The Glen Rock football team won its second straight game Friday night, beating a struggling Palisades Park-Leonia, 35-8 in Overpeck Park in Palisades Park.
Against a Pal Park-Leonia team that is winless and had been shut out twice in the first four games, Glen Rock (2-3) got out to an early lead and dominated the game in the first half, taking a 35-0 lead into halftime. The Panthers threw only five passes in the game, and had three completions, but two of those were touchdown passes from quarterback Dom Patania to senior receiver Drew Famularo. Patania, Seve Bilbao and Ashton Dalessio scored rushing touchdowns.
“It was good to get off to a fast start again,’’ said Glen Rock coach Jim Kurz, referencing the Panthers’ 35-6 win over Garfield a week earlier. The big lead allowed Kurz to pull his starters in the second half and get some backups and younger players some valuable game action.
After playing their three toughest games in the first four weeks of the season – and losing all three – the schedule has lightened up for the Panthers. But the damage to their state playoff hopes from those losses was extensive. Last year, Glen Rock made the playoffs with a 5-3 record, but even if they win all their remaining games to finish 5-3 again this year, that may not be good enough to beat out the likes of Hawthorne, High Point and Waldwick – which beat the Panthers, 14-7 on Sept. 28 – for one of the eight spots available in the North 1, Group 2 tournament.
For now, Kurz is not thinking about making the playoffs.
“We can’t think about the big picture,’’ he said. “The only thing we can think about, moving forward, is Lodi.’’
The Panthers host Lodi in their next game, on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 1 p.m. It will be Homecoming Day.
