IV Vitamin Therapy in Rutherford, NJ

PARK RIDGE − Rutherford plus rain is a winning formula in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference football final.

The Bulldogs defeated host Park Ridge, 26-7, Friday night at Doc Lewis Field for their third consecutive NJIC championship.

Two years ago, they topped the Owls in a misty drizzle at their home field.

This time, Rutherford (8-0) played through steady rainfall that reached downpour status in the first half, relying on its ground game to secure the crown.

Check out the photo gallery, then continue reading.

"We love the rain," said Matt Scheibe, one of the soaked-yet-beaming Rutherford seniors.

Scheibe is one of six Bulldogs to start the 2021 title game as sophomores and play in every game of the "three-peat". Classmate Cole Goumas scored three touchdowns, including a 39-yarder to ice the win with 6:24 remaining.

"Just a lot of chemistry, a lot of experience," Goumas said, "and we just push ourselves and work hard."

What it means

The NJIC trophy remains with a South Bergen school for the eighth year in a row. This was only the second final played on a "North" team's home field – Hasbrouck Heights won the inaugural title at Pompton Lakes in 2016.

Rutherford has won half of the tournaments contested, while Park Ridge (6-2) fell to 0-3 all-time in the final.

Key plays

The Bulldogs led 13-0 near the end of the first quarter when freshman QB Myles Balchan found Scheibe for a 62-yard gain as time expired. Goumas then scored from 10 yards out on the first play of the second quarter.

Park Ridge cut the lead to 20-7 with 4.6 seconds left in the half, as Cole Hughes threw a 5-yard TD pass to Jacob Shannon (6 catches, 53 yards). At the time, it seemed to give the Owls an emotional lift.

"That got us all fired up, and it got us all locked in during halftime," Scheibe said afterward. "We didn't have a locker room, we were waiting outside in the pouring rain... after that, we just wanted it bad."

Ryan Ward recovered a fumble on Park Ridge's opening drive of the second half, and Nick Lora's fourth-down interception in the end zone with 2:21 to go clinched it.

COOPER:Freshman goes from ball boy to starting QB for NJIC champions

Game balls

► Goumas carried 25 times for 171 yards as part of a Bulldog attack that featured 31 runs and only 6 passes.

► Ward had three 1-yard runs, one of which went for a TD an another on fourth down to set up Goumas' final score.

► Scheibe caught three passes for 75 yards and made 7 tackles for a defense that held Hughes to 20 yards on 14 rushes – which forced the Owls to go to the air, where they completed 11-of-27 for 126 yards.

They said it

"Myles is a freshman, everyone looks down on him, but at the same time, we push him in practice. We tell him to work hard, we teach him things he never knew, and to be honest, I think the team has more trust in him now." —Goumas on Balchan's performance

"Anytime you get a weather game like this, ball security is imperative, and I thought we did a good job of holding onto the football and letting our guys make plays. At the end of the day, in that kind of weather, you're not going to be able to throw the ball, so I thought up front we controlled the game, which kind of won it for us." —Rutherford coach Steve Dunn

HAWTHORNE − Rutherford put its fate in the hands of a freshman in Myles Balchan.

The ninth-grader came off the bench and quarterbacked the two-time defending champion Bulldogs to a 28-20 victory over Hawthorne in Friday night's NJIC semifinals.

Balchan threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Ryan Ward to give Rutherford (7-0) a 21-20 lead with 7:27 left in the fourth.

“That kid was thrown into the fire, and he had two days to prepare as a freshman coming up, and I couldn’t be more proud of him the way he stepped up and carried this team,” Rutherford coach Steve Dunn said.

Balchan entered in the first quarter because junior starter Chris Gioia suffered a season-ending collarbone injury last week against Pompton Lakes, and Ward, an All-State tight end, was off the mark early at QB.

“I had big shoes to fill with Chris Gioia and I stepped up and I rallied behind my teammates,” Balchan said.

Ward still shared snaps and pulled Rutherford within 13-7 at 1:46 of the second quarter on a 2-yard TD run.

Senior running back Cole Goumas ran for two scores in the second half. His 44-yard TD run in the third cut Rutherford's deficit to 20-14, and his 15-yard score with 5:28 left in the fourth made it 28-20 and came one play after a 30-yard run by Ward.

