After 4 games deep into the Football season, Pascack Hills was 3-1.

Their fifth game of the season was at Ridgefield Park to battle the Scarlets.

The game started poorly for the Cowboys as the Scarlets’ Elijah Carlos sprinted to the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown. Heading into halftime, the Cowboys were down 14-3. Senior QB Nick Garcia wanted to change that. He ran 76 yards to the end zone to bring the score to 14-9. Unfortunately, the Cowboys offense wouldn’t get going for the rest of the game. Elijah Carlos added another rushing touchdown. Ridgefield Park would come out victorious, 24-9. The Cowboys fell to 3-2. Hills’ next game would be home versus Dumont.

The Cowboys were looking to bounce back after a poor performance the prior week versus Ridgefield Park. Dumont would come to Montvale and have a rough day. The Cowboys let up an early touchdown pass, but the defense would shut them down after that. On the Offensive side, Garcia would continue is dominant season. In the second quarter he had a 40-yard rushing touchdown to tie up the game, 7-7. Senior FB Griffin Mongiello would break the tie by following his blockers with a 2-yard touchdown run. To start the 3^rd quarter, Garcia would put the offense on his back. He scored two touchdowns in the 3^rd quarter with runs of 3 yards and 39 yards. The Cowboys defense would hold Dumont to 0 points after the early touchdown with help from Junior LB Christian Piantino picking off 2 of Dumont’s passes. The Cowboys would win 28-7, improving to 4-2. Garcia racked up 202 yards on the ground with 3 touchdowns. Mongiello would finish with 54 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown. The Cowboys’ next game was in Mahwah on 10/23.

The 4-2 Cowboys traveled to Mahwah to play the Thunderbirds. To be quick, this game was a blowout. Mahwah won 49-0 versus Pascack Hills. Mahwah’s QB James Ciliento ran for two touchdowns, threw for one and returned a punt for another one. This game was not a good moment on the season for the Cowboys, as they fell to 4-3, still battling for a playoff berth. Their next game would be in Ramsey to face the always-tough Rams.

The Cowboys would start off quickly on the Rams’ home turf. Seniors Nick Garcia and Griffin Mongiello would both score on rushing touchdowns in the first quarter to put Hills up 12-0. The Rams wouldn’t take that as they scored on a 40-yard pass from QB Thomas Feegan to slim the lead to five. A Battle of Quarterbacks, Garcia would throw his first passing touchdown on the season to Junior HB Deven Deppert for a 27-yard score. Garcia would than throw a pass to Mongiello for the 2-point conversion to bring the score to 20-7.

The Cowboys would hold the Rams to only 7 points after the Rams scored in the first quarter. Junior LB Deven Deppert was a standout performer on the defensive side racking up 10 total tackles and 1 sack. He wasn’t alone though as LB Nick Garcia added 8 total tackles and DT John Aquaviva added 4 total tackles, 1 forced fumble and a sack.

The Cowboys would stay strong and pull out a rare victory versus Ramsey. The final score was 20-14 and was the first win against Ramsey in 29 years. Garcia finished with 186 rushing yards and a score. He also was 5/6 in the air with 88 yards with a touchdown and just one interception. Deppert had 2 receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown. Junior HB Mark Ulanday finished with 1 reception for 52 yards, as defenders couldn’t bring him down. The Cowboys improved to 5-3, clinching a playoff berth and hunting down back-to-back league championships. Their next game was home versus Cliffside Park on Senior Night.

The 5-3 Cowboys were coming off an impressive win and hoped to build on it. QB Nick Garcia would start off the scoring with a pass to Senior HB Jin-Woo Kim for a 19-yard touchdown. This was only the beginning to a monster day for the Cowboys offense and an impressive day for the defensive. The Cowboys scored 4 touchdowns in the 2^nd quarter to blow open the game and LB Deven Deppert had an interception. Griffin Mongiello would score on an 11-yard run. Junior HB Anthony Bianco, a hard-nose runner, scored his first touchdown of the season on an 11-yard run and later in the quarter would score from 3 yards out. Jin-Woo Kim added a 7-yard rushing touchdown to bring the score to 34-0 at the end of the first half.

Coming out of the locker room with a big lead, the Cowboys played it safe by continuing to run the ball. Junior HB Mark Ulanday, a quick and nifty back, would score his first touchdown of the season on a 26-yard sweep run. The Cowboys were up 41-0 and wouldn’t score again.

Cliffside Park would score two touchdowns, but would eventually lose. The Cowboys won 41-14 in a lopsided game, bringing their record to 6-3 and becoming back-to-back Big North American Division Champions.

The Cowboys’ next game is in the first round of the North Jersey Section 1 Group 2 playoffs against Mahwah, where the 7^th seeded Cowboys take on the 2^nd seeded Thunderbirds.