High School Sports Ridgewood Muscles Past Clifton in NJ Football Playoffs First Round by Sunil Sunder Raj November 12, 2017 On a cold and blustery night with howling winds at Clifton Stadium, the Ridgewood Maroons followed similar blueprint in their 28-7 win over the Mustangs in the regular season, jumping out to an early first quarter lead. This time around the stakes were much greater with a trip to the semifinals in the North 1, Group 5 playoffs. Capitalizing on a short punt by Clifton, Ridgewood cashed in immediately as kicker James Hogan booted home a 36-yard field goal with six minutes left. Three minutes later quarterback Jack Barclay found the end zone on a 39-yard touchdown run. With a minute remaining, running back Paul Calvetti burst through the line for a 17-yard score. Held to 131 rushing yards in the first match-up against the Mustangs, Ridgewood racked up big yardage on the ground piling up 361 yards, led by Calvertti’s career game rushing 20 times for 193 yards. Barclay finished with 92 yards on nine carries. “With the wind, punters could not punt the ball more than 20 yards in warm-ups,” said a frozen head coach Chuck Johnson. “Fortunate to win the coin toss and able to defer and set us up with field position in the first quarter that was most important part of the game and we have a good kicker.” Behind a solid offensive line that opened up gaping holes, Calvetti gashed the Mustangs defense breaking loose for a 55-yard touchdown run with eight minutes to go in the second quarter. Calvetti made his presence known on the defensive side of the ball making 10 tackles. Clifton answered back with a 66-yard drive that chewed up six minutes of the clock and finished off with a three-yard touchdown run. In the third quarter both defenses came up with stops on fourth down. Early in the fourth quarter Mustangs quarterback Armani Brinson scored on a eight-yard touchdown run but the extra point was no good trimming the deficit to 24-13. That would be as close as Clifton would get with Parker Scott sealing the Maroons win with a one-yard plunge late in the game. Post Views: 1,736 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Sunil Sunder Raj Since July of 2014 Sunil Sunder Raj has been with In The Zone. Sunil has experience covering minor league baseball, high school and college sports. A beat writer for the Rockland Boulders for six years, Ramapo College men’s basketball for four years, NJIT men’s basketball and Seton Hall women’s basketball. Now focusing on feature articles about athletes, coaches and sports media professionals. A graduate of Ramapo College of New Jersey with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism. Latest posts by Sunil Sunder Raj (see all) Exclusive Interview w/ Kyle J. Andrews, High School Sports Reporter from The Baltimore Sun (VIDEO) - April 24, 2021 Dave Sims Reflects on Successful Career in Sports (Video) - April 12, 2021 Neha Uberoi Khangoora: Pro Athlete to Successful Business Entrepreneur - February 9, 2021 Exclusive Interview: SNY Personality, Maria Marino, Shares Career Journey (VIDEO) - January 28, 2021 Related TopicsChuck JohnsonCliftonJack BarclayJames HoganNJ FootballPaul CalvettiRidgewood Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! MadFit Dance Workout Videos — Fitness Fun for All by Elizabeth DiPietro | posted on March 15, 2021 Will Michael Jordan’s Exclusive Golf Course Enable Him To Take On The Pros? by Katie Malespina | posted on March 30, 2021 Michael Jordan Could Change the Future of Nascar for the Better by Inesh Chari | posted on March 30, 2021 Whoop Rewards Employees With $100 Each Month To Sleep by Inesh Chari | posted on March 22, 2021 The Mockery of A Sport: Paul vs. Askren by Brandon Berrios | posted on April 19, 2021 More in High School Sports Lawmakers in North Dakota Propose a Bill which Restricts Transgender Athletes Lawmakers in North Dakota have proposed a bill that will restrict high school and... Local high school athletic director Tom Kaechele reflects on his career Tom Kaechele always had an interest in sports, but his journey to becoming the... Angelo DeSalvo Enjoys Successful Career in Coaching High School Football Growing up in New Milford, New Jersey, Angelo DeSalvo enjoyed playing a multitude of... Hard work has led to success for John Jacob in high school football Growing up in Roselle Park, New Jersey, John Jacob enjoyed playing baseball and basketball.... NJ High School Football Opening Round Predictions: South Jersey Patti leads St. Joe’s to 49-13 rout over Red Bank Catholic