Joe Hofmann
Sparta is off to a 3-1 start and is one of the top contenders in both the SFC Patriot Red and North Jersey, Group III.
One of the reasons for the Spartans quick getaway is senior running back-linebacker Luke Brown, a Monmouth commit who is the fourth-ranked recruit in Sussex County, according to New Jersey recruiting guru Dave McCarthy.
McCarthy is the author of the highly acclaimed McCarthy Report, which is a must-get for college recruiters and coaches all across the United States.
He is the son of the late Dennis McCarthy, who died in 2017. Dave McCarthy worked with his dad for many years and has kept the heralded family business going.
The 6-foot, 205-pound Brown is following in the college footsteps of his brother Jake, who starred at Pope John and then went on to earn all-Ivy League honors at Harvard.
“Luke is smart and instinctive,” McCarthy said. “We love how he can run and cover a lot of ground.”
Next week, McCarthy will rank the top underclassmen in Morris and Sussex for Big State Sports.
Here is McCarthy’s Top 20 in Sussex.
1. TYLER HOUSER, LB, POPE JOHN
The 6-2, 225-pound Houser is a Wake Forest commit and “one of the top all-around athletes in the state,” McCarthy said. “He can play almost any position on the field. He is big, fast, strong, and explosive with playmaking instincts.”
2. TYLIK HILL RB, POPE JOHN
The powerfully built (5-9, 185) and ultra quick runner has an offer from UMass, among others, and is a “low-slung, stocky back with very quick feet and the burst to break long runs,” McCarthy said. “He has almost 2,500 career rushing yards with 23 TDs and. 6.8 career average.”
3. WES JOHNSTON LB/DB/REC, POPE JOHN
The West Point commit is a four-year starter as a Lion, which is not easy to do. “He is a lanky, athletic, two-way standout with the ability to play either side of the ball in college,” McCarthy said. “He is also a top student.”
4. LUKE BROWN LB, SPARTA
See above.
5. DAN O’LEARY OL, POPE JOHN
The 6-4, 290-pound O’Leary is a “versatile road-grader who can play inside or out on the offensive line,” according to McCarthy. “He plays with good technique and gets a tremendous push in the run game.”
6. BRIAN GRUBER, RB/QB/DB (6-1, 190) SUSSEX TECH
7. JARROD COFRANCESCO, OL (6-1, 295) POPE JOHN
8. QUINN MULI, OL (6-3, 300) POPE JOHN
9. JOE PAPPA, DL (6-1, 255) PJ
10. JOE ROZYNSKI, DB/REC (5-10, 185) POPE JOHN
11. ROMAN DRUPKA, EDGE (6-1, 195) VERNON
12. TANNER SMITH, OL (6-5, 270) VERNON
13. NICK VANNATTA, DB (5-10, 190 POPE JOHN
14. JOHN ELKO, QB (5-10, 170) HIGH POINT
15. ANDREW SANCHEZ, DB (6-0, 170) POPE JOHN
16. JOSH JEAN, REC/DB (6-1, 185) VERNON
17.TANNER GABODA, DB (5-11, 155) LENAPE VALLEY
18. ZACK CLARKEN, QB-DB (6-0, 160) WALLKILL VALLEY
19. ANTHONY TUDDA, LB (5-7, 165) NEWTON
20. MASON RIVERA, OL/DL (6-3, 245) VERNON
For more information, contact McCarthy at:
The McCarthy Report
David McCarthy/Dennis McCarthy (In Memoriam 1942-2017)
P.O. Box 782
Lyndhurst, N.J. 07071
201-933-3009/877-40-SCOUT
Cell: 347-707-0924
Social Media links:
Back-to-back ‘mini’ dynasties
Last week, we reviewed local high school football dynasties. How does a team qualify for a dynasty? By winning three or more sectional championships in a row.
I noticed several back-to-back sectional championship teams who were really good and worth a little review. Perhaps we can call them mini-dynasties.
