Dover and Hopatcong are out of the Ivy Division and are now in the Morris-Sussex mix. 

When they came back to the area, some divisional dominoes began to fall.

Some mixing and matching followed. There was some fallout with regard to where other schools have gone.

There is quite a bit to look forward to in the 2024 high school football season in the Morris-Sussex area. The first thing item on the agenda is figuring out who goes where. You cannot tell the players without a scorecard and you cannot tell the teams without a bona fide list. You also cannot tell the names of the divisions without a scorecard. 

So here is an explanation of who moved where followed by a list of the local divisions.

Not all area schools packed their bags and moved to a different division, but their opponents may have. 

There were many tweaks. Many divisions either lost a team or have a new one coming in.

Let the trickle-down effect begin. Follow the bouncing teams.

  • Mountain Lakes received great news after seeing nemesis Caldwell move out of its American Gold division and into the Patriot White (along with Millburn, Nutley, Passaic Valley, Wayne Hills, and West Essex). Caldwell ran away with the American Gold the last couple of years, including two blowout wins over the Herd. 
  • Parsippany replaces Caldwell in the American White, joining Hanover Park, Madison, Mountain Lakes, Pequannock, and Morris Catholic).
  • High Point moves to the Group II American Blue (with Hackettstown, Kittatinny, Lenape Valley, Newton, and Sussex Tech). 
  • Dover is now in the Group III Patriot Red (Lakeland, Jefferson, Sparta, West Milford, Vernon). 
  • Group II Wallkill Valley goes to the National Blue (Boonton, Hopatcong, Kinnelon, North Warren, Whippany Park).
  • Hopatcong has joined the National Blue as well. 
  • In the world of Non-Public football, Paramus Catholic moved up from the United White and into the unforgiving world of the United Red (Bergen Catholic, St. Joe-Montvale, Don Bosco). 
  • Meanwhile, St. Peter’s Prep and Seton Hall Prep drop down from the Red to the White (Delbarton, DePaul, Pope John).

Get all of that? 

Here is the divisional setup involving local teams in both the Super Conference and the Big Central.

NJSFC LIBERTY WHITE: Morris Knolls, Morristown, Mount Olive, Roxbury, West Morris.

NJSFC LIBERTY BLUE: Chatham, Mendham, Montville, Morris Hills, Parsippany Hills, Warren Hills.

NJSFC PATRIOT RED: Dover, Lakeland, Jefferson, Sparta, West Milford, Vernon.

NJSFC AMERICAN BLUE: Hackettstown, High Point, Kittatinny, Lenape Valley, Newton, Sussex Tech.

NJSFC AMERICAN WHITE: Hanover Park, Madison, Morris Catholic, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany, Pequannock.

NJSFC NATIONAL BLUE: Boonton, Hopatcong, Kinnelon, North Warren, Wallkill Valley, Whippany Park.

NJSFC UNITED WHITE: Delbarton, DePaul, Pope John, Seton Hall Prep, St. Peter’s Prep.

2. What’s up with the six-team divisions?

The leagues are small. Now, that’s okay when it comes to scheduling. Dover plays its five Patriot Red opponents and then has a chance to renew acquaintances with former IHC-Hills rivals like Morris Hills and Mendham. That’s great.

The one negative: Postseason all-division teams. It’s no longer a question of who made the first team, but who didn’t? Back in the day of the Iron Hills, Sussex, and Northern Hills, kids had to fight past others from eight other schools to make the first team.

And everyone knew what league they were in. I bet many kids don’t know the name of their division. That’s kinda weird, but that is where we’re at. 

3. What is going on with the Non-Public playoffs?

Well, there were 13 teams in Non-Public A and only six in Non-Public B last year. The NJSIAA wants to address that by enrollment only and is in the process of putting together enrollment figures. Using last year’s enrollment, some schools that might head down from A to B include Pope John, St. Joe-Montvale, Camden Catholic, Donovan Catholic, and Paramus Catholic. If St. Joe’s drops down to Non-Public B, there will be a lot of teams that aren’t exactly thrilled.  

4. Who are the best Morris-Sussex quarterbacks? 

Well, right now there is not a single top-notch guy who stands above all of the rest. Pope John’s Chris Dietrich went to Temple and emerged as the clear No. 1 QB in the area last year. 

