ALLENDALE − Landon De Prima and Ramapo scored every time they got the ball in the second half, except when it was time to take a knee.

De Prima threw four touchdown passes and the Green Raiders scored all their points in the second half of an emotional 34-33 victory over Northern Highlands on Friday night in a showdown of public state powers.

The senior quarterback threw two TD passes to junior Charlie Wingfield, including a 4-yarder with 5:36 left in the game to put Ramapo ahead by that one pivotal point against a team it lost to the last three meetings.

“We were really impressive, and I’m really proud of how composed and poised we were going into that second half,” De Prima said.

Ramapo scored five consecutive TDs to erase a 21-0 halftime deficit in a Super Football Conference battle played in on-again, off-again rain.

De Prima threw third-quarter TD passes of 7 yards to Wingfield and 8 yards to senior Nehemiah Burleson, and senior James Magerko's 10-yard scoring run tied it at 21 at 2:43 of the third.

“It’s just a testament to our kids and their mindset,” said Ramapo coach Mike DeFazio, whose team got a key block by senior Zach Schnorrbusch on a third-quarter extra-point attempt. “They let go of the first half, they do a great job of going play to play, and that’s how we took it.”

What it means

Ramapo (5-0) will likely move ahead of Northern Highlands (4-2) in the Statewide Public Top 20 rankings. The Green Raiders came into the game ranked No. 18, while the Highlanders entered at No. 10.

Ramapo had suffered excruciating losses in its last three battles with Northern Highlands, twice losing in the playoffs, including last year’s dramatic 49-42 overtime loss.

“The biggest thing is that it’s two phenomenal football teams that are 15 minutes apart from each other, and we play each other every year,” DeFazio said. “They’re always great games, it’s just bound to be intense, and you’ve got great coaches on both sides.”

Game-winning TD

Wingfield’s 4-yard TD catch with 5:36 left in the fourth quarter came on a second-and-goal. He had to tip De Prima’s pass in the air near the back of the end zone to keep it alive and catch it.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder, also a member of last season’s NJSIAA Group 3 championship basketball team, tipped it to himself so he could grab it with both hands.

“I knew it was high, and I knew I couldn’t really catch it in one grab, so I just tried to keep it near me, just get it off the tip,” Wingfield said.

Wingfield, also the kicker, converted all four of his extra points to help build the 34-33 lead. The Green Raiders went for a 2-point conversion and potential three-point lead after Wingfield’s go-ahead TD, but the pass was intercepted in the end zone.

SCOREBOARD:North Jersey high school football scores for Week 5

By the numbers

Ramapo had 414 total yards, with 328 coming after intermission, and the offense was aided by an onside kick recovery after its first TD.

De Prima went 25-for-34 for 290 yards, four TDs and no interceptions. In the second half, he went 20-for-25 for 238 yards and four scores, with his 22-yard TD pass to senior Brandon Del Valle providing a 28-27 lead with 10:47 left in the game.

Northern Highlands had 375 yards, with 241 coming in the first half. Junior quarterback Nate Johnson went 12-for-20 for 200 yards, three first-half TDs and one interception against a defense that had posted three consecutive shutouts. In the second half, he ran for TD runs of 5 and 6 yards, the latter providing a 33-28 lead with 7:32 remaining.

They said it

“We were able to leave the past behind us going into the second half,” De Prima said. “In the first half, we were caught up in some emotions, and that really showed in our players and our offense and letting up big plays. The way that we adapted at halftime, and came out, we were able to score every time we got the ball, and we were able to stop them way more than we did in the first half.”

ALLENDALE, New Jersey (WABC) -- Twins make up about 3% of the U.S. population, but for one high school graduating class in Bergen County, New Jersey, the rate of seeing double is more than doubled!

Justin and Roman, Dan and Nico, John and Juliana, Ryan and Robert, Tommy and Isabelle, Andre and Gabe, Kyle and Anthony, and Tommy and Sarah are eight of 11 sets of fraternal twins that all started at Northern Highlands Regional High School together.

"My teacher said there are a lot of twins in my grade, why don't we do a spreadsheet on them, so I had to nag everybody," Northern Highlands High School senior Juliana Lavinio said.

The pairs of twins make up about 6.5% of their graduating class of 340 students.

"I think It's neat, I think that's the best way to put it. Oh cool, fun fact," senior Kyle Gentile said.

"We all came from different towns so we didn't realize when we were younger that there were three sets in Allendale and a lot more in other towns," senior Sarah Cornacchia said.

Each set has gone to school together all their lives. Most of them are going in different directions for college, but are they sad about it?

"Absolutely not. He's going to Fairfield, I'm going to Miami," seniors Dan and Nico Pantello said.

"We shared a room for a long time. It was horrible," Anthony Gentile said.

"I think we are very different people even though we're still best friends, we'll be ok, we're only four hours away from each other, so we can take a train," seniors Isabelle and Tommy Padilla said.

Justin and Roman Dario are the only ones headed off together.

