The battle of the Tigers ends with Tenafly undefeated
WEST NEW YORK, N.J. — (BVM) Last night’s Tenafly Tigers (7-0) vs Memorial Tigers (3-3) matchup locked in the Tenafly High School perfect season. This is the first time since 1968 that Tenafly has gone undefeated. Memorial was still dealing with multiple injuries and now the loss of senior wide receiver William Rodriguez due to last week’s ankle injury.
The game began with a Tenafly opening drive that would end with junior WR Kenny Uchida in the endzone for the first of many touchdowns. The P.A.T. by Uchida was good. Tenafly took the lead with a score of 7-0.
This set the pace for the entire night.
Memorial began on the ground with their first possession of the game, getting under 20 yards and forced to punt back to Tenafly.
On the next drive Tenafly moved the ball well and handed it off to Uchida, who ran for 34 yards into the endzone. The P.A.T. by Uchida was good.
Memorial’s time of possession on the next drive was lengthy, as they fought hard to bring the ball down field. Unfortunately, Memorial received a holding penalty, followed by a horse collar penalty, then a false start, pushing them way back into their own territory. The ball was punted back to Tenafly with no score.
The Uchida train was good on the next drive for another 34-yard touchdown run, followed by an Uchida P.A.T. That brought the score to 28-0.
On the next drive, the Memorial Tigers answered back. After a long drive down field, Darwiem Mora ran two yards into the endzone for the touchdown. The P.A.T. was missed. Memorial was on the board with six points, trailing Tenafly who had 28.
In the opening drive of the second half, Memorial QB Juan Donoso was able to pick up four yards rushing before being intercepted on third down.
Tenafly capitalized on the interception when QB Holden Goldberg launched a 61-yard pass to WR Leo Gregory in the endzone. That touchdown and another Uchida P.A.T. extended the Tenafly lead to 34-6.
The next Memorial attempt ended with four yards rushing by Donoso, another five yards by Brandon Jimenez and the ball being punted back to Tenafly.
The next Tenafly possession resulted in a Goldberg two yard run into the endzone, and Uchida with another P.A.T. bringing Tenafly to a 41-6 lead.
The last touchdown of the game was a 32-yard touchdown run by Tenafly senior WR Dylan Meissner, sealed with an Uchida P.A.T.
The final score of the game was Tenafly 48, Memorial 6.
Tenafly’s Kenny Uchida had seven rushes for 243 yards and four touchdowns. QB Holden Goldberg was 3-3 passing 80 yards, one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. Middle linebacker Jonghun Jeong had 11 tackles and three sacks.
Tenafly head coach, Peter Toale, spoke highly of his team.
“It was an honor to be part of this team and to be able to do it with such a great group of young men. It was a crazy season never knowing if we would be shut down but our players were responsible and made sure they did everything they could to stay healthy,” Toale said. “The seniors worked hard for four years to achieve this and that hard work finally paid off. They have left an imprint on this team and this community that will be great for years to come.”
Donoso totaled 32 passing and 59 rushing yards for the night. Mora ran for 80 yards, scoring one TD. Donoso also had two tackles.
The Memorial Tigers will face Fort Lee for the division title on Thanksgiving morning. Tenafly is scheduled to play Dumont on Thanksgiving.
