovered a fumble… his second in as many games. Great job Joe. Springfield returned to their sideline. Summit’s offense again was out after a punt on 4th down. Some good blocking from the Gold offensive line including Justin “just hangin”
Hong, Liam “tallest of the Doc’s”Dougherty, Eric Lenz, Mike Mahecha,
Anthony Clark, Clay Galiardo and Finn McTernan. Other good blocks
from the offense were made by Christopher Gianguilo, Jack Smith, and Brendan McGinn. Summit’s defense stormed the field. Great tackles were made by Michael “mean-on” Huston, Casey Shoemaker, Patrick Codey, Matthew Sklar, Patrick Moriarty, Jake Gieselman, Christian Greer, Griffin Breen, Zanelli, Shaffer, Sean Quinn, Christopher Heckleman, Tom Tarashuk, Michael Mahecha and Peter Galuppo.

Summit's offense showed a little spark with 10 minutes left to play in the first half. Jack Fiore gained some key yards on a reverse, then Shaffer threw to Casey Shoemaker for a long gain and a first down. Froschauer gained another 20 yards on a handoff from Christian Fusco.
Zanelli ran for 3 yards to set up a 4th down that Summit was unable to convert. Nuts! Casey “the slammer” Shoemaker and Liam “tallest of the Higgs” Higgins were all over the place on defense. John Roberts and Christopher “untucked” Shelley hit hard on some tremendous gang tackles. Michael “Nova” Vega along with Will Freeman, Brian “hard hitting” Coburn, Brian Treger and Hayden “I’m faster than I think” Fraser led the defense with strong support.

Summit’s final drive was a good one. A long pass completion to Froschauer sparked this great effort. Sam Zanelli ran for a 20 yard gain behind a Division 1 block from Mike “awesome block” Flanagan. Zanelli scampered for another 7 yards. Unfortunately, a tough Springfield defensive player was injured. It left a damper on an otherwise tough well-fought game. Both teams played struggled all day and wanted to win. Great effort by both teams.

Join the 5th graders next week when they take on Marlboro away on Sunday Oct 4th.

Summit vs Chatham Summit took the field against the Chatham Cougars on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.    The coaches spent a great deal of time coaching the “coin toss” this week.  We were prepared and confident.  Summit’s captains headed to the center of the field for their “day in the sun”.  Captains Conner “it wasn’t me” Mayes, Phillip “not me either” Angelo, Mike “not me” Flanagan, Michael “I think it was Mayes” Mahecha all screamed “Tails” and the coin came up tails.  They did it; these smart, intelligent, well-mannered 5^th graders got it right.  They called tails and it was tails.  Great, excellent stuff.  Then it happened.  The competent referee asked the question that these “captains” were not prepared for, “Would you like to receive the ball or defer to the second half”.  Simple question, simple answer….right?  Not so simple…our 5^th grade captains choked on their tongues and chose the “defer” answer.  They deferred?, in 5^th grade?  What in the world were they thinking.  Who could have ever thought.  So Chatham got the ball…because we “gave” it to them.   These confident captains ran back to the sidelines with their “tails between their legs”.  When they were asked to indentify the captain who made the decision to defer….not a peep was heard.  Possibly some finger pointing.  Zero accountability.

Summit took the field on defense first, because our captains were feeling charitable.  Chatham’s offense was potent.  They took the ball down the field and scored on their first drive.  They failed on the conversion attempt.  Christian Fusco, Christopher Shelley, Brian Treger, Darion Strickler and Jake Froschauer played well in this first drive.  A fine line-backing corps including John Roberts, Sean McGrath, Peter Galuppo and Christopher Giangulio made several other stops.  Jack Smith and Dante Rodriguez anchored the defensive backfield. 