Hawthorne (5-2) scored on its first two possessions of the game for a 13-0 lead. On the Bears' first play from scrimmage, senior running back Cormac Smith took a pitch and threw a 53-yard TD pass to senior receiver Dominic Passero, the coach's son. Smith made it 13-0 on a 5-yard TD run.

“It was a game of big plays, and unfortunately they made a couple more than us,” Hawthorne coach John Passero said.

What it means

Rutherford will shoot for its third consecutive NJIC title when it plays Friday at Park Ridge

“We’re just excited that we’re able to defend the title," Dunn said.

The Bulldogs made their debut this week in the Statewide Public Top 20 rankings at No. 19, and their 23^rd consecutive victory against an NJIC opponent might help them climb a spot or two.

Fourth-string freshman

Balchan entered October as Rutherford’s fourth-string quarterback. He rotated with Ward and Goumas in the shotgun Friday and completed 10 of 15 passes for 92 yards, one TD and no interceptions.

“Coming into the game, a little nervous,” said Balchan, whose previous experience was fourth-quarter mop-up duty. “But as the game went on, my teammates rallied behind me and I felt confident going through.”

Balchan was at his best leading Rutherford to its first TD. During the drive, he went 6 for 7 for 52 yards, completing two fourth-down passes for first downs, including a 26-yarder to Goumas on a fourth-and-10 at the 28-yard line that set up Ward’s 2-yard TD run.

“It was definitely different playing with an inexperienced quarterback,” Goumas said, “but we just had to make it work.”

They said it

“I know their quarterback was out, but they still have guys over there who can hurt you in the open field,” Passero said. “Their line did a nice job and they just kept pushing the attack on us and we just couldn’t answer.”

“This team got hit with a ton of adversity last week when our quarterback went down, and our kids battled,” Dunn said. “We kind of found a way in the second half to correct some mistakes we made. When you lose that guy behind center, it takes a little while to figure out who you are as a team.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Robert Saleh stepped from the podium at his postgame news conference and let loose a little.

“They ain’t 12-0 no more!” the excited New York Jets coach declared.

No, the Philadelphia Eagles are no longer unbeaten against the Jets. And they’re no longer undefeated this season.

Breece Hall ran for an 8-yard touchdown with 1:46 remaining, one play after Tony Adams intercepted Jalen Hurts, and the Jets erased an 11-point deficit and held on to shock the Eagles 20-14 on Sunday.

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“There’s no quit in this team,” quarterback Zach Wilson said.

The Jets (3-3) appeared on their way to falling to 0-13 in their history against the Eagles, but Hurts’ third interception of the game — and the fourth turnover by Philadelphia — was returned by Adams 45 yards to put New York into immediate scoring position.

“I mean, that was huge,” Wilson said. “You know, we needed that one. And he came through for us.”

Hall’s run shook MetLife Stadium as the Jets fans went wild, then Wilson connected with Randall Cobb on a 2-point conversion.

The Eagles (5-1) got one more chance, but the Jets’ defense stiffened — as it had all game, shutting out Philadelphia in the second half. Hurts’ deep throw to DeVonta Smith on fourth down was knocked away by Jordan Whitehead, and Wilson and the offense took two kneel downs to seal an unlikely victory.

Hurts finished 28 of 45 for 280 yards and a touchdown to D’Andre Swift, but he tied a career worst with three picks against a Jets defense that was missing starting cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed.

“You look at this game, you have so many missed opportunities and, really, so many mistakes as if you’re kind of giving it away,” Hurts said.

The Jets head into their bye-week break at .500 — which didn’t seem possible when Aaron Rodgers went down with a torn left Achilles tendon four plays into his debut with New York. The Jets have defeated Buffalo and Josh Allen, Denver and Russell Wilson and the Eagles and Hurts. They also took Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs down to the wire in a loss.

“Through these first six weeks, we’ve played a gauntlet of quarterbacks,” Saleh said. “I know we haven’t gotten all wins, but we’ve embarrassed all of them.”

Wilson was 19 of 33 for 186 yards and no touchdowns but also had no turnovers — and the defense kept the Jets in it. Greg Zuerlein kicked four field goals, a week after booting five. Adams, Bryce Hall and Quinnen Williams each had interceptions, and Quincy Williams recovered a fumble by Swift.