Winning back-to-back is quite an accomplishment.
So here are the back-to-back champions from Morris-Sussex.
Pequannock (1999-2000). In what was a terrific year for Morris County football (Morristown and Delbarton were both tremendous), the Golden Panthers were the best team in Morris County in 1999. The team had no less than seven 1AA players on the team, including quarterback Chris Wispelwey and standout two-way players Ben Burklow and Dave Telesh, among others. They reached as high as eighth in the Gannett New Jersey Top 20 in the final two weeks of the season.
In the sectional final, they beat a good Hanover Park team in the sectional final, 14-8, and suffered for doing so in the final poll (a terrible, terrible decision by the voters!). Pequannock finished third behind No. 1 Morristown and No. 2 Delbarton.
Pequannock was actually penalized after winning the first sectional championship in school history!
After a 56-21 annihilation of a good Mendham team in the North 2, Group II playoffs, Mendham coach Bill Carpluk put Pequannock right up with recent powerhouse championship teams from the 1990s such as Summit and Dover.
A year later, with almost an entirely different cast, Pequannock coach Cosmo Lorusso led the Golden Panthers team to another sectional title.
Lorusso wound up going to coach at Roxbury, where he won sectional titles in 2009 and 2012. A coach legitimizes himself when he wins one sectional title. He earns even more respect after he wins a second. He won with entirely different casts at Roxbury. Lorusso is an all-time great coach in both Morris County and North Jersey.
Sparta (2013-14). For two years, Frank Marchiano’s Spartans had an offense that was as good as it gets on the high school level. Sparta went a combined 22-2 and won back-to-back sectional championships over River Dell. Defenses had their hands full and couldn’t figure out a way to thwart running back Lucas Faria (482 for 3,447, 51 TDs) or quarterbacks Matt Seville (111 for 177, 1,605 yards, 21 TDs in 2013) or Anthony Argula (184 for 253, 2,476 yards, 38 TDs in 2014) those two years.
Sparta averaged 44 points per game and beat River Dell in the state finals in 2013, 40-0. The following year, they averaged “only” 35 points in the playoffs and beat River Dell again by “only” 31-23.
Good high school football writers cover football by walking going up and down the sidelines to get a feel for what is going on on the field (others sit up in the booth); those football writers on the field had a terrific cardio workout going up and down the field while covering those Spartans!
Madison (2015-16). Chris Kubik’s Dodgers won 39 games in a row and three straight sectional championships with the great Justin Goodwin leading the way in one of the best runs of football Morris County has ever seen from 2010-12.
A short time later, Kubik led the Dodgers to a pair of championships with workmanlike, gritty, defense-oriented teams. In 2015, they started out 1-2 but then caught fire and wound up crushing Rutherford in the sectional finals in East Rutherford, 27-6.
During their three-game playoff run that year, Madison had a tougher time beating Mountain Lakes in the first round (14-0) and Freedom Division rival Lenape Valley (14-7) in the second. The Dodgers had lost to Lenape earlier in the year (Madison lost that one, 23-15 … another sign that Kubik is a terrific coach). So Madison received tougher games from Morris-Sussex than a team from out of the area.
The following year, Madison was down a notch but gutted it out again, beating Lenape in the sectional finals at MetLife (13-7) in a defensive war. Incredibly, Madison beat Lenape in a wild game in Week 1, 45-42.
In one of the most thrilling sectional playoff games I have ever encountered, homestanding Madison’s defense stopped Hanover’s two-point conversion attempt in the closing seconds and came away with a wild 34-33 victory in the state semifinals. The game had it all: A packed house at Madison, an electric atmosphere, a berth in the sectional finals on the line, coaching staffs that weren’t exactly fond of one another, and a thrilling game that ended in the closing seconds at the goal line.
Madison’s Dante DiIonno, fellow tackle Griffin Meister and linebackers Max Downing and Brian Kraska all had a hand in stopping Hanover’s Rory DeLuca at the goal line. What a wild game! What a crazy finish!