Summit’s maroon offense was up next.  Christian Fusco anchored the offense at QB.    Phillip Angelo took the first two handoffs and gained 8 yards.  Great running all day by Phillip.  On third down and reverse time, Patrick Moriarty took the handoff from Phillip Angelo and sprinted 60 yards into the end zone for a touchdown.  Great run by Patrick.  Awesome blocks made this touchdown happen.  Sean Quinn led the charge followed by Mike Mahecha, Patrick Codey, Liam Dougherty, Matt Sklar and Anthony Clark.  Jake Gieselman sealed the end with a great block. 

Summit’s white defense was up next and little did anyone know that Chatham’s offense would steal a play from our playbook.  Chatham had a big play on a reverse.  But our secret weapon, Sean Quinn recovered a fumble and sent the Cougars back to their sideline.   Good tackling by Griffin Breen, Tom Tarashuk, Hayden Fraser, Will Freeman, Christopher Heckleman and Tom Rasweiler.  Summit’s gold offense was anchored by great line play from Michael Vega, Christopher Shelley, Eric Lenz, Christina Greer, Matthew Colon and tight end Finn McTernan.  Quarterback Joe Donini passed the ball to Jamie Zusi for a solid gain.  Zusi took the ball on 3^rd down and converted a first down after a very hard “Riggins-like” run.  Donini completed a pass to Conner Mayes.  Conner ran the ball several times but Summit had to punt.

Chatham’s offense then turned it on.  Scoring on the next three plays with a great pass from Chatham’s QB.  Chatham made the extra point.  The first half ended on an awesome throw and catch from Christian Fusco to Patrick Moriarty but unfortunately Patrick had one foot out of bounds.  Nice catch and throw.

Fortunately, Summit deferred the coin toss so we got the ball to start the second half.  Still can’t believe that.  On offense Conner Mayes gave the ball to Brian Coburn who sprinted for a solid 8 yards.  Joe Donini took the ball on a QB sneak to get the first down.  Donini completed a long pass to Finn McTernan on the next third down to keep the Summit drive alive.  Summit, though, was unable to convert.  Several drives by both Chatham and Summit resulted in no points.  Chatham was finally able to score again but was unable to convert on the extra point.

On Summit’s final drive the Summit offense came alive.  Conner Mayes made this drive with great, hard runs.  QB Joe Donini completed 2 awesome passes to Mayes resulting in an impressive sustained drive.  Great blocking by Vega, Shelley, Lenz, Greer, Colon and McTernan.  Donini sat in the pocket like a pro and delivered a fabulous pass to Mayes sure hands.  Super drive and great effort by Summit.

Summit plays Marlboro Sunday at Marlboro.

Summit vs. Marlboro The undefeated 5^th grade D team took a long ride down the Garden State Parkway to Marlboro.  They faced a very tough team and walked away still undefeated (in the regular season) but with a couple ties.  This game produced a lot of back and forth with only 1 TD a side.  The captains (the same captains we had against Chatham, yes those guys) successfully called the coin toss and this time elected to receive.  Summit’s ball first and ten.

Summit exploded out of the gates with a super reverse run by Jake Froschauer.  It was a bold opening play and was well blocked by the maroon offensive line consisting of Michael Huston, Liam Higgins, Liam Dougherty, Eric Lenz , Mike Mahecha and tight end Mike Flanagan.  First down Summit.  Sam Zanelli carried the ball 3 times for several first downs and some very tough yards.  Summit successfully moved the ball down the field on the back of Zanelli and Jack Fiore.  Summit’s touchdown came with a short reverse behind a two tight end set with Finn McTernan and Mike Flanagan anchoring the ends.  This play was made by the fake of Jack Fiore and Zanelli.  Jake Froschauer carried the ball across the goal line.  Summit failed on the extra point…oh well.  Great drive!

Summit’s Black defense set the tone with a quick three and out behind great tackles by Zanelli, Jamie Zusi, Brian Treger and Phillip Angelo.  Connor Mayes, Christopher Giangulio and Matt Colon stymied the Marlboro offense at the linebacker position.