With the Eagles leading 14-12 and facing a third-and-6 from their own 22, Hurts launched a pass down the left sideline that A.J. Brown corralled before going out of bounds. Saleh challenged, saying Brown didn’t have total control, but the call was upheld after video review.

The defense then stiffened and Jake Elliott was wide right on a 37-yard attempt — helping set up the Jets’ comeback.

“Any time you’re minus-4 in the turnovers, you’re not going to win many games,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said.

JUST MADE IT

Hurts gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead by capping a 19-play, 91-yard drive on their first possession with a 3-yard touchdown run — eventually.

It first appeared the Jets came up with a goal-line stand when Hurts was ruled to have fumbled at the 1 and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Eagles wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus. By rule, only the player who lost the ball could recover the forward fumble in the end zone, so it was ruled that it was the Jets’ ball on the 1.

Officials overturned the call after video review, saying Hurts still had control of the football when it broke the plane of the goal line.

RODGERS RETURNS

Rodgers walked around without the aid of crutches or a walking boot before the game and had a catch with Gardner, who missed the game with a concussion. He watched the game from the bench on New York’s sideline.

“Everyone’s in awe that he’s even walking,” Saleh said. ”He’s a freakazoid.”

The four-time NFL MVP rejoined his teammates for the second time since being injured four snaps into his debut with the Jets on Sept. 11. He also attended New York’s loss to Kansas City two weeks ago before returning home, but he was on crutches on the sideline before that game and watched from a suite with Jets owner Woody Johnson.

BROTHERLY LOVE

With younger brother Travis Kelce — without Taylor Swift — in attendance, Eagles center Jason Kelce set the franchise record by making his 145th consecutive start.

INJURIES

Eagles: RT Lane Johnson left in the first quarter with an ankle injury and didn’t return. ... Rookie CB Eli Ricks left with a knee injury in the third quarter. ... S Reed Blankenship (ribs) was ruled out after being injured on an unnecessary roughness call on Allen Lazard.

Jets: Rookie RG Joe Tippmann didn’t come back after injuring his right thigh on the first play of the second quarter. ... WR Garrett Wilson left late with an undisclosed injury, but Saleh said he would’ve been able to continue playing.

UP NEXT

Eagles: Host the Miami Dolphins next Sunday night.

Jets: Head into their break before facing the Giants as the visiting team on Oct. 29.

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2-minute read

NorthJersey.com

Nine New Jersey towns may still be cutting checks to employees for unused sick leave and accrued vacation time despite reforms approved more than a decade ago banning such payments, a state investigation found.

The nine towns — Bridgewater, Hamilton, Pennsville, Piscataway, Red Bank, Rutherford, Sparta, Wantage and West New York — are “failing in their most basic responsibilities,” said acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh in a Thursday statement.

In a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy and the two heads of the state Legislature, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex and Senate President Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, the Office of the State Comptroller said that in 30 days it may request that the state “withhold the expenditure of state funds” to these nine municipalities for not addressing any of these deficiencies.

Last year, Walsh’s office released an investigation showing that 57 of the 60 towns it reviewed violated some part of the statewide reforms approved in 2007 and 2010 that capped how much a town could pay out to its employees upon retirement. New Jersey has 564 municipalities.

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But Walsh said in the Thursday announcement that many of those towns complied with his office’s recommendations and “corrected their sick and vacation leave policies.” Some were negotiating new labor union contracts and entering side agreements, the announcement said.

Seven of the towns cited failed to even have an “independent fiscal assessment,” according to the release. That assessment is necessary to identify whether improper payments were made and need to be recovered, as well as evaluate the strength of any internal financial controls.

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The two towns on the list that did have such assessments were Red Bank and Wantage, according to the comptroller’s office.

A 2010 law states that municipal employees can’t receive more than $15,000 of unused sick leave. Employees can only receive $15,000 at retirement, and not when they resign, change jobs or as an annual payout.

What the towns were doing

In the case of Rutherford, for example, the borough was found not to be in compliance with the 2007 law, while the union contracts were not in compliance with the 2010 law, according to Walsh’s office.

The borough allowed accrued sick leave to be paid out upon “retirement, disability retirement or resignation,” in violation of the law.