Mountain Lakes (2008-09). Legendary coach Doug Wilkins went out with a bang, guiding the Herd to two of the best teams in school history before retiring after 2009. Travis Tripucka, son of NBA legend Kelly Tripucka, and Greg DeLuca were two of the Herd standouts back then. The team averaged 45 points in three playoff wins in 2008, culminating with a 35-21 win over Glen Rock. That Lakes team never bothered with kicking extra points and went for two most of the time. More often than not, they made it. I remember people questioning Wilkins going for two after scoring the game’s first touchdown against Glen Rock (the Herd made it), but he’d been doing that all year. Then he did it a second time and the Herd were up 16-0 in the first quarter. Truly a remarkable year.
The next year, they averaged 49 points per game in the playoffs, which ended with them burying Butler in the snow at Giants Stadium in the finals, 48-7, with Austin DeMarco and Jack Nagle leading the way.
Funny thing about this group. One of those teams, 2008, was the best team in Morris County. I will go to my grave believing that. I’d go see them once every three weeks or so (I tried to get out and see as many of the good teams as possible), and each week I believed that more and more: The Group I Herd were the best team. They were explosive and ultra talented (loaded with D-1 lacrosse athletes).
One problem: The arrogant folks at the bigger schools thought it was impossible for Mountain Lakes, a “mere” Group I school, could be better than their bigger schools. I’d run into my buddy Terry Hurley, the longtime Morristown PA guy, and he couldn’t believe I’d have the Herd ranked higher than his beloved Colonials. Then I asked them if they’d ever seen the Herd and, um … well, no he had not.
That’s like saying a restaurant had lousy food if you’ve never eaten there!
Lakes had some electrifying athletes. The bigger schools in Morris County were mediocre that year. The Herd were impressive. All you had to do was watch them.
Current coach Darrell Fusco took over for Wilkins and guided the 2010 team to a sectional finals loss to Wallington the following year. The team won its first 10 games, thereby rolling up a 35-game winning streak over a four-year stretch.
Fusco would go on and figure out how to win in the postseason, however.
Mountain Lakes (2013-14) – Fusco’s Herd swept through both seasons and went into MetLife and put on Wing-T clinics both times. In 2013, they beat Caldwell in the finals, 26-6, with fullback Christian Cuccinello (240 yards, 3 TDs) playing a starring role. I remember Caldwell coach Ken Trimmer being in awe after that game.
A year later, Lakes beat a very talented Lincoln team in the final, 36-28, with Brad Smith rushing for three TDs and Bobby Frawley going over 1,000 yards rushing on the season.
Mountain Lakes (2022-23) – Last year, the Herd made a little history when they overwhelmed Glassboro (31-7) to win the state Group I championship at Rutgers and became the first Morris County school to do so. The team lost early in the year to Hanover (14-7) and was crushed by divisional rival Caldwell (34-0) but picked up a head of steam and won five straight state playoff games, including an incredible 49-12 destruction of Shabazz in the state semifinals that saw the Herd’s Wing-T rush for 447 yards against the ultra-talented team with players from all over Newark.
Two years ago, coach Darrell Fusco’s team was a notch below 2023 but good enough to beat stubborn Brearley to win the section (16-6) and then Weequahic in the state semifinal at Rutgers (29-23) before succumbing to powerful Woodbury in the state Group I final at Rutgers (31-7).
The Herd’s calling card for the two years was its Wing-T and the two-way dominance on the lines, led by Marco Dzamba and Fusco’s son, Cosmo.
Here and there
1. It’s that time of year … time for … “upsets.” What an overused word! Let me repeat my soap box rant I have been standing on for the 40 years I have been covering high school football: There is no such thing as an upset in September.
Chatham beating Mount Olive was a surprise, not an upset (NO ONE saw it coming). But what if the Cougars have a great year?