Summit’s white offense led by QB Christian Fusco started the second offensive series.  Jamie Zusi carried the ball for a solid 7 yard gain.  The next couple plays were error-plagued, but evidenced some solid line blocking by Anthony Clark and Justin Hong. Too many fumbles but a lot of effort from Summit.

Summit’s White defense took the field and, man, did they come to play.  Jake Froschauer made the first tackle with the help of Michael Huston.  Liam Dougherty snuck into the Marlboro backfield and dropped their runner for a loss.  On third down Jack Fiore made a solo tackle.  Phillip Angelo and Connor Mayes stuffed Marlboro several times with great follow thru hits.  Finally, Sam Zanelli and Joe Donini put the finishing “clobber” on the Marlboro offense.  Marlboro turned the ball over on downs.  Great gang tackling and aggressive defensive play by Sean Quinn, Mike Vega, Tom Rasweiler, Tom Tarashuk, Hunter Meyer-Hanover, Patrick Moriarty and Jack Smith.

The rest of the first half was see-saw.  Some great plays followed by some not-so-hot plays, but it is 5^th grade after all.  The rest of the first half highlights included a solo Sean Quinn tackle.  A crushing blow by Michael Vega.  A fumble recover by the black defense (not sure who, sorry).  More tackles by Finn McTernan and Conner Mayes.  Great linebacker play by Joe Donini.  Sean McGrath’s solid downfield blocking and hard hits on defense.  Brendan McGinn leading some potent offensive drives with great blocks.  John Roberts, Darion Strickler, and Dante Rodriguez gang tackling the Marlboro runners.  Will Freeman contributed to the “gang” in gang tackle on defense.  Good first half Summit.

Summit took over on defense in the second half.  Maybe we should have deferred?  Joe Donini continues a solid first half with 2 tackles.  This defense made some great gang tackles with Hayden Fraser leading the charge.  Multiple substitutions couldn’t stop the ultimate score by Marlboro but Finn McTernan made a solid play on the QB by sacking him and denying Marlboro the extra point.  Tie score.  Defensively, Christopher Shelley played great, helped by Griffin Breen, and Jack Fiore.  Clay Galiardo and Matt Sklar complimented their good blocks on offense with great help on defense.

Summit’s gold offense took the field but unfortunately trotted off the field after just 3 plays.  Great blocking by this O line including Justin Hong, Chris McKee and Matt Sklar.  Summit went back to defense and behind the help of Christian Greer and Peter Galuppo, Summit turned Marlboro away again.  This time Jake Gieselman, Patrick Codey, Anthony Clark and Brian Coburn helped send them away.  Finn McTernan recovered a fumble that sealed their fate.

On Summit’s final drive, the offense they tried valiantly but were denied another score.  Great game Summit.

Join Summit’s 5^th grade team against a tough Millburn this Sunday at 10:30 at Metro Homes field.

Summit vs. Millburn More than any game to date, the 5^th graders wanted to play well against Millburn.  Millburn is a great football team; Summit was just better on this Summit football weekend.  “Friday night lights” rolled into Sunday morning rock and roll.  Millburn rolled, Summit rocked!

 Millburn came ready to play on their first drive.  Christopher “back from the shore” Heckleman made Summit’s first stop and it was a good one (He’d been up since 5am).  Clay Galiardo and Conner Mayes teamed up on the next stop forcing a 3^rd and 1.  Mayes made the next stop but not after Millburn made the first down.  Millburn chugged down the field.  Jack Fiore made a nice tackle, Jake Froschauer lit up a Millburn offensive player with a form tackle.  Conner “all over the place” Mayes made another stop.  Phillip “im no angel” Angelo crushed a Millburn ball carrier.  Millburn finally poked the ball in the endzone on this 9-minute drive.  Their extra point fell incomplete.  Millburn took an early lead.

