EAST RUTHERFORD — The Hollywood fairy tale ending just wasn’t meant to be.
Secaucus lost in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I state championship game Friday night, falling 30-14 to Cedar Grove in Secaucus’ first and only appearance in Giants Stadium.
The Patriots (11-1) took an early 8-0 lead, set up by an interception by Alex Farinola at the Cedar Grove 5-yard line with 8:00 remaining in the first quarter. On the next play after the interception, Joe Impreveduto went in for the touchdown and Eddie Delgado added the two-point conversion run, giving the Pats the early lead.
The Patriots didn’t hold the lead for long. On the third play after the score, Cedar Grove’s Patsy Caggiano broke free for a 52-yard touchdown run, slicing the Secaucus lead to 8-7 with 6:31 left in the first quarter.
The Patriots had a golden opportunity to pad their lead, driving all the way down to the Cedar Grove 14-yard line. But on fourth down and inches, Impreveduto was stopped behind the line of scrimmage, turning the ball over on downs.
Secaucus had another good scoring chance with their next possession, marching down to the Cedar Grove 15-yard line, but lost the ball on a fumble. Seven plays later, Caggiano (10 carries, 171 yards) scored on a 20-yard run, giving Cedar Grove the lead for good at 15-8 with 7:20 left before halftime.
Then, disaster struck for the locals. On the third play after the score, Sean Egan’s pass to the flat was picked off by Caggiano, who returned it 28 yards for another touchdown, giving Cedar Grove two touchdowns in a span of 1:25, pushing the lead to 22-8.
The Patriots had one more solid scoring try before halftime, using every trick in the book, with hook-and-lateral passes and triple reverse passes to get down to the Cedar Grove 2-yard line with eight seconds left. But on the final play of the half, Delgado was stopped behind the line of scrimmage, sending the deflated Patriots into the locker room down 14 points.
Cedar Grove (11-1) then put the game away with their first possession of the second half, capped by a 34-yard touchdown run by Will Gonzalez with 8:21 left in the third quarter.
Secaucus closed the scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Delgado in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
It was the first time Secaucus ever played at Giants Stadium, even though the school is geographically closest to the stadium built in 1975 and will be torn down in February, 2010. –Jim Hague