Early last year, Lakeland “upset” Sparta. Well, the Spartans were in a bit of a rebuilding mode early on. Lakeland wound up ending Caldwell’s two-year run of sectional championships and 37-game winning streak in the playoffs So was Lakeland over Sparta early in the year an upset? NO WAY. Surprise, yes. Upset, no.
The biggest “upset” of all was mighty Randolph losing to forever rebuilding Columbia early in the 1995 season … but Randolph wound up going winless that year after having been in the sectional finals nine straight years. A massive surprise? Yes. Columbia wasn’t great that year, but the Rams were worse. Not an upset!
Each season is brand new, so the word upset shouldn’t be used nearly as much as it is. It used to annoy me to no end. Now, I just shake my head.
2. Is it me, or is the expression “burning” timeouts getting a little annoying? After all, coaches get THREE timeouts per half. Why is it necessarily a bad thing to use one early? Lately, I’m starting to hear announcers say a team is “burning” a timeout with less than a minute to go in a half or in a game. Enough already!
3. Some high school football coaches are terrific in the broadcast booth. Over the last two years, I’ve heard good things out of former Wallkill coach Bobby Leach, ex-Vernon coach Chuck Tepper, former Morris Hills coach Mike Sabo, and ex-Jefferson and Hopatcong coach Jerry Venturino. Look out, John Madden!
4. The Super Football Conference alignment for Morris-Sussex teams has hit the correct note, especially considering how poorly constructed it was in its earliest days.
One of the few problems I have with it is the six-team divisions make for a cheapened all-conference team sometimes consists of 10 kids on the first team from one school. That ain’t right.
Back in the days of the Iron Hills/SCIL/NHC, there were more teams (as many as 10), so athletes had to really earn first- or second-team all-conference status. Now, there are 3-4 less teams, so that makes it easier to be all-conference. Not a big deal, but still …
Also, going through the year-by-year seasons of several schools, I’ve noticed the divisions have changed names several times. Morris Hills, for instance, has been in the Liberty Blue for three years, the Liberty White (2021) for one, and the Patriot White (2019-20) for two. Sometimes, the schools in the division are the same, other times schools are shaken up. It is difficult to establish rivalries when there is too much change.
Which leads me to the following …
5. College conferences are rotating all over the place, so I decided to play around with the Football Super Conference teams from Morris-Sussex (and a little Warren, since they are in the SFC).
How could the SFC be improved? Well, I came up with a plan – but the plan works only if I were king for a day. My plan is not perfect but I think it is a little better than what we have right now.
Bear in mind, I’m much bigger on tradition and local rivalries than the powers that be in the SFC. The league as it stands is ok now, but with some tweaking, things could be even better.
To start with, here are a couple of points:
- I removed Butler from the NJIC (remember, I did say I was king for a day!).
- I separated all of the Morris and Sussex schools. I prefer all of the Sussex-Warren schools together (almost like the old SCIL days, minus Pope John). I know, I know, Division B has 12 schools.
- Divisions A and B don’t need to cross over; Divisions C and D do. I ran out of bigger schools.
Here goes:
Division A – Boonton, Butler, Kinnelon, Morris Catholic, Mountain Lakes, Whippany Park, Hanover Park, Madison, Pequannock, Parsippany
Division B – Hopatcong, High Point, Kittatinny, Lenape Valley, North Warren, Sussex Tech, Wallkill Valley, Hackettstown, Newton, Sparta, Warren Hills, Vernon
Division C – Chatham, Dover, Jefferson, Mendham, Montville, Morris Hills, Par Hills.
Division D – Morristown, Morris Knolls, Mount Olive, Randolph, Roxbury, West Morris.
6. Chatham’s surprising win over Mount Olive completely shook up the county, as far as ratings go. How would I rank the Top 10 in Morris right now?
Something like this:
1. Delbarton
2. Knolls
3. West Morris
4. Montville
5. Chatham
6. Mount Olive
7. Mendham
8. Randolph
9. Pequannock
10. Hanover Park/Butler