With determination in their step, Summit’s maroon offense jogged on to the field and not one player tripped over the white lines.  Complicated stuff.  Not sure who was calling the plays, but Summit’s offense could do no wrong today.  Jake Froschauer took the first handoff and scampered 35 yards to the Millburn 30 yard line.  Sam “my Dad’s an Elk” Zanelli gained 5 solid yards to make it 2nd and 5.  Kohl Shaffer fired a strike to an open Mike “catch-em-all” Flanagan and Mike sprinted 25 yards for Summit’s first score.  Great execution.  Summit scored the extra point behind a great run by Jake Froschauer.    Kudo’s to the big ugly’s, the towers of power, the mountain’s of men, the bulldozers….the offensive lineman made the day for the offense.  It was their best game all year.  Maroon’s O line included 4 younger brothers of former summit football greats, Mike “better Spenser” Huston, Liam “better than Kyle” Higgins, Liam “better than Aiden” Dougherty, Eric “better than Ricky” Lenz and Mike “don’t need no brother” Mahecha.   (Thanks to those older brothers, your hard work and great example help set the tone for these youngsters).   Our wide receivers’ Jack Smith and Jake Froschauer made great blocks as well on this successful 2 minute drive.

 White defense up next, for only 3 plays.  Zanelli stops the sweep, Jack Fiore and Sean Quinn stop the dive, Hunter Meyer-Hanover, Tom Tarashuk, Christian Greer and Michael Vega force an incompletion.  Punt!

 White defense up next, for only 3 plays.  Zanelli stops the sweep, Jack Fiore and Sean Quinn stop the dive, Hunter Meyer-Hanover, Tom Tarashuk, Christian Greer and Michael Vega force an incompletion.  Punt!

 Just 2 plays later Summit scored again.  Jake Froschauer ran for 15 yards on first down and Kohl Shaffer avoided a tackle and threw a strike to a wide open Jake Froschauer for a 50 yard TD.  Great blocking all day by Huston Higgins, Dougherty, Lenz, Mahecha, Flanagan, Jack Smith, Fiore and Zanelli.  Summit missed the point after but who cares…parents were screaming, kids were hugging, there were high-fives all around. Excellent, Excellent (who says that?)

Summit’s well coached defense rocked Millburn the rest of the first half.  Many “ouchies” and “boo-boo’s” were handed out to the Millburn (black and) blue.  Joe Donini, Sean Quinn, Christian “great day” Shelley, Shaffer, Brian Treger, Christian Fusco, Dante Rodriquez, Matt Sklar, Griffin Breen and Christian Greer all came up with great stops in the remaining minutes of the first half. 

Summit’s Gold offense led by Joe Donini at QB put together one final drive for the first half.  Sean Quinn carried the ball for a couple tough yards, Conner Mayes took the ball on a sweep for another couple yards.  Sean McGrath caught a beautiful pass from QB Donini for a long long Summit gain.  McGrath ran the ball all the way down to the 9 yard line.  Excellent throw and catch Joe and Sean.  McGrath carried the ball into the endzone for the final score of the half.  Great TD!.  Conner Mayes carried the ball the final 2 yard for the extra point.  Excellent drive Gold.  Great pass protection and blocking by the gold offensive line; Justin Hong, Liam Dougherty, Anthony Clark, Chris McKee, Jake Gieselman and wide out blocks by Brendan McGinn, Jamie Zusi and Sean Quinn.

Millburn ran out the rest of the time in the first half but not after some solid tackles from Brian Treger, Phillip Angelo, Brian Coburn, Clay Galiardo, Will Freeman and Darion Strickler.  Great 1^st half of football, Summit. 

Summit took the ball to start the second half and ohh myyy was it a good start.  The first play was a TD.  Shaffer fired the ball to Sam “sure hands” Zanelli and Zanelli sprinted the full 65 yards into the endzone.  Wow!!  Great start.  Great blocks again by the O-line – Flanagan, Huston, Dougherty, Mahecha, Lenz, Higgins, Jack Smith, Jake Froschauer,  and Jack Fiore. 

