Morris Clinches First-Ever State Title in New Jersey
Morris Clinches First-Ever State Title in New Jersey
Morris won its first ever New Jersey state HS club title over the weekend, beating Union 34-17 to get there.
Facing a very big and physical Union side, Morris went into the game with a specific game plan:
Make the Union forwards chase the game all over the field;
Emphasize quick ball from the rucks and quick use of that quick ball;
Send the scrumhalf on snipes when it's on;
Change the alignment to cover the unavailability of starting fullback Sebastian Giese using deep three and a second-tier defending in co-captain Thomas McDevitt.
This approach required patience because if it was designed to tire out the Union players, then that would happen later in the game. Early on the Union pack was pushing the Morris scrums, but as the game wore on it was the fit Morris pack that got the ascendency.
Also key was controlling possession, which required non-runners in pods to latch on quickly and clear out quickly. Meanwhile, key attacking talent Oliver Acuna-Casey was moved from center to fullback with the expectation that strong Morris defense would force kicks and he would be able to counter-attack—Morris was not intending to kick back but run.
Union Head Coach Ryan “Tree” Murphy had his team well-prepared also; they elected to receive the ball in the first half and the game started with heavy clashes just as their regular-season game had. Morris answered with double team tackling with co-captain Joe Burke leading the battle along with Charley Colvin, Evan Rothery, Ezra Bardo, Oliver Griffiths, and brothers Ivan and Ayden Gomez. Union co-captain Charley Blessing had some success attacking Morris defensive gainline but Morris quickly recovered, pushing back rest of the Union attackers. With mounting another attack and after few phases, Ayden Gomez touched down, but the try was disallowed as a Morris player had dived over the ruck.
Still Morris kept the pressure on Union and after a few phases Ezra Bardo scored the first try from a ruck near the left corner and Morris led 5-0.
From the ensuing kickoff Union applied tremendous pressure but Morris kept attacking with some daring runs from Oliver Sadler, Callan Hughes, and Sebastian Occhino but Union held on. From a Lineout, Andrew Stickley made a break. No. 8 Ivan Gomez followed on nd while he was stopped Union was penalized for offside. Morris tapped and McDevitt sent a long pass to Rothery. He was stopped but again Union was penalized. Finally Tiyaan Pillai ran a smart line out of of Sebastian Occhino and was in. McDevitt converted and it was 12-0.
Union responded later in the first half, powering through the phases (and thus showing why Morris's plan of controlling possession was a good one) before scoring near the posts. The conversion was good and the score was now 12-7.
Adjustments were made at the halftime for both sides. The second half started with Morris receiving the ball and executing a well balanced attack with some daring runs from Acuna-Casey, Sadler, Rothery, Stickley, Burke and Griffiths. But the attack stalled due to unforced errors. Then Occhino made a juggling catch that evoke memories of David Tyree from Super Bowl XLII. Somehow he held onto the ball as he was hit and from the ensuing ruck McDevitt sent it to Ayden Gomez who charged through the middle to score under the posts. McDevitt converted and it was 19-7.
From the restart Morris led another methodical attack; Acuna-Casey busted through the Union defense, was tracked down, and then McDevitt spun it to Callan Hughes. Hughes was tackled into touch, but high, so quickl Ayden Gomez was there to tap and score to make it 24-7.
Union fought back valiantly with captain Matt Froden testing the Morris defense. The Morris defense was working hard and a turnover allowed Hughes to break through. He was corralled by Union fullback Dylon George, but the ball eventially found its way to Ivan Gomez and then Stickley, who raced 50 meters to score a killer blow for Morris that was somewhat against the run over play.
That made it 31-7. Union scored two late tries while McDevitt added a penalty to finish it off 34-17.
The win was dedicated to late coach Paul McDevitt, Thomas McDevitt's father.
For Morris this has been an impressive run over the last few years. Since former NYAC star front-rower Troy Bartley and Shan Wickramarachchi have taken the reins, they have gone 15-0 in regular-season play, and overall have gone 27-6 including preseason games, non-conference games, and playoffs. Their only losses have come from Aspetuck (three times), Greenwich, Pelham, and Christian Brothers in the 2022 playoffs. There were no state playoffs held in 2020 or 2021, which is why this is the first 15s state title for Morris.
"Clinching the New Jersey State Club Championship is special for me as I hailed from a school in Sri Lanka initiated by New Jerseyan, Col. Henry Steel Olcott in 1886," said Wickramarachchi. "I attended the school from 1983 to 1990 where I played rugby. The New Jersey State Championship was clinched in 2023, exactly four decades after is started playing."
First Half Highlights
Second-Half Highlights
