The West Milford Highlanders come into week four’s match up at 3-1 after a dominant 29-6 victory over the High Point Wildcats, making the Wildcats fall to 0-3. Sophomore quarterback Aydin Deane led the Highlanders going 14 -25 and 191 yards passing, with 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions. Sophomore running back Chase Tyburczy led the team with 60 yards rushing alongside 2 rushing touchdowns. Sophomore Patrick Foley also scored on a 38-yard touchdown run. Senior Nate Ford finished as the Highlanders leading receiver, having 5 catches for 82 yards and a receiving touchdown. Defensively, senior Tyler Genuardi finished with 2 sacks, 4 tackles for loss (tfls), and 11 tackles, while fellow senior Jake Schwarzlow had 7 tackles.
The Highlanders look to use this momentum they’ve gained in their upcoming game against their divisional rival, the Lakeland Lancers, who are also 3-1. The Lancers came into the matchup after their first loss which was against Passaic Valley 21-0. Lakeland started off their first three games going 3-0. In their last five matchups, Lakeland has three victories out of the five over West Milford with scores of 14-6, 21-14, and 20-17. The Highlanders will travel to even the score over Lakeland on Friday at 6:30 PM.
Some key Highlanders to look out for this week are wide receiver Nate Ford, Marcus Morgen, and Patrick Foley. At running back, Chase Tyburczy will be the lead back alongside Foley. At quarterback, Aydin Deane looks to continue his strong start. On the defensive side, you can look out for Captains Tyler Genuardi who leads North Jersey in tackling at Linebacker, Spencer Ribitski at Defensive Tackle, Jake Schwarzlow at Safety, and Nate Ford at Linebacker as well.
We asked senior Captain Jake Schwarzlow how he felt about this upcoming game and his expectations. He said, “I think we both are great teams and it’ll be a close, hard battle, but we want it more and it’s our time to come out on top and show everyone who we are.” In the end, both teams are looking to continue their strong start to the season and to begin a playoff push.
