EAST RUTHERFORD − Cedar Grove reached new heights offensively in 2024, scoring more points in a season than any other team since the creation of the Super Football Conference eight years ago.
The high-octane offense guided the Panthers to a sectional championship and a trip to its first state championship game.
The powerful engine of Cedar Grove’s offense sputtered on Friday, falling to Glassboro in a 56-14 defeat at MetLife Stadium.
“These guys have a lot to be proud of,” coach Rob Gogerty said. “They definitely left their mark. They built upon the tradition and might have even raised the bar a bit. We ran into a buzzsaw today and didn’t really play well.”
Cedar Grove (13-1) began the night the way they have began most of their games. Quarterback Stephen Paradiso completed six of his first eight passes before plowing in for an eight yard touchdown run to put the Panthers ahead, 7-0. Glassboro (13-0) responded with a touchdown drive of their own, scoring four and a half minutes later with an Amari Saab touchdown run. Glassboro went for two to take an 8-7 lead halfway through the first quarter.
The ensuing drive by the Panthers included a key fourth down completion by Paradiso, who would find Nick Russo one play later for a 33-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-8 lead.
Glassboro would score the next 48 points as Kenny Smith rushed for four touchdowns as well as Saab scoring twice more. Cedar Grove was unable to catch up as the game turned into an offensive track meet.
“I think the game just got away from us,” Gogerty said. “We started off the game the way we wanted to. We just didn’t get a chance to slow the game down. We thought we could push them off the field a little bit and control the pace of this game, but it got away.”
Key plays
Two key turnovers derailed the Panthers offensively, beginning with a 45-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Davon Barr to put the Bulldogs up by multiple touchdowns.
In the second half, trailing 43-14, Cedar Grove drove into the red zone, but a fumble by Connor Kearney turned aside the Panthers and halted Cedar Grove’s chances at attempting a comeback.
By the numbers
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Smith finished the game with 20 carries for 402 yards, believed to be a state championship record, and four rushing touchdowns. It is also a MetLife Stadium record as Smith became the first player at any level to run for at least 400 yards in a single game since the stadium was built in 2010.
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Glassboro as a team averaged 14 yards per offensive play, totaling 587 yards of offense. Conversely, Cedar Grove was held to a season-low 177 yards of offense.
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Paradiso completed 22 of his 42 passes for 190 yards, a touchdown pass and two interceptions in his final game. The senior finishes his season with with 242 completions and 3,691 passing yards, setting school records in both categories. Paradiso falls just shy of matching Nick Kargman’s state records of 259 completions and 3,963 yards for Camden Eastside in 2018. Paradiso’s 41 touchdown passes for the season fell seven short of matching Devin Leary, who threw for 48 touchdowns for Timber Creek in 2017.
They said it
“This is the first time that we have played 14 games in a season and it’s kind of a grind… I don’t know how many people expected this when we lost the seniors that we did. Our senior class showed us what they were capable of to get us to this mark.” – Gogerty
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Cedar Grove NJ football falls to Glassboro in Group 1 state final
