After converting a two-point conversion to walk it off in overtime, the River Dell Golden Hawks pulled off a massive upset over the Mendham Minutemen.
Trailing 14-7 heading into the break, the Minutemen turned the ball over and quickly fell behind 21-7 to start the 2nd half. River Dell looked to be in control until Mendham Senior Cole Capuzzi took over the game. Capuzzi scored twice in the 3rd quarter on runs of three and 15 yards to tie the game at 21 heading into the final frame.
Cam Parrinello gave the Minutemen a 28-21 lead on a monster 46-yard touchdown run, making it 21 unanswered points that River Dell had allowed. Golden Hawks quarterback Zion Yoon stayed poised and led the offense down the field, looking to tie things up late in the fourth. Yoon connected with Mason Nagle from three yards out, evening the score to 28 a piece, giving us our first overtime game of the 2024 state playoffs.
The Minutemen took the ball first in overtime and wasted no time in finding the end zone as (who else) Capuzzi plunged in from two yards out. The senior tacked on the PAT, forcing River Dell to score a touchdown to keep the game alive.
River Dell Responds
It took River Dell three plays to get into the end zone after Yoon connected with RJ Weiss to get the ball down to the goal line. Then, he powered his way into the end zone on a quarterback sneak. Now, the Golden Hawks could tie the game with the PAT, but coach DJ Nimphius trusted his team and decided one overtime was enough as Yoon and the offense trotted back out to go for the win.
Yoon stood in the shotgun, clapped his hands together, and took the snap with the season on the line. The junior faked a handoff while rolling to his right and threw across his body and off his back foot. The ball floated through the fall sky and landed in the arms of Ryan Rossig to convert the two-point attempt and win the game for River Dell.
An all time classic in Mendham! @RDHSFootball goes for two in overtime to walk it off on the road and upset Mendham!
They move on to face Passaic Valley next week! @bigstatesports pic.twitter.com/vutrbj6FDd
— Bobby Santoro (@bsantoro112) November 2, 2024
The Golden Hawks sideline erupted onto the field, chased the senior wideout across the field, and tackled him triumphantly at the 30-yard line to pull off the upset and move on to play Passaic Valley next week.
Cole Capuzzi finished the night with four rushing touchdowns for Mendham, who put up an incredible performance and had one of the best-rushing offenses we have seen in quite some time. Zion Yoon rushed for two touchdowns and threw another to go along with that clutch two-point conversion pass to lead his team to a remarkable road victory.
