New Jersey football records fall in 63-56 shootout

Northern Valley (Old Tappan, N.J.) outlasted Paramus (N.J.), 63-56, Friday night during the highest-scoring football playoff game in New Jersey history.

There were nine lead changes in the second half alone and the Paramus point total was a playoff record for a losing team.

Though in a losing cause, Paramus senior quarterback John Robertson also set a state playoff record by scoring 44 points. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, who has committed to Villanova, ran 31 times for 267 yards and seven touchdowns and caught a 2-point conversion pass.

Paramus coach Dan Sabella told MaxPreps that Robertson "has the perfect mentality as a quarterback. He makes sure you as a coach are aware of what's going on. I love it, because it's the first time I ever had a kid who's done that.

"Overall he's a tremendous athlete and quarterback. He does a lot of what he does alone. He's able to break tackles, or he is going to throw over the top and pick you apart. He's the whole package."



The victorious Golden Knights were paced by their outstanding junior quarterback, Devin Fuller, who is believed to have set school records by rushing for 406 yards and six touchdowns. He also passed for 104 yards and a seventh touchdown in addition to making a victory-sealing interception.

The 6-0, 185-pounder already has set school records this year by rushing for 2,012 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Sabella called Fuller "the best we have played against. When he gets in the open field, he's gone. He's playing at a different speed than everybody else. He's a great football player and is going to be a top-50 player in the country (next year)."