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Improbable Rally Puts Vikings Into Finals

Parsippany Hills comes back from 21 points down near halftime to earn title shot.

Classmates and friends of football players rushed the field after the game was over–some still in disbelief over what they just saw.

Believe it. The Vikings will be playing a state title game after rallying from a 21-0 deficit in stunning fashion.

Senior running back C.J. Joyce plunged in from the 1-yard-line with 1:39 left in regulation to provide the winning score for Parsippany Hills’ 25-21 triumph over West Morris in the North 2, Group III state semifinals.

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For an extensive photo gallery from the game, head here.

Vikings quarterback Tyler Simms threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns. He fired scoring passes to Kire Milevski, Kyle Baxter and a 60-yard score to Danny Hardwick. It will be Parsippany Hills’ first trip to the title game since 2006. The Vikings play the winner of Cranford at Colonia in Saturday’s other sectional semifinal contest.

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West Morris senior running back Jon Ciccone rushed for 170 yards and three touchdowns, including a 73-yard TD run. Overall, West Morris rushed for 238 first-half yards but struggled to gain first downs in the second half.

“I give my kids all the credit in the world,’’ Parsippany Hills coach Dave Albano said. “They were down and they just kept fighting. At halftime I told them just to give me whatever you got left–just go out there and have some fun. You know, once the momentum started at the end of the first half–when they had it–it was hard to stop. Then we had it and it was hard for them to stop it. The kids started believing and it’s an emotional game.’’

Simms remembered when they played West Morris in the second game of the season. The Vikings fell behind early and rallied late against the Wolfpack before his team fell short 27-21. This time no matter how far they trailed, Simms knew they could come back.

“Our team has the ability to explode at any point,’’ Simms said. “Any time we can get some momentum and get the ball in enemy territory we have the opportunity to score and we capitalized on that in the second half.’’

After a second half dominated by the passing attack, it was Joyce that found some space in the Vikings’ running game and plunged in from the 1-yard-line to provide the game-winning score.

“We hadn’t run the ball well all day and when they called my number I got excited and everyone on the line got excited,’’ Joyce said. “It was really a team effort. We punched it in the end zone. It was amazing.

“We never doubt ourselves. We know that with Parsippany Hills’ football, we hit big plays a lot. We know that we can come back from any deficit and we did that.’’

The West Morris ground game dominated most of the first half and built a 21-0 margin. It was a bad snap on a punt that would set the tone for the rest of the game. Parsippany Hills gained possession of the ball on the Wolfpack 27 with 17.2 seconds left in the half. It only took one play for Simms to hook up with Kyle Baxter in the right side of the end zone to make it a 21-7 game.

“That was the turning point of the whole game,’’ Albano said. “That play gave us some energy that I thought we were lacking at the end of the first half.’’

To a man the Vikings knew that the game was going to turn around quickly.

“It was huge,’’ Vikings captain Danny Hardwick said. “It gave us life when we were down. That play set us up for a score just before the half. It gave us hope. It was phenomenal. It gave us a lot of momentum going into the second half. We knew if we played the way were capable of playing, we could come back.’’

The Vikings continued to build the momentum with a lengthy drive to start the second half. An interception by West Morris’ Tyler Amandos stopped the drive, but it seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game. The Wolfpack gave the ball back when they tried a fake punt on their own 40 that the Parsippany Hills defense snuffed out. West Morris lost the ball on downs.

The Vikings traveled 39 yards on seven plays. Simms connected with Kire Milevski on an 18-yard scoring strike with 56.7 seconds left in the third quarter. The extra point was missed but the score was now 21-13.

“Our defense got some turnovers,’’ Simms said. “Our offense was able to capitalize on them. It just kept building and building. We were able to take momentum and get the win.’’

An interception by Mike Comerford on a fourth-and-one got Parsippany Hills the ball back on its 33. One play later, Simms found Hardwick for a 60-yard scoring strike. The Vikings, which rarely try two-point conversions, couldn’t connect on the short pass but the score was now 21-19 and there was still 9:10 remaining in the contest and they were still playing with confidence.

“Once we had the momentum offensively, we’re pretty good when we get rolling,’’ Albano said. “I always tell the kids, the Xss and Os is the easy part. The emotion of the game, that’s the hard part. It’s one-on-one blocking. It’s getting off blocks and making tackles. It’s one-on-one receiving wise and we started making the plays in the second half.’’

West Morris did its best to frustrate Simms and the Vikings but the game and a shot at a state title was fading away.

“We got more pressure on him in the first half than the second,’’ West Morris coach Kevin Hennelly said of Simms. “We blitzed here and there. Sometimes we got in and other times they did a good job of picking up blitzes. Their quarterback just did a great job.’’

The last scoring drive was another lengthy effort. A defensive stop gave Parsippany Hills the ball on its own 41. The Vikings traveled 59 yards in 11 plays. The Vikings' relentless pass attack started opening up some holes in the running game. Joyce carried the ball five times inside the 20-yard line to ground out first downs and keep the clock ticking.

“C. J. has done that for us,’’ Albano said. “When he can do that, it opens up our pass game and we were able to run the ball just enough tonight to win the football game.’’

Joyce’s 1-yard-plunge made it 25-21 with 1:39 left. Now West Morris was forced to pass. Wolfpack quarterback John Gutowski connected on several passes to Joe DeBiasse but when he was sacked on a fourth down play with 27 seconds left, the Vikings could celebrate their effort. Now they have two weeks to get ready for a title game.

“We haven’t been there since 2006,’’ Albano said. “It’s been an incredible journey with this group of kids. I didn’t want it to end.

“They are a different mix (than the 2006 team). We don’t have that one superstar on this team. In ‘06 we had some good football players. This is truly a team and that’s why were able to come back from 21 points down to win today.’’

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