In the biggest – and last – football game of his life, Mountain Lakes’ Marco Dzamba put all of his skills on the field at Rutgers for everyone to see.

The then-senior was playing his final football game before heading off to Dartmouth to play lacrosse.

He sure left quite an impact.

Dzamba was literally all over the field in a resounding 24-6 victory over Glassboro, giving the Herd the state Group I championship at Rutgers.

The tight end-defensive end was in the middle of it all with one sack, two-and-a-half tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery that led to him returning it for a touchdown, and a blocked punt.

He even scored a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter when he took a direct snap and plowed through the Glassboro defense, making it 24-0.

The game highlighted what a magnificent 2023 season it was for the Morris-Sussex area.

As the first few weeks of the season rolled by … well, nothing of substance had happened.

But by the end of the year, there were huge performances – team and individually – all over the place.

Here are some of the team highlights:

  • Mountain Lakes will go down in history as the first Morris County school to have won a state Group championship. Two years ago, coach Darrell Fusco’s Herd was overwhelmed by Woodbury in the state final at Rutgers, 31-7. The team left no doubt against Glassboro. Mountain Lakes finished the year with a flourish, crushing highly regarded Shabazz in the state Group I semifinals, 49-12. Dzamba’s game against Glassboro typified the season he’d had. He was a terrific blocker and caught 21 passes for 650 yards and 10 touchdowns as a tight end. On defense, he had four sacks and 11 ½ tackles for loss among his 57 tackles.
  • Mount Olive staged the biggest drive in school history to stun home-standing Roxbury for the Section 2, Group IV championship before a crowd of 7,500, 27-26. Mount Olive drove downfield behind quarterback Jake Asbury, who engineered an 80-yard drive in a little over five minutes when he completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Vin Carpini with 23 seconds left against one of the area’s best defenses to win it. It was an amazing turnaround season for Coach Brian O’Connor’s team, which was winless during the regular season the year before, winning a consolation game to finish 1-9 in 2022. Marauders running back Tyler Cumming was a dominant force in the sectional final win, rushing for 200 yards. He was 270 for 1,467 yards and 14 touchdowns. 
  • West Morris won its ninth sectional championship – and perhaps its most unlikely. The Wolfpack won it all in North 1, Group III, even though they were running on fumes for much of the year. The Wolfpack were in the midst of a two-year run of sectional championships (including a North Group III championship in 2021) and were sputtering. The team lost perhaps the best senior class it had ever had. Not only that, injuries had hampered Coach Kevin Hennelly’s team all year (West Morris was 3-5 at one point). But suddenly, all of the banged-up players were back and the team pulled it together and defeated Pascack Valley (on a last-second field goal), Sparta, and then winning at heavily-favored Old Tappan. West Morris’ two-way lineman Tom Borgia was a constant all year long, dominating on both sides of the ball during a season where the Wolfpack were banged up for much of the time. The offense accumulated almost 4,000 yards with Borgia one of the lead blockers. He had four sacks and 15 tackles for loss among his 91 tackles.
  • Delbarton gave mighty Bergen Catholic a great game in the state Non-Public Group A championship game before losing, 24-14. The Green Wave wound up being the No. 2 team in all of New Jersey. Coach Brian Bowers’ team may have had the best season, on paper, of any team in area history. Think of it, Delbarton beat such powerhouses as Don Bosco, St. Joseph-Montvale, Seton Hall Prep, Pope John, and DePaul along the way, among others. One of the team’s calling cards was a linebacking crew that included Kyle Checchio (4 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, 78 tackles), Dallas Hurley (3 sacks, 5 ½ tackles for loss, 90 tackles), and Johnny Riley (2 sacks, 7 ½ tackles for loss, 73 tackles).
  • Roxbury posted a big season by winning the brutal NJSFC-Liberty White over such programs as Mount Olive and West Morris (both of whom won sectional championships) and Morris Knolls, which was good enough to win a playoff game. Ryan Roumes’ Gaels swept through the regular season undefeated and beat Colonia and stacked Irvington before succumbing to Mount Olive in the North 2, Group IV final. Colin Richter was a do-everything performer and single-handedly helped the team win a couple of early-season games to get the Gaels untracked early on in wins over Par Hills and Morris Knolls. As a receiver, he caught 50 passes for 711 yards and nine TDs and also threw a TD pass. On defense, he made 86 tackles (5 for loss) and had four INTs and a sack, and forced four fumbles and recovered one. He also returned a punt for a touchdown in the sectional final loss against Mount Olive.
  • Vernon’s Logan Pych had a record-setting season for the Vikings, who won the NJSFC American White Division. Pych set the school record with 1,825 yards and 17 TDs. He was named Morris-Sussex’s Player of the Year. 
  • Newton and Sparta had parallel seasons, in a way. Both overcame rocky starts and turned in good seasons. Newton, which suffered massive graduation losses, was blown out of its season opener by Warren Hills (42-14). Matt Parzero’s team rebounded by winning its next five games – sweeping through the NJSFC-American Blue to win the league championship. The team finished 7-3.
  • Sparta lost its first four games and five of its first six but seemed to hit its stride with starting quarterback Shane Hoover, who was 87 for 137 passing for 1,146 yards and 12 TDs. Coach Frank Marchiano’s team finished 4-6 but was able to beat Newton (28-12) and surprised Hillside (27-26) with a late rally in the first round of the playoffs.
  • Sparta wasn’t the only local school to pick up a head of steam with a new quarterback in midseason. Par Hills’ Josh Smith took the quarterbacking reigns in midseason and helped the Vikings overcome a 1-2 start and win five games to capture the NJSFC-Liberty Blue. Smith was 83 for 118 for 1,146 and 15 TDs while being intercepted just three times.
  • Some teams would kill to have one 1,000-yard rusher. Two area schools had two. Sussex Tech (7-4) won the first state playoff game in school history and beat Lenape Valley and Kittatinny for the first time ever behind the running tandem of Andrew Baker (1,234 yards, 17 TDs) and QB Brian Gruber (1,083 yards, 14 TDs). Coach Brian Stellingwerf and his staff have done remarkable things with the program. 
  • Mendham, meanwhile, saw running backs Cole Capuzzi (215 for 1,095, 6 TDs) and Kevin King (121 for 1,081 yards, 14 TDs) clear the 1,000-yard plateau. Capuzzi and King are seniors.
  • Pope John (7-4) was clearly the best school in the Sussex-Warren area. The Lions had one of their best seasons in many years.  A deep dive indicates how far the program has come under Dom Gaston and his staff (Pope was 1-9 in his first season in 2021 before going 4-6 two years ago). Last year, the Lions beat DePaul (33-20) and Seton Hall Prep (31-27). Two years ago, they were run over by DePaul (a 42-10 Pope John loss) and Seton Hall Prep (Pope John was obliterated, 42-13).
  • Warren Hills had a good, but bizarre season. The Streaks finished 6-4 under coach Marcus Gardineer and made the playoffs, starting out 4-0 and winning five of six. But injuries ravaged the team, which was good enough to beat a good Vernon team (21-14) and hung with a strong Roxbury team before losing (14-7). So, how was it bizarre? When was the last time a playoff-bound team forfeited late in the year? I cannot think of it ever happening in nearly 40 years of covering high school football – yet the Streaks managed to forfeit (injuries) during an Oct. 13 game against Montville.