"The University of Florida it's big enough to where we can have our own separate lives, but now that we have different roommates we're going to branch out and meet other people," Justin and Roman Dario said.

Andre and Gabe Johnson said they will miss each other's helping hand.

"Unfortunately, I won't have him to help me with homework or any other tasks that usually goes to him, but it's all good," Andre and Gabe Johnson said.

Ryan and Robert said they are going to different schools but will have the same major.

"We're going to be in the pre-dental track, so we'll see where that takes us, hopefully we'll run a practice one day together," Ryan and Robert said.

Principal Joe Occhino says they are all great kids.

"They're outstanding students, they're confident, they help each other, highly academic," Occhino said.

But the class missed the twins graduating together record at Northern Highlands by five. The class of 2021 had 16 sets of twins.

"Pretty amazing actually," Occhino said.

The class will graduate on Thursday evening.

ALSO READ | Middle, elementary school students set sail in the East River on their handmade boats

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A controversial natural gas pipeline project in the state's northern Highlands is in limbo after court officials nullified a key exemption to the region's strict development regulations.

New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division judges, in an opinion issued Thursday, invalidated an exemption to Highlands Preservation Area regulations granted to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company for its East 300 Upgrade Project. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials have previously issued the exemption on the grounds that the proposed $108 million compressor station in the Highlands Preservation Area in West Milford was a "routine upgrade" to the utility's existing pipeline system.

The $246 million East 300 Upgrade Project includes the installation of two new natural gas compressor units in Pennsylvania and Sussex County and the construction of an all-new compressor station complex in West Milford. Under development in a former quarry near Monksville Reservoir, the complex is due to include a 19,000-horsepower electric compressor, a 3,500-square-foot office with a septic system and a 69-kilovolt electrical substation, records show.

In taking court action, officials from environmental nonprofits, namely Food & Water Watch, the New Jersey Highlands Coalition and the Sierra Club, have contended that the construction project in West Milford is far from a routine upgrade. Those groups are seeking to have the project stopped entirely, citing concerns over the potential for pollution in New Jersey and beyond. If completed, the project would pump natural gas captured outside of the state to proposed new hookups in Westchester County, New York, through an agreement with Consolidated Edison, records show.

In their opinion on Thursday, judges from the Appellate Division said DEP officials need to reconsider whether the project is indeed a "routine upgrade" to the company's existing 300 Line natural gas pipeline. The court subsequently invalidated the project's Highlands Act exemption and remanded the matter back to the DEP for further review.

Although the court left the determination on whether the project is a routine upgrade to department officials, the judges in their opinion said state legislators in adopting the Highlands Act did not intend to "exempt any upgrade a utility might propose." The judges questioned the position of department and pipeline representatives in claiming the exemption for "routine maintenance and operations, rehabilitation, preservation, reconstruction, repair, or upgrade of public utility lines, rights of way, or systems" applies to a $108 million new construction project in West Milford that pipeline officials have often described as an "upgrade."

“The court referenced the preamble of the Highlands Act, which makes the case for protecting the exceptional natural resources of the Highlands, which were under grave threat due to uncontrolled sprawl development," said Elliott Ruga, the policy and communications director for the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. "The court redrew the line against major developments that the Highlands Act intended to stop."

In their ruling, the judges said pipeline representatives did not apply for a stay in the case and have been proceeding with the project “at their own risk." Representatives for the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company's parent company, Kinder Morgan, said they had no comment on the recent court opinion or its impact on the East 300 Upgrade Project.

Special to NorthJersey.com

ALLENDALE — Northern Highlands knows the challenges of Group 4 football all too well. In what could be the most stacked Group in New Jersey, you better be battle-tested if you harbor any hopes of attaining a championship.

That’s why the Highlanders opened up against one of the top teams in South Jersey, Willingboro on Friday night. The Chimeras obliged by playing Highlands rough and tough. In the end, the deciding factor was a veteran offense.

Highlands got their season rolling with a 35-26 football win over Willingboro on Friday night, thanks to both the arm and the legs of quarterback Nate Johnson and an offense that looked more like it was October than the end of August.

The Highlanders scored on each of their first three possessions, taking the pressure off of a defense that has plenty of newcomers and was facing a Chimera offense that featured a multi-dimensional quarterback and a solid running back.

NH struck first on a 36-yard screen pass from Johnson to Cole Stecker 2:41 into the game. Willingboro responded with a 14-play drive leading to a Lamar Best touchdown pass to Nasir Hawkins. Without a kicker, they went for two and missed.

Johnson hit Chase Calarco in the flat for a 12-yard TD to make it 14-6 before Willingboro tied it at 14 on a Derrick Bryant 8-yard run and a two-point conversion pass. Matthew Boydell’s 3-yard run put Highlands up 21-14, and the Chimera offense finally blinked as a Jesse DeNobile sack forced a punt just before halftime.