With this inspiration Summit’s defense took the field.   Millburn stayed on the field for a full 12 minutes on a long sustained drive that resulted in a Millburn TD.  Great stops on this drive by Joe Donini, Sam Zanelli, Michael Vega, Christopher Shelley, Griffin Breen, Tom Rasweiler, Christopher Heckleman, Eric Lenz and Anthony Clark.  Millburn converted on their extra point. 

Summit scored one more time on  a QB sneak after a long drive.  Mike Flanagan made a sliding catch to gain the extra point.  Great runs on this drive by Sam Zanelli and Jack Fiore.  Great back blocking by Jack Fiore.  Great receiver blocking by Tom Tarashuk and Jake Froschauer.  Continued solid line blocking by Michael Huston and Mike Mahecha.

Another great day for the Summit D team.  Join the D team at home again this Sunday at 10:30 at Metro Homes when they take on Berkeley Heights.

Summit vs. Berkeley Heights - Summit’s 5^th grade football squad met their match on a cold, windy, rainy Sunday morning at Metro field.  Summit played hard but came up a few extra points short.  Summit’s captains Clay Galiardo, Christian Greer, Hunter Meyer-Hanover, Patrick Moriarty and Christopher Shelley got the coin toss right and Summit got the ball first.  Nice job captains.

Summit’s offense tried again.  Great runs all day by Sam Zanelli and great blocks and runs by Jack Fiore but ultimately some gains on offense but not enough.  Punt again.  The defense took the field.  Conner Mayes made a great stop.  Phillip Angelo was all over the field.  Chris McKee did a great job stopping up the middle.  Thomas Tarashuk made a stop.  Michael Vega and Jack Fiore gang tackled.  All great efforts but again Berkeley Heights scored and made the extra point. 

Summit’s offense sputtered again. Conner Mayes made some great runs but again a punt by Summit.  Summit’s defense took the field.  Brian Treger made a great tackle.  Conner Mayes stopped Heights on second down.  Phillip Angelo and Mayes made another stop.  Jake Gieselman and Jake Froschauer gang tackled the Heights runner. 

The back and forth continued on defense with stops and good play from Michael Huston, Mike Mahecha, Sean Quinn, Joe Donini, Finn McTernan, Eric Lenz, Christina Breen, Christian Heckleman, Matthew Colon, Peter Galuppo, Anthony Clark and Brian Coburn.  Summit’s offense had one more chance on offense.

Summit’s offense practiced the “2 minute/hurry up offense” in practice this week.  Not really sure why, maybe it was filler or maybe it was foresight..but we needed it.  Summit took over with approximately 4 minutes on the running clock.  Shaffer was tackled in the backfield on first down.  Shaffer then passed to Zanelli for a solid gain.  Zanelli ran for 7 yards.  On 4^th and short, Zanelli converted to a first down.  Great blocking by Huston, Liam Higgins, Liam Dougherty, Eric Lenz, Mike Mahecha and Mike Flanagan.  An almost great catch by Sean McGrath left first down incomplete.  Zanelli charged ahead for 15 yards on second down to the Height’s 19 yard line.  1 minute 24 seconds remained on the fast running clock.  No gain on first down.  Shaffer took the ball on a broken play on second down to the Heights 10 yards line.  22 seconds remained.  Last chance.  Shaffer passed to Sean McGrath in the endzone for a Summit TD.  Excellent catch Sean.  Again great line blocking.  Summit executed a NFL-like 2 minute drive.   Excellent, Excellent.  Summit failed on the extra point, but they started to believe…and their hands got a touch warmer.

The second half began with a reinvigorated Summit team.  Summit’s defense forced Heights out after stops by Thomas Rasweiler and Matthew Sklar.  Summit’s offense led by Christian Fusco took the field.  Phillip Angelo sparked this offense but he couldn’t do it by himself.  Joe Donini tried to help with some solid play but again Summit punted.  Summit’s defense played tough all day and on the next drive Liam Dougherty came up with a fumble on 4^th down and Summit’s offense cheered and took the field.

