The Paramus Spartans Varsity Football Team (2-2) won its second consecutive game after not having won a single game last season and its first home triumph since October 25, 2024, with a 28-14 victory over the Pascack Valley Panthers (1-3) at Paramus High School in Paramus, New Jersey.

Paramus quarterback Jakob Hosie completed 9 of 11 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 58 yards and one score. The Spartans added 162 rushing yards.

Spartans Head Coach Joe Sabella said, “What we went through for the past year and a half to two years is a credit to the kids and their hard work and fight. They never gave up or stopped working and grinding, and it’s just a small taste of when hard work really pays off for them.”

Paramus came flying out of the gates when Mario DiNapoli stripped the ball from the Pascack Valley kickoff returner on the opening kick, leading to a fumble recovery at the Panthers' 25-yard line.

On second down at the 13, Jakob Hosie took a direct snap in shotgun formation, wove through traffic, and darted into the end zone for the touchdown.

Pascack Valley’s first offensive possession of the game didn’t yield positive results as Spartans cornerback Max Finkleman made a spectacular diving interception at the Panthers' 47-yard line.

Paramus needed just four plays to find the end zone again as Jakob Hosie, lined up in shotgun formation, took the snap, dropped back, stepped up under pressure, and launched a 36-yard strike to wide receiver Max Finkleman in stride, extending the Spartans' lead to 14-0 with four minutes left.

“I’m so happy for Jakob. He’s worked so hard, and he’s getting better every week. He’ll continue to grow, take more control of the offense, get more comfortable, and be even better down the road when we’re going to really need him,” Head Coach Joe Sabella explained.

“Those are two guys, Jakob Hosie and Max Finkleman, who have spent the whole off-season working together, getting their timing down, and working hard. Nobody’s watching when they’re on the field or all the time outside of practice and doing all their careers,” Sabella said.

In the second quarter, the Paramus offense started at its own 34-yard line and quickly moved into Pascack Valley territory. Running back Ryan Jones capped the drive, taking a handoff from quarterback Jakob Hosie, cutting left, then back to the middle, and bolting to the end zone for the 18-yard score to make it 21-0 with three minutes remaining.

“We ask a lot of Ryan Jones, playing tailback and middle linebacker for us, but he’s that thunder to Mario DiNapoli’s lightning and the workhorse in our offense,” Head Coach Joe Sabella said.

The Spartans received the second-half kickoff and put together an impressive 11-play, 52-yard drive that lasted more than nine minutes, ending with Jakob Hosie tossing a one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Jones to make it 28-0 with 2:43 left.

Just when it appeared the game would get out of hand, the Panthers answered when running back Brady Zurbach ripped off a 74-yard run to the Paramus one-yard line. On first and goal, quarterback Michael Marotta took the direct snap, plowed through a heap of players, and crossed the goal line to trim the lead to 28-7 with two minutes to go.

Energized, Pascack Valley attempted an onside kick that paid off when it recovered the ball at midfield. The Panthers leaned on a pound-and-pound approach with Michael Marotta and Brady Zurbach splitting the running duties.

On second down at the Spartans' 34-yard line, Marotta took the shotgun snap, ran right, cut back to the middle, and outran the rest of the Paramus defense into the end zone to narrow the gap to 28-14 with 9.5 seconds left.

The Panthers, sensing a major shift in momentum, gambled again on the onside kick and succeeded as kicker Luke Melconian’s squib kick led to Melconian recovering the ball.

However, the positive vibes were short-lived as Pascack Valley running back Brady Zurbach fumbled on the first snap of the fourth quarter, and Spartans linebacker Ryan Jones recovered at the Paramus 47-yard line.

The Spartans offense chewed up more time with another lengthy, sustained 11-play drive, then the Paramus defense forced a turnover on downs. They closed out the game on a high note after a high snap, with Jakob Hosie grasping the ball and completing a fourth-down pass to Marco DiNapoli to seal the game and spark a jubilant celebration on the field and in the stands.

“It says a lot about our team. We have been down, and what we went through last year, and had to work really hard to get that monkey off our back against Fair Lawn. We came out and played so well, let it slip a little, but we found the energy when we really needed it. We didn’t pout or put our heads down.”

“Traditionally, Paramus football, since my brother’s been here (Dan Sabella), has always been a well-known and tough physical football team, and we let that go a little bit the last two years, but it was nice to find that tonight.”

Paramus will look to extend its winning streak to three games when it returns to action on Friday, September 25, at Passaic, with kickoff set for 6 p.m.