Westwood wears out Waldwick/Midland Park to win North 1, Group 2

Senior quarterback and Amherst commit Craig Carmilani completed 11 of 18 passes for 212 yards to help Westwood win its first sectional title since 2006. The Cardinals finished with 424 yards of offense and their defense held Waldwick/Midland Park to 175 yards of offense to secure a 26-7 victory.

On Westwood’s second play on offense, junior wide receiver Nolan Borgersen ran 91 yards for a touchdown. It took only 19 seconds for Westwood to get on the board.

This was the first of three, 90+ yard drives that Westwood put together. Each of them resulted in touchdowns.

“I knew we were going to run it before the game even started, the offensive line did a great job, and I just went…I knew they were going to give me some running plays and I took advantage.”

Borgersen, who leads the state in receiving yards 1,772 and 25 touchdowns, was well aware that Waldwick/MP was going to double cover him. However, that didn’t stop him from getting his hands on the ball. Borgersen finished the game with two receptions for 23 yards. He also carried the ball twice times for 96 yards including the 91 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He also plays free safety and had a few pass breakups.

Give credit to Waldick/Midland Park quarterback Evan Pagliei, who played a great game. Pagliei finished with 12 rushes for 53 yards including a 1 yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He also completed 8 of 12 passes foe 73 yards. The Warriors just didn’t have the depth and couldn’t get much of a push up front.

“They were the best team we played this year. They fought to the very end. No one ever said winning a state championship was going to be easy, and it wasn’t.” senior quarterback Craig Carmilani said.

Turning point: Westwood goal line stand to stop Waldwick/MP from making it a one possession game. Waldwick was faced with a fourth and goal at the Westwood 3 yard line. Waldwick/MP quarterback Evan Pagliei rolled out to his left and had no where to go. He gained one yard on the scramble and that wasn’t enough to convert. Westwod took over from their own 2 with 2:22 left in the third quarter. They took 7:29 off the clock and drove 98 yards down the field to take a 26-7 lead.