Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Patriots have 1st Winning Season in 7 Years with 40-8 Win over Belvidere

Alex Diaz slips through Belvidere traffic. Photo by J. Phalon, Oct. 2022

The Patriots will have their first winning season since 2015 with their 40-8 victory over
Belvidere on Oct. 14.

Unlike several final-seconds nail-biters in recent weeks, North Warren pulled out in front early and never looked back, scoring 40 unanswered points before Belvidere County Seaters scored in the closing minutes. The Pats will carry a 5-2 record into next week’s home game against Pequannock.

North Warren scored first on a 55-yard pass from quarterback Jared Van Valkenburg to Craig Shipps. After a four-and-out by the Seaters after the kickoff, Angelo Fluri scored a first-down touchdown. Fluri would rush for 54 yards and score an additional touchdown.
Alex Diaz, who had 44 yards rushing on the night, also had a touchdown, as did Aiden Elliot-Able, who rushed 25 yards.

With the win, the Patriots can reasonably start looking at postseason play.

“This is a this is a good start for the run,” Head Coach Gene Fluri said. “We’re calling it the
run.”

Joe Phalon
Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer
Contributing Writer

Joe was lured out of retirement by the opportunity to be a part of the Ridge View Echo. During a decades-long career in publishing and journalism, he has covered government on many levels from local school boards to the United States Supreme Court.

Along the way, Joe has worked at American Lawyer Magazine, The National Law Journal and The Record among other publications, and as the Press Officer of Columbia Law School. His work has been recognized with several first place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the New Jersey Press Association.

Being part of the Ridge View Echo brings Joe back to his roots and the kind of news coverage he loves: Telling the stories of people and local communities as well as keeping an eye on how their money is spent by their government officials.

Joe lives in Blairstown with his wife Rose, the founder of Quilting for a Cause, and their two wiener dogs. He is an artist in his spare time.