Summit’s stumbled on first down with no gain but no one cared because on second down Sam Zanelli took the ball on a 40 yard jaunt into the endzone.  Cheers and hi-five’s for everyone.  Summit failed to convert the extra point.

Summit’s defense took the field and stopped Heights after a long clock eating drive.  Hayden Fraser made a stop, John Roberts and Dante Rodriguez crushed a Heights runner on third down.  Chris Mckee and Michael Huston sandwiched another runner.  Finn McTernan and Darion Strickler gang tackled.  Christopher Giangulio made a solid stop.  Patrick Codey clogged up the middle.  Will Freeman held the right side on sweeps and made some solid stops with Brendan McGinn.  After all of that Summit took over on 4^th down.

Summit vs Berkeley Heights - Summit’s 5^th grade team traveled to Berkeley Heights for a second shot at this great opponent.  Summit played well but had trouble “finishing” all day.  This Saturday’s format was slightly different with each team running 10 plays.  On BH’s first play from scrimmage BH scored.   Coach Gerry Donini was seen trying to trip the BH runner as he breezed past him, even Coach Donini missed him. 

Summit’s offense took the field behind the leadership of QB Christian Fusco.  Today’s “Player of the game” Phillip Angelo took the first carry and ran it for a solid 7 yards.  Sean “no problem, I get it” Quinn took the next carry into the line for another solid gain.  Great line blocking on this drive by Anthony “bigun” Clark, Patrick Codey, Liam Dougherty, Michael “las” Vega and Justin “welcome to the jungle” Hong.  Phillip Angelo ran again and again for key Summit yardage.  Christian “I think I can” Fusco attempted 2 passes to Jake “first pick” Gieselman and Brendan “kiss me I’m irish” McGinn ,(not on the same play of course), but both fell incomplete. 

Summit’s defense took the field again.  Sean McGrath made a great tackle right out of the gates.  Thomas Tarashuk halted BH’s progress on the second play. Summit’s version of “separated at birth” teamed up on a great gang tackle; Twin 1-Thomas “the Ras” Rasweiler and Twin 2- Anthony “bottom bunk” Clark.  Sean Quinn stopped a BH runner dead in his tracks.  Clark and Eric Lenz and Kohl Shaffer and Joseph Donini made the next tackle.  Hunter “HMH” Meyer-Hanover crushed a 5^th grader on the next tackle, what has gotten in to him?  Finally, Sam Zanelli, Darion Strickler, Liam Higgins,  Meyer-Hanover, and Dante “I can see you” Rodriguez, all made excellent stops to end this 10 play drive.

Joseph Donini sprinted on to the field to take the next set of snaps.  Griffin Breen ran hard for a solid 5 yard gain.  Sean McGrath ran well for another solid gain.  Donini threw a strike to Jake Froschauer for a long gain.  Summit’s offensive line made this drive memorable behind Matthew Sklar, Brian Treger, Finn McTernan, Michael Mahecha.  Great widout blocking by Brian Coburn and Jack Smith.

As the game’s 10 play series progressed, Summit started to get into a rhythm.  Christian Greer and Michael Huston made great tackles.  Will Freeman anchored the far side of the field on defense.  Peter Galuppo stopped the progress of a BH runner.  Phil Angelo was all over the field on defense, helping make tackle, lending a hand on gang tackles and making several solo stops.  Nice day Phillip.  On offense Phillip Angelo ran with authority.  He scored early in the second half.  Angelo made much of the yardage on the second set of 10 plays for Summit.  Sean Quinn made some great blocks to spring Angelo. 