Several union contracts allowed workers to be paid out upon their retirement or upon resigning from their post at the borough for amounts of between $10,000 and $15,000, depending on factors like when they were hired and what job they worked.

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That violated the 2007 law banning sick leave payout at times other than retirement for municipal employees, Walsh’s office said.

The Rutherford borough administrator’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment by phone on Thursday.

In Wantage, the township also allowed employees to be paid their accrued sick time when they resigned or retired.

Union contracts allowed payment for unused sick leave to occur annually with a maximum of $3,000 per year applied against the $15,000 limits for accrued sick leave.

Meanwhile, the Wantage borough contract allowed vacation leave to accrue to the following year only, capped at 20 days total. The employee manual, however, allowed unlimited vacation accrual due to workload if approved by the township governing body, meaning they could elect to pay for vacation days in lieu of time off.

Wantage officials could not be immediately reached for comment by email on Thursday.

Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.

The Borough of Rutherford has issued its first liquor license to a restaurant, breaking with more than 100 years of tradition as a “dry” town in which tipping a few in public was strictly prohibited.

Song’ E Napule quietly made history earlier this month when it served alcohol for the first time, but this was no speakeasy. It was Rutherford’s gourmet pizzeria on Park Avenue, and two other bistros along Restaurant Row are expected to join the party within the coming months.

“A glass of wine changes everything,” said Pietro Caldarelli, the manager at Song’ E Napule, where one can now get an espresso martini to go with gourmet pizza and Italian fare. “Or a beer, or sparkling wine, which goes well with pizza. It changes the mood.”

And the economics. Alcohol sales can be a big boost to a restaurant’s bottom line, but New Jersey’s liquor laws and long tradition of home rule make licenses for start-up restaurants tough and expensive to come by. (Gov. Phil Murphy wants to change the state’s liquor laws, but that’s been resisted by some of the industry’s older establishments.)

Until recently, Rutherford was strictly a BYOB town. The borough allowed liquor stores, but no bars or restaurants to serve alcohol – a policy that predated the Prohibition era and stretched back into the 1800s.

“It’s always been kind of a conservative town,” said Robert Kakoleski, the borough administrator in Rutherford, a town of 19,000 residents in Bergen County. “But the demographics are changing” with new apartments downtown to accommodate New York commuters.

Things began to change in November of 2020, when Rutherford voters approved a referendum to allow restaurants to sell alcohol, by a margin of 54 to 46%. New Jersey allows municipalities to issue one liquor license for every 3,000 residents, which means Rutherford has six permits.

Song’ E Napule bid $300,000 – twice the minimum bid set by the borough at its first auction held last December. Being the sole bidder, Song’ E Napule became Rutherford’s first restaurant to be awarded a liquor license. After passing a background check, the restaurant began serving alcohol earlier this month.

“We’ve been advertising it, so it didn’t come as a complete surprise to our customers” Caldarelli said. “They like the idea.”

READ MORE: Inside the controversial booze battle shaping the future of N.J.’s dining scene

Earlier this week, the borough awarded liquor licenses to two downtown restaurants, Paisano’s, which bid $251,200, and Sonoma Bistro, which bid $276,000. Both have to undergo background checks, and if they are cleared, will likely begin serving in the coming months, Kakoleski said.

Best known as the hometown of the poet and physician William Carlos Williams, Rutherford bills itself as “The Borough of Trees” – a small town surrounded by highways, only eight miles removed from the metropolis that is New York City. It has some fine restaurants, but Rutherford never aspired to be a party town, and still doesn’t, Kakoleski said.

The borough’s BYOB policy remains in effect, but restaurants that serve alcohol are allowed to charge a $25 corking fee. To keep things on the quiet side, alcohol can only be served until 11 p.m., Kakoleski said.

Until this month, Rutherford was one of roughly 30 municipalities in the state that are considered “dry” towns. Some, like the Mantoloking in Ocean County, are exclusively residential and have no commercial businesses. Ocean City and Wildwood Crest in Cape May County are big resort towns that are “dry” and attract a sober-minded crowd.

Others, like Prospect Park in Passaic County, owe their dry histories to the religious communities that settled there. Prospect Park was established by Christians of the Dutch Reformed church, who abstained from alcohol.

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