With two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the North Warren Patriots notched their first win of the 2023 season with a 28-14 win over Parsippany High School September 15.
The win breaks a two-game losing streak for the Pats, who had lost 13 of last year’s seniors. But Head Coach Eugene Fluri said the team came together, continuing to work past early miscues.
“We needed that win. We’re happy, the kids worked very hard,” Fluri said. “We’re still trying to find ourselves as a team, but we’re getting there.”
Fluri said the team suffered from some mental mistakes in the first two games, partly caused several key players getting significantly more playing time that they had previously.
After a scoreless first quarter, Parsippany got on the board with a four-yard touchdown run.
This was followed by two Landon White touchdowns for North Warren in the second quarter. The first came on a 27-yard pass from Luke Stefankiewicz. White then ran a deep Parsippany punt for a 95-yard touchdown, leaving a trail of Red Hawks in his wake.
Parsippany opened the second half with an eight-yard touchdown run by Joseph Fucci, to tie the game at 14.
North Warren answered in the fourth quarter with the second Stefankiewicz touchdown pass, this time to Miykael Barnes for 32 yards.
The Patriots topped that off quickly. On the kickoff, which Fluri said they were trying to keep on the ground, the ball bounced directly off the chest of a Parsippany lineman allowing North Warren to recover.
That play was quickly converted to a touchdown with a 19-yard pass from Stefankiewicz to Lucas Csezmadia, for what would be the final score of 28-14.
One play in the second half might be worthy of a highlight reel.
A pass attempt by Parsippany was deflected, and North Warren defensive lineman Mason Forbes, a senior walk-on in his first year, seemingly willed the ball to his hands for an interception, which set up the go-ahead touchdown.
“Yeah, that’s one of those things he’s going to talk about forever,” Fluri said.
Joe Phalon, 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.