The final drive of the morning,again, saw superb running by Angelo, Donini,  and Sam Zanelli.  Ultimately, Joe Donini ran the ball into the front corner of the endzone to send all of the Summit fans and players home with a smile on their face.  Nice work Summit.Summit

Summit vs Chatham Some of the greatest rivalries in sports….. Penn State vs Pitt, Giants vs Eagles; Belechick vs Mangini, Capulets vs Montagues, Hatfields vs McCoys, Serena Williams vs the line judge, Coke vs Pepsi, more flavor vs less filling or baseball vs lacrosse, …..couldn’t match the give and take of the 5^th grade Summit vs Chatham back yard duel. 

This fierce cross town matchup pitted two evenly matched teams on a beautiful Sunday morning.  Nothing could get in the way of this great football game, not even a “snow squall” of yellow hankies consistently falling against Summit’s innocent 5^th graders.  Never in the history of 5^th grade football has one team suffered a horse-collar, holding, facemask and offsides penalty in one game.  Stevie Wonder,  take your glasses off, you have found a friend.

Summit’s captains ran to the middle of the field for the coin toss.  Summit was prepared, rehearsed and a bit nervous for this important event.  The official coin sailed into the air and …Summit failed to call the toss correctly..again.  Yet, in this moment of stress, Chatham was forced to make a decision…take the ball or take the ball.  Chatham, took a play out of  Summit’s last game against them…they chose to defer.  Deferring is not even a logical answer in this multiple choice question.  Summit got the ball. They certainly don’t grow them smarter on the Shunpike.

Summit’s offense started with a good solid run by Phillip Angelo.  Sam Zanelli added to Angelo’s running by gaining 10 yards of his own.  Kohl Shaffer took the ball after a broken play for 10 yards.  Angelo ran the ball to the Chatham 40 yard line.  Shaffer then dumped a pass to Zanelli, who looked like a faster version his brother Chris, making several tacklers miss and darted and dodged his way into the end zone for Summits first score.  Great blocking by the mountain men on the offensive line: Michael “Hoss” Huston, Liam “can I call the next play” Higgins, Liam “huddle” Dougherty, Eric “it depends” Lenz, Michael “ache” Mahecha and Mike “I can play defense” Flanagan.  Summit failed on the extra point. 

Summit’s defense rocked Chatham in the first half (all coaching I’m told).  The black defense made an immediate impression on everyone at Cougar field.  Kohl Shaffer made the first tackle, Jake “the snake” Froschauer made a great stop.  Mike “mean-on” Mahecha stopped the next Chatham runner for no gain.  On 4^th and short, Chatham converted but not after Sean Quinn and Froschauer inflicted some pain.  Mike “M&M” Mahecha and Mike Flanagan and Eric Lenz ganged up in the Chatham backfield for a large loss. On 2^nd and pass, Chatham dropped back to pass (shocker) and rifled the ball downfield.  The ball tipped off of several 5^th graders and Sam “NJ Lottery” Zanelli came up with the interception.  But that’s not all, Sam galloped down the field behind many great Summit blockers crossed the goal line.  We call that a “Pick 6” in lottery lingo.  “Hey you never know.”  Great job defense.  Summit converted on the extra point. 

Summit’s white defense took the field and sent the Cougars packing after just 3 plays.  Sean McGrath, Thomas Rasweiler, Liam Dougherty,  Christian Fusco, Mike McKee and Phil Angelo created a “whole lotta ouchies” on this series. 

Summit’s next offensive attempt saw Phillip Angelo running with authority.  A Shaffer pass to Zanelli got Summit to move the chains.  Angelo carried the ball 2 more times for nice gains.  Sam Zanelli took the ball into the Chatham endzone again.  Three scores for Zanelli in the first half.  Great blocking by Michael Huston, Liam Higgins, Liam Dougherty, Eric Lenz, Mike Mahecha, Mike Flanagan, Sean McGrath and Jake Froschauer.  Summit missed the extra point.  Who knew this would be Summit’s last score of the day and it was still only the first half. 

Most in the stadium thought Chatham was down for the count but the well coached Cougars still had a lot of fight and almost scored right before the end of the first half. 

