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81st Thanksgiving Day game. Still winless in mid-October, it would have been easy for Teaneck to mail it in.But there's no quit in these Highwaymen, according to coach Dan Henry.Playing its final game of the year against rival Hackensack in the traditional Thanksgiving Day matchup, Teaneck finished in style with a 26-20 victory. It marked the Highwaymen's third win in their final four games, perhaps foreshadowing of what's to come next year.
"These kids, they never lost focus," said Henry, whose team halted the Comets' possible game-winning drive at the 10-yard line with an interception by Eli Harris with only seconds remaining. "I give them a lot of credit, especially the younger guys. It's easy to jump ship when you're looking at 0-6. But these guys stuck it out and we got better every day."
Led by quarterback Elijah Bethea, who threw three touchdown passes Thursday, the Teaneck offense finished the year averaging 28.5 points in its final four games — an impressive turnaround after averaging just 9.2 in its first six.
"He's legit," Henry said of his sophomore signal caller. "He's the best kept secret around I think. [Today] was a glimpse of it, but he's played this way all year. He's just a solid kid. His future is bright and the sky is the limit for him."
On Teaneck's opening drive, Bethea hooked up with Ibraham Keita on a perfectly executed screen pass that went for a 33-yard touchdown."That was important," Bethea said. "We needed that first score. We wanted to get that momentum."
Up 14-13 with time running out in the first half, Bethea then delivered perhaps the game's biggest play — a beautifully thrown touchdown pass to Mohammed Berete as time expired — to give the Highwaymen a 20-13 lead heading into halftime.
"That was huge," Henry said. "We scored at the end of the half then got the ball to start the second half and scored again (a 4-yard touchdown reception from Devaunte Locadia on a 4th-and-goal from the 4)."
Courtesy of North Jersey Media Group Inc.