Mount Olive’s Jake Asbury earned second-team quarterback (and first-team All-Morris) by leading his team to a sectional championship and is the best to open the season. It was neck and neck between Asbury and Roxbury’s Anthony Skawinski and it really came down to Asbury heroically leading his team downfield and scoring a touchdown in the final minute. 

Oddly enough, Skawinski had just led his team to a go-ahead touchdown and a 26-20 lead earlier in the fourth quarter – and then he made three tackles behind the line during Mount Olive’s sectional championship-winning drive.

Two QBs emerged who were not starters on Opening Weekend last year (Shane Hoover of Sparta and Joshua Smith of Parsippany Hills) but gave their struggling teams quite a lift. 

Other QBs to look out for in the early going appear to be Hoover, Hanover Park’s Joey Borello, Montville’s Mike Ciullo, Kinnelon’s Zach Grande, Whippany Park’s Brandon Giangrusso.

5. How will Randolph do with new coach Dave Albano?

Albano came in from Parsippany Hills, where he led the Vikings to two sectional championships. He replaced Will Nahan, who took an assistant coaching position at High Point.

When Albano took from Phil Longo at Par Hills 24 years ago, the Vikings program was beginning to turn the corner. Longo had turned what had been a laughable, underachieving program into a 10-win playoff team in his second year. He was about as clear a choice for Daily Record Coach of the Year that I’d ever made in my 25 years there. 

Then Longo left for the college coaching world, and Albano kept things moving in the right direction. The school made the playoffs 13 times under Albano, who brought home sectional title victories over Cranford and West Essex. Bear in mind that the Vikings rarely, if ever, made the playoffs before Longo-Albano had gotten there. A sleeping giant if there ever was one!

The thing with Albano is that he won with different styles. He had a running team that beat Cranford and a passing one that beat West Essex. Great coaches find different ways to win. Albano, who came to Morris County from New Milford, certainly qualifies as one of the best coaches in Morris County over the last 25 years or so.

What’s going on up Route 23?

Good things are happening, that’s what. 

  • Pequannock had a good, under-the-radar season last year under first-year coach Mike Moschella. The Golden Panthers went 5-0 and won the NJSFC National Blue, beat Hanover Park, and lost a 14-7 decision in the first round of the playoffs to Lakeland. So, why is losing to Lakeland noteworthy? Well, the Lancers went on to stun Caldwell the following week and end Caldwell’s state-high 37-game winning streak. In other words, Pequannock is on the cusp of something under Moschella, a Don Smolyn disciple out of Lenape Valley.
  • Butler finished 9-2 in the NJIC last year and stunned Weequahic in the second round of the playoffs, 21-14. Butler was knocked off by Shabazz in the sectional finals, 40-13. Coach Jason Luciani’s Bulldogs return a slew of contributors and are in the mix to possibly end Rutherford’s three-year NJIC strong of championships. I’d love it if Butler would come to the Super Conference but that is a story for another time. They’d be a great fit in the National Blue (Pequannock, Kinnelon, Boonton).  
  • Kinnelon had an interesting year in 2023. Two years ago, they shocked a lot of people by beating Park Ridge in the playoffs under then-first-year coach Dustin Grande by using the run-happy T-Formation. Last year, stellar running back Lex Lucas broke his leg in Week 1 and then Grande decided to throw more. Quarterback Zach Grande, Dustin’s son, threw for 932 yards and 10 TDs and ran for 295 more yards and another 10 TDs. The team went 4-1 in the American Blue before losing in the playoffs to eventual Group I state champion Mountain Lakes. The team returns Zach Grande and stellar lineman Andrew Stickley. 

What’s up with Shabazz and Weequahic?

We have not added Newark to the Morris-Sussex site, but this bears mentioning again. I wrote a column addressing this at the end of last year. Group I schools in the area would like to know when and if the NJSIAA will address these two behemoths being placed in North Group I for the state playoffs. Shabazz and Weequahic have the pick of the litter of athletes from all over Newark, a major city. Meanwhile, Butler, Mountain Lakes, Boonton, etc. get the “pick of the litter” from their small towns. Something’s not right, and it won’t be right until the state addresses the matter. Group I schools Cresskill and Emerson coopted and were automatically moved up to Group II. Shabazz and Weequahic used to reside in Group III, so why are they now in Group I? 

Will the Liberty Blue be a two-horse race?

