Admittedly a young team with a lot of junior starters, they came in as a four-seed, and would host 5th-seed Colonia in the opening round. But the Patriots – mostly on the fleet feet of dual-threat quarterback Josh Uluremi – rolled up over 300 yards on the ground, en route to a 32-21 win.

And just like that, the 7-2 season became a disappointing 7-3 campaign for the Rams.

Head coach Will Nahan, when asked about it in the 2022 preseason, told Morris Sussex Sports, “It was a good year, but did we reach our ultimate goal?”

That answer being no, this year’s team is hungry.

Saturday afternoon, 2nd seed Randolph (9-1) will visit top-seed North Hunterdon (10-1) for the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 title, and Central Jersey Sports Radio will have all the coverage live from Singley Field in Annandale, NJ. Kickoff is at 12 noon, pregame at approximately 11:40 am. Click here to listen to the broadcast.

The game was moved from its original 7 pm start time Friday due to heavy rain, gusty winds and thunderstorms in the forecast from the remnants of Hurricane Nicole.

Randolph’s lone loss this season came October 15th to West Morris, one of the two teams they lost to last year, and the 2021 North Group 4 regional champ. The Wolfpack also have won 16 straight dating back to last season.

Other than that, it’s been a near flawless 2022, with much of the same cast of characters.

Senor quarterback Sean Clark has thrown for 2,004 yards and 23 touchdowns, and he distributes the ball through the air well, finding seven different receivers for no fewer than 6 catches and 101 yards, with the top two targets being Jesse Wilfong (28 for 517 yards and four TDs) and James Fusco (28 for 464 yards and 5 TDs).

On the ground, Stephen Petruzziello has 918 yards rushing and ten touchdowns, plus 11 catches for 180 yards and two scores.

That aerial attack could be grounded a bit, though, Friday night, with weather expected to be rainy – possibly heavy at times – with winds from side to side across the football field at 10-15 mph with higher wind gusts possible, thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Randolph head coach Will Nahan:

After trading three-and-outs to start the game, by the end of the first quarter things weren’t looking good for North Hunterdon.

The top-seeded Lions were down 14-0 after Morris Knolls opened the scoring with a 17-play drive, then scored quickly again after recovering an onside kick that took North by surprise.

Penalties and a fumble didn’t help the cause either, and things were in danger of getting late early in Annandale.

That is until head coach Kevin Kley called “The Timeout.” It followed a fumble by Alex Uryniak, then a big first down gain of 35 yards by Dom DellaMonache. Kley decided it was time to click Reboot.

And reboot, they did.

DellaMonache had 90 yards on 13 carries at that point, but only had 42 the rest of the way as the Lions’ defense hunkered down, kept the Golden Eagles off the scorebaord, and let Luke Martini and Derek Vaddis do their thing.

The pair hooked up for touchdowns of 46 yards and 63 yards in the second quarter – with 5:59 and 2:41 to go – but the Lions still trailed 14-12 going into the locker room, after having the extra point blocked on the first TD, and the two-point conversion fail on the second.

In the third quarter, after several momentum swings but no other scores, quarterback Luke Martini ran one in from 15 yards with 8:17 left to put North up 18-12, again missing on the two-point try. Then, with under two minutes to go, the icing on the cake: Kente Edwards – who had missed two games and was limited in two others after a suffering a lower body injury against Colonia – capped the game with a three-yard touchdown run.

The win puts North Hunterdon (9-1) in the North 2, Group 4 Championship game at home next week against second-seed Randolph, which beat third-seed Wayne Valley 31-28 Friday night. The game will be in Annandale Friday night at 7:00.

It’s North’s first trip to the finals since they won the North 2, Group 4 title in 2017, beating Phillipsburg 21-20 at MetLife Stadium after losing to the Stateliners in the regular season. That team finished 11-1, and this one will as well, if they win the title next week.

Click below to for postgame reaction with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko: