Caldwell HS football team defeats Millburn to boost playoff hopes

CALDWELL, NJ — The Caldwell High School football team defeated Millburn 42-14 to improve to 3-4 on the season.

It was Senior Night for the Caldwell Chiefs this past Friday evening, Oct. 18, when the Millburn Millers came through the South Mountain Reservation and Valley to try and play spoiler to the Chiefs’ playoff hopes at Bonnell Field in Caldwell. 

The Chiefs are having a tough season so far where they had some battles coming into this past weekend’s game. The Millers, on the other hand, are going through a rebuild after former head coach Chris Drechsel made the transition to become the new athletic director for Millburn High and his former defensive coordinator Dan Guyton has now stepped into the role.

Millburn started the season on the road with a tight 36-29 win over Barringer, but was immediately taken to the woodshed at home by Livingston 34-0 the following week. The Millers found a way to edge out a gutsy Dwight Morrow squad 17-16 in Week 3, but ultimately dropped three straight to Passaic Valley, Nutley and Bergenfield by a combined score of 94-46.

Caldwell, on the other hand, had its schedule turned upside down with three consecutive pop quizzes which they didn’t do so well on. The first was a 34-7 stinging by the Hornets of Passaic Valley at home, which was immediately followed by the 20-14 edging by backyard rival West Essex in North Caldwell the following week. Caldwell stayed on the road to tangle with defending NJSIAA Group 2 state champ Westwood. The Chiefs were dealt a 35-13 loss by the swarming Westwood Cardinals. But there was a little bright spot for Caldwell. They were able to break into the win column with a late fourth-quarter touchdown that gave them the 34-27 boost over Wayne Hills. But they dropped an explosive 45-28 heartbreaker to a late Cedar Grove squad that poured it on in the second half. The Chiefs rebounded with a 21-6 victory over the Shabazz Bulldogs at Shabazz Stadium.

The first few minutes of the first quarter had the Millers stuck behind their 40-yard line, trading punts with the Chiefs, who were benefiting from a short field. The Millers snagged an interception in an attempt to flip the field back into their favor. But Chiefs DB Sean Murtagh felt that it was time to flex his muscles by keeping the ball on the Millburn side of the field, snagging an interception with 2:31 left in the opening quarter. With just over a minute left in the first quarter, RB Nick Mignone bounced through traffic for a 6-yard opening 7-0 score.

The Millers were not able to make heads or tails as the Chiefs held them behind their own 15-yard line with no way to turn. But it turned out the Chiefs were on a war path with freshman QB Adam Sepe calling the shots. From their own 34-yard line after the Millers punt, he fed Mignone the ball for a short 4-yard gain. Sepe would put gas on the fire and launched a 52-yard aerial assault, finding WR Sean Murtagh on the other end. Sepe went back to the hot hand, Mignone the ball for a bruising 10-yard walk into the end zone and capping a four-play, 66-yard drive with 9:23 left in the half. 

Mignone and company weren’t done. They would go on to score two more times before the half. This time, both Mignone brothers made housecalls. Nick, the younger brother, exploded for a 30-yard touchdown run, while older brother Michael hauled in a 20-yard reception to keep their Chiefs well ahead of the Millers 28-0 with 4:13 left in the first half. 

Millburn would find some success in their next possession with QB PJ Sicoli at the helm. Keeping to the old single-wing formation, the Millers kept to the ground, marching 65 yards in 10 plays, with Sicoli taking matters into his hands by escaping a swarming Chiefs defense, led by LB Michael Mignone, for a 12-yard touchdown with just 6 seconds left in the half and bringing some life to the Millers’ sideline as they trailed 28-7 at the half.

After the half, the Chiefs would hit the open airways. Starting from their 27-yard line, Sepe hit Murtagh for 37 yards, then found WR Nick Moyano for another 15-yard strike. But the Chiefs were penalized for a 10-yard holding call. Sepe would make that back easily, scrambling twice for 12 yards, before calling Nick Mignone to finish off the drive with an 11-yard sprint off their left tackle for his fourth touchdown of the evening. Mignone would finish the night with a modest eight carries for 79 yards and four touchdowns. The Chiefs had a commanding 35-7 lead midway through the third quarter. 

The Millers punted again, giving Caldwell good field position at the Millburn 41-yard line with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter. Caldwell immediately made them pay, with Sepe completing two of three passes for 21 yards, then switching to their ground attack and feeding RB Solomon Soriente for three carries for 18 yards. His last carry of the six-play drive was a 7-yard touchdown with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter and a 42-7 lead. Millburn would not go quietly into the night as Sicoli, with the help of wide receivers Gavin Sherman and Ryan Feldman, along with RBs Hayden Vo and Adib Curi, and Kiefer Curi, marched 79 in eight plays, with Sicoli taking the final late 1-yard plunge into the end zone to close the game at 42-14.

“We were down a couple players and have only 13 seniors on this year’s team,” said Guyton. He acknowledged that he expected a tough outing, but wanted to  come out with a win after losing a close 29-26 contest to Bergenfield. 

“We are preparing for our playoff push and this was something we had to win to get us in position for that,” said Caldwell head coach Todd Romano, who is expecting to take on a tough Nutley squad in Nutley on Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. 

Meanwhile, the Millers will face Wayne Hills at home Friday evening, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m as well at home, then will play in the NJSIAA regional consolation game on Nov. 6 on the road against Indian Hills at 6:30 p.m.

This weekend is the final weekend for all schools to make a playoff push. The public group seedings will come out on Monday, Oct. 28  and the Non Public Groups will play their final week next week as their playoff tournament will kick off the second week of November.

  Caldwell High School, Millburn High School