Probably so. That’s why you should get your tickets to the Montville at Mendham game Nov. 18. Those two are the frontrunners for the Liberty Blue championship. Both return a slew of players on both sides of the ball from last year and appear to be at the top of the heap in the league (though Warren Hills might have something to say about that).

Who wins the Liberty White?

This is traditionally the best, most balanced league in the area but I think we could be looking at a runaway here: Mount Olive won the North 2, Group IV title last year and returns most of its offense and much of the ‘D’ from. The Marauders appear to be great and the rest of the league, on paper, appears to be good-not-great.

Can the area match last year’s wealth of placekickers?

That would be asking a lot. There were many, many excellent kickers in the area, including Morris Knolls’ Jake Merlucci (8 of 10 kicking field goals, including a 42-yarder against Linden in the playoffs), 

  • Montville’s Matt Martino (6 of 7 kicking field goals, with a long of 36 in the playoffs against Par Hills, 
  • Hanover Park’s Ryan Roberts (who broke his ankle last summer but booted a school-record 47-yarder), 
  • Pope John’s Jack Morgese (7 of 9 with a pair of 50-yarders; he was 0 for 3 kicking field goals as a junior), 
  • Mendham’s John Gogerty (3 field goals as a senior, 6 as a junior),
  • Lenape Valley’s Mason McClean (3 field goals before becoming injured in Week 5; the best in school history, according to longtime coach Wade Pickett), 
  • Delbarton’s Will Kramer (4 of 6 kicking field goals with a long of 41 yards, 
  • Roxbury’s Gunnar Hilsinger (3 of 4 field goals, long of 37), 
  • West Morris’ Johnny Viera (4 of 5 field goals, long of 31, including the decisive field goal on the game’s last play to beat Pascack Valley in the first round of the state playoffs, 
  • Morristown’s Oliver Acuna-Casey (4 of 7, with a long of 37 yards).

Merlucci returns, so he is the best of the lot until proven otherwise. 

Can area coaches repeat last year’s stellar performances?

Mount Olive coach Brian O’Connor turned a 1-9 team into a sectional championship squad – a remarkable, almost unheard-of turnaround that resulted in him getting Morris-Sussex Coach of the Year. 

There were many, many coaches who could have gotten coach of the year in another season.

To wit: 

  • West Morris’ Kevin Hennelly pulled the team out from a 3-5 start and won perhaps the school’s most unlikely sectional championship ever by beating Pascack Valley, Sparta, and highly-favored Old Tappan, which was among the state’s best public school teams.
  • Delbarton’s Brian Bowers guided the Green Wave to perhaps the best single-season in Morris County history with wins over Don Bosco, St. Joseph-Montvale, DePaul, and Seton Hall Prep in one year –arguably the best football resume in county history.
  • Roxbury’s Ryan Roumes led the team to the SFC-Liberty White Division, the area’s toughest public school division.
  • Mountain Lakes’ Darrell Fusco brought home a state Group I championship by beating Glassboro.
  • Sussex Tech’s Brian Stellingwerf guided the Fighting Mustangs to a 7-4 year, the first playoff win in school history, and first-time victories over Kittatinny and Lenape Valley.
  • Vernon’s Steve Down guided the Vikings to an SFC-American White championship despite severe graduation losses. Among those victories in the league was an easy 27-6 win over Lakeland, which didn’t seem like much at the time, but that same Lakeland team (coached by former Jefferson great Gavin McCarney) stunned Caldwell in the playoffs and ended the Chiefs state-high 37-game winning streak.
  • Ditto for Newton’s Matt Parzero, who lost several stars and stumbled early but led the Braves to an American Blue title.
  • Sparta’s Frank Marchiano’s team got off to a rocky 0-4 start but somehow managed to reach the sectional semifinals.

 Can anybody be as versatile as Jefferson’s Logan Kerr was?

My guess is no. So, who was Logan Kerr? Oh, just your ordinary kid who excelled at anything coach Jim Matsakis put on the kid’s plate. When Falcons starting QB Ryan Moran went down with an injury to start the year, Kerr stepped in and the team went 2-1. He then moved to receiver and led the team in receptions over the next three games. Kerr then moved to the line to fill a need and was the team’s best O-Lineman. 

Kerr played outside linebacker and had 96 tackles and six sacks to go with an INT that he returned for a touchdown. The well-traveled Matsakis has coached in a lot of places and you’d have to go far and wide to find a kid as versatile – and good at everything – as much as Kerr.