The teams traded interceptions at the beginning of the third quarter and Willingboro got the best of the exchange, with Hawkins taking his pick back to the Highlands 6. Best scored from two yards out on third down, but the Highlander defense came up big on the two-point try with Jeremiah Rivera breaking up the pass to maintain a 21-20 NH lead.

Johnson came back with a 36-yard flat pass to Calarco for a touchdown and a 29-20 lead and added a 1-yard QB sneak to make it 35-20 with 8:59 left in the game. Willingboro scored on a 9-yard Best to Jarelle Taylor TD pass with 29.2 seconds left, but the two-point conversion was deflected away and Highlands recovered the onside kick.

What it means

For Northern Highlands, it was a good start to its defense of the North Group 4 title. They got exactly what they needed, a challenge to both sides of the ball and a successful ending.

For Willingboro, it was a disappointing loss, but a solid building block. A Group 2 school that consistently plays bigger schools, they showed they are once again going to be a handful for any opponent and will be primed for the South Group 2 postseason.

Inside the game

The first game always brings out some of the things that you just can’t prepare for or expect in the preseason. Four holding penalties by the Highlanders stood out, though they were able to overcome three of them (the fourth was right before the interception). The defense had numerous missed tackles, and while you can tip your cap to the Willingboro skill players for their elusiveness, you can bet that there will be an emphasis on tackling drills this week in practice.

The Chimeras fell prey to the Highlanders’ quick counts as Johnson kept them off-balance. They were hit with defensive encroachment penalties five times, two of them resulting in first downs. Johnson was also able to exploit the Willingboro defense with quick reads that allowed him to find seams into the second level.

Turning point

You can make a solid case for Rivera’s pass breakup on the two-point conversion that could have given Willingboro the lead. Had the Chimeras been able to jump ahead, it would have negated the early Highlands efficiency and potentially changed the complexion of the game.

Instead, they fed off the stop and had plays of 16, 17 (after a holding penalty) 10 and 36 yards to score right back.

By the numbers

Johnson was 14 of 20 passing for 212 yards (12 of 15, 177 in the first half) with three touchdowns and one interception. He spread the ball around to eight different receivers before halftime. He also had 92 rushing yards on 12 runs.

Highlands had 366 total yards and Willingboro had 282. Best was 18 of 28 passing for 164 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but was just 9 of 17 for 63 yards in the second half. Bryant had 24 carries for 91 yards.

They said it

“Those weren’t designed runs; they were designed reads. He (Johnson) is just so quick with his reads that he makes it look like a designed run. We knew we were going to need the offense to take control, and they did. The holding penalties need to get cleaned up, but I thought they did a good job of keeping (Johnson) upright and giving him the ability to make those reads and throws.” – Northern Highlands coach Dave Cord

“We’ve been on a roll since we started summer workouts, and with so many guys coming back we were confident that we could come into the season with a lot of confidence. We have a really good group of backs and we rotate them in and some good receivers. That makes things a lot easier for me; all I have to do is find the guy in space.” – Johnson.

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS — Another beloved New Jersey eatery has shuttered its doors.

Big Mike’s Little Red Store, in the landmark Navesink red building in Atlantic Highlands, has been feeding locals and visitors, alike for the past five years.

But on Aug. 15, the shop famous for its sandwiches, announced on social media that it was closing its doors immediately.

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“As we close the chapter on five amazing years at Big Mike’s Little Red Store, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our incredible customers and the wonderful community we’ve had the pleasure of serving,” according to a Facebook post.

The post goes on to say that Big Mike’s is looking forward to its next big venture.

“We are in the midst of an exciting transition, preparing to open our brand-new restaurant, Saltwater Social Bar and Kitchen by Big Mike,” the statement reads.

The Saltwater Social Bar and Kitchen will be in another historic New Jersey location but the post does not say where that location will be.

Big Mike’s Little Red Store ended the announcement by saying it was excited to embark on this new culinary journey, and can’t wait to create new memories with the community.

Customers took to Facebook to respond to the announcement. Many wished Big Mike luck in the opening of his new restaurant, but at the same time said they would miss the sandwiches.

“Sad day for our local area……nothing more to say”

“Can’t wait to have many drinks at the new spot, but we’re really going to miss you guys at the Red Store! Wishing you the best of luck!”

“Best of luck on the new restaurant! I am not sure what we would have done during the pandemic without your store and amazing food!!”

“Looking forward to the opening. Will miss the sandwiches”

Big Mike’s Little Red Store’s menu of sandwiches was a big draw for locals and visitors.Some menu favorites included:

Poppa (charred bologna, two eggs with cheddar, potato pancake, and Red Store ketchup on a hard roll)

My Cousin Vinny (chicken cutlet, aged provolone, tomato, arugula, balsamic glaze, and lemon aioli on semolina bread)

Big Michelle (fried eggplant, chipotle aioli, fresh mozzarella, avocado, tomato, roasted red pepper and arugula)

Red Hook Bomber (hot roast beef, fresh mozzarella, fried eggplant, and gravy on semolina sub)

Big Mike’s also had an extensive catering menu, as well.