Chatham took over on the 35 yard line with 4 minutes left on Magoo’s sundial of a watch.  Michael Huston made a ferocious stop in first down, slamming the Chatham runner into the turf.  10 minutes left.  Shaffer made the next sack.  3 minutes 30 seconds left.  (yea the sundial was working very well, frustrating right?) Anthony Clark, Joe Donini, and Hunter Meyer Hanover made the next gang tackle.  4 minutes left now (Spring forward, fall back). Chatham worked the QB sneak to perfection on 4^th down to gain the first.  With only 1 minute left to go (seriously they count time differently in that country), Chatham’s QB dropped back to pass.  With the well coached defense telling everyone that would listen to “not let anyone get behind you”, the well thrown long pass was complete (over the Summit defenders)…..but, with outstanding effort, Sean Quinn stopped the receiver on the 1 yard line. No time remained and Summit sprinted to their half time water bottles still pitching a shut out, barely.

The second half was all Chatham and the Cougars came to play.  After smartly deferring, Chatham got the ball first but fumbled the ball back to Summit in just 3 plays.  Deferring rocks!  Phillip Angelo made the recovery with awesome support from Dante Rodriguez, Christopher Gianguilo, Brendan McGinn, Clay Galiardo, and Griffin Breen. 

Summit’s gold offense did very little on the next set of downs.  Then Chatham’s offense came alive, scoring both a TD and extra point on their next drive.  Great coverage on this drive by Thomas Tarashuk.  Finn McTernan, Darion Strickler, Christopher Heckleman and Matt Colon made fine tackles. 

Unfortunately, Summit’s offense was out after 3 plays and one interception.  Again Chatham’s offense scored but missed the TD.  Mike Flanagan made a tackle, Finn McTernan stopped a reverse in the backfield.  Liam Dougherty and McTernan made a great stop to almost end the drive.  Chatham’s score came on a 50 yard run by Chatham’s running back who left 11 frustrated “almost tackler” in his wake.  Close game, right?

Summit’s offense stormed on to the field and stormed off the field after a great Summit effort was called back and penalized for holding.  Yes, Virginia, holding!       Never before and probably never again will we see this called.   5^th grade holding is like not putting the cap back on the toothpaste, it’s like going 36mph in a 35mph zone, its like not lifting the seat…hey it happens sometimes, they’re only 5^th graders.

Chatham had one last chance.  They fumbled on the first play.  They were sacked by Huston on the second play.  “Don’t let anyone get behind you” was the cry on third and pass.  Chatham completed their 3^rd down pass after getting behind the Summit defender and making a great catch.  Summit made several more stops on first, second and third down, but again let a long pass on 4^th down, restart the first down counter.  On first and “one play left”, with 3 referees on the field (they phoned a friend) Chatham dropped back to pass.  All of the refs’ sundial watches were in synch this time.  (The coaches were helping with the big numbers.)  The QB’s ball spiraled thru the air and just over the hands of the Summit defender and into the Chatham receiver’s hands.  The receiver came down on the 2 yard line, was hit, coughed up the ball and the ball laid still on the ground.  Time stopped.  Summit’s defenders lunged for the ball and Summit's Shaffer recovered it.  All looked at the refs for the call.  Fumble or not? ……Was he in the endzone or not? ……Did he catch it?  After googel-ing ….“legal catch and fumble” …..the ref called it a fumble and a Summit recovery.  Summit ball with no time left.  Great game by both teams.

Congratulations Summit.  Join the Summit 5^th grade team for their last game versus Cranford @Cranford on Sunday at 10:30.  Great win.

Summit vs Cranford: The final game of the 5^th game regular season saw many tricks but few treats.  The D team traveled to Cranford to face a tough Cranford team.  Unfortunately, Cranford's “sugar high” kicked in a little faster than Summit's.  Well, maybe it’s whoever has the most candy in the end... that wins.