Novak’s 29-yard FG at :01 gives Piscataway 38-35 win at West Orange, sends Chiefs back home for North 1, Group 5 final against Irvington

In a wild back and forth football game, Piscataway needed nearly all 48 minutes.

Literally.

Patrick Novak’s 29-yard field goal with one second left on the clock gave the third-seeded Chiefs a 38-35 lead at second-seed West Orange in the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 5 semifinals, and they still needed an interception on the last play of the game to hang on and win.

The Chiefs – now 9-2 – will head back home to host fourth-seed Irvington next Saturday afternoon at Kenny Armwood Stadium, after the Blue Knights upset top-seed Ramapo on the road Friday night, 28-21.

Watch Novak’s game-winning field goal below, as shot by Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas:

Piscataway led by two touchdowns at the end of three quarters, up 35-21, but West Orange was knocking on the door. As the game headed into the fourth, Tyreon Sprewell punched in a one-yard touchdown run just four seconds into the period.

Trading possessions much of the rest of the quarter, the Mountaineers tied the game at 35 with a one-yard QB sneak by Daniel Lewis with 1:26 to go. But the Chiefs marched down field from their own 32 in seven plays, got into field goal range, and set up Novak for the heroics.

But it wasn’t done yet.

With one second to go, West Orange (8-2) went out of bounds on the return after the clock hit zero, but a horse collar penalty on Piscataway gave the Mountaineers an untimed down. With time for one more play, Lewis aired out out, but the Chiefs’ Devin Labega intercepted it in the end zone to seal the win.

Zaire Young finished with 26 carries for 119 yards, while Landon Pernell was 16-oof-22 passing for 132 yards and four touchdowns in the win, which sent the Chiefs back to a sectional finals for the first time since 2018, when they finished 13-0 – a Middlesex County single-season win record – and beat Ridgewood in the inaugural North 5 bowl game, a pseudo-state semifinal that went by the wayside with the advent of group champions being introduced by the NJSIAA in 2022.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas with Piscataway senior QB Landon Pernall and head coach Dan Higgins, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen!