For one it was a first, for the other it was a tradition. Hopatcong claimed its first-ever share of a Sussex County Interscholastic League gridiron title while Pope John added another trophy to its collection. Hopatcong 41, Wallkill Valley 6 Hopatcong rolled to a 41-6 triumph over Wallkill Valley in a non-league confrontation played in Hardyston. Joe Martinek again powered the Chiefs’ ground attack, rushing for 229 yards on 22 carries. He scored twice on runs of 5 and 3 yards, while Joe Anthes scored from 15 yards out and picked off an interception that he returned 21 yards into the end zone. A.J. Pagano also scored off an interception, racing 38 yards into the end zone. Quarterback Ian Evans plunged one yard to paydirt. Lenape 35, Newton 14 Joe Fritzky touched carried seven times for 126 yards and scored three times on runs of 26, 9 and 57 yards as Lenape Valley defeated Newton 35-14. Mike Grooms blasted two yards to paydirt and Justin Nadeau ran four yards into the end zone. Bob Klinck converted all five PAT attempts. Pope John 42, Sparta 25 With junior tailback Jeremy Tucker toting the pigskin 29 times for 326 yards, Pope John defeated Sparta 42-25 to raise its SCIL record to 7-1 and pull the Lions moved into a tie with Hopatcong as the regular season came to an end. Tucker scored five times on runs of 2, 80, 3, 78 and 2 yards, while Eugene McGuire blasted two yards into the end zone to open the second-half scoring. Ryan Skorpuka, who carried 22 times for 77 yards, scored twice for the Spartans, going over from 2 and 1 yards. Tyler Reese hit Errick Freligh with a 17-yard TD strike and Alex Borinichak bolted 42 yards to paydirt. For the second week in a row, a Pope John defender was chosen the sussexcountyinterscolasticleague.com Player of the Week. Matt Dowling recorded nine tackles and recorded three of the Lions’ six quarterback sacks. Last week’s SCIL Player of the Week was Peter Corrigan. Jefferson 43, High Point 15 B.J. Stokes connected on 18 of 26 aerial attempts and four touchdowns as Jefferson romped to a 43-15 win over High Point. Stokes flipped TD strikes of 20 and 45 yards to Buddy Miller, who hauled in three passes for 100 yards. He hit Matt Gogli with a 12-yard TD pass and tossed a 19-yard TD aerial to Justin Clegg. Following High Point’s first six-pointer, Matt Valentini took the ensuing kickoff and raced 90 yards into the end zone. .