Who is better, Morris Knolls’ 2005 team or West Morris’ 2021?
Delbarton … 2001 … or 2020?
Mountain Lakes 2008 … Madison 2011 … or Madison 2012?
Those are great questions!
And I have come across the answers … I think.
Am I 100 percent correct? No – but I think I’m pretty close.
The last two weeks, I pondered who was the best of the best on each side of the ball (Hofmann’s All-Quarter Century Defense ran on BigStateSports.com two weeks ago, offense ran last week).
Now, it’s time to uncover the best teams.
When you see great players shine against other players, picking the best players comes relatively easily.
The best teams? Now you’re gonna run into some problems for a number of reasons. How do we compare teams from different eras? What about size of schools? Are big schools always better than smaller ones?
I performed this exercise with a couple of rules in mind. First, I wanted to be inclusive and include more than a handful of schools, which is why there are more than 30 teams mentioned. So if I chose West Morris’ 2021 team … that means West Morris is done. I cannot name the Wolfpack again.
Are West Morris’ teams from 2009 and 2022 among the Top 25 teams of this quarter century? Quite possibly. But I didn’t want this story to be about the area’s best handful of programs. Then it would be all about Delbarton, Pope John, Sparta, West Morris and a few others. I didn’t want that. Perhaps at another time!
So for this exercise, it’s one and done. I chose the school’s best team of the quarter century … and then they’re done. You’ve been warned.
Another issue dealt with sectional championships: Could West Morris’ 2000 team be the school’s best? Maybe, maybe not. That team had TWO 1,000-yard rushers and a third rush for 800 yards – but lost in the sectional finals to Warren Hills. The Wolfpack’s 2004 sectional championship team was mediocre (7-5, three-game losing streak late in the year), quite frankly. The 2000 team was way better but came away empty handed at season’s end.
But in most cases, I opted to go with the sectional champion. This also came into play with Par Hills, to name one school. The Vikings won two titles, but were those the school’s best teams? Well, the coach during that entire stretch (Dave Albano) doesn’t believe so.
Something else with regards to the state playoffs: In some cases, some local schools would run into a powerhouse such as Wayne Hills, Ramapo, Shabazz or Hoboken. Those buzzsaws might have been playing by a different set of rules with regards to roster building. High Point (2010) and Roxbury (2015) were terrific but each ran into Wayne Hills, which may or may not have been fielding rosters that were entirely from Wayne. Those other schools also have roster advantages that some other schools do not have. It’s hard to penalize local teams when they run up against some of these types of out-of-area schools.
Yet another issue: What do we do with the Covid year (2020)? This affected Delbarton and Morris Hills. I’ll get to that as we delve deeper.
Something else to ponder (an age-old question): Where do the small-school powerhouses fit in? Back in 2008, Mountain Lakes was terrific with D-1 lacrosse athletes all over the field. They blew everyone away and were very, very impressive. One problem: The Herd was a Group I school. So I’d watch them pummel all of the small schools on their schedule.
It just so happens that most of the Group 3s and 4s from that year were mediocre, at best (Look it up!). I was onto the Herd from the get-go, and when the Group 3 and 4 coaches and fans would question me all year, I’d ask them if they’d ever seen Mountain Lakes play that year. They hadn’t. I had. And I saw a LOT of Morris County Mediocrity that fall (but not at Mountain Lakes!). I called those larger-school coaches and their fans Iron Heads for that reason, because most of those doubters’ schools were from the old IHC-Iron Division. That league was awesome most of the time, but not in 2008.
My analogy then and now: If you told me my favorite restaurant had lousy food but you’d never eaten there, I wouldn’t take you or your opinion seriously.
Another thing: A sectional championship is a sectional championship, so that weighed heavily under most circumstances. Some sections were notoriously weak, others usually loaded. I had to weigh it all together.
So it was a lot to chew on, but this was a lot of fun to research and write and I hope you enjoy reading it.
This week, I’m starting out with some of the teams I considered for the Top 20 but fell short.
Next week, I’ll run Nos. 11-20. The following week, it’ll be the best 10.
Hofmann’s All-Quarter Century Top 20
Teams under consideration who fell short of the Top 20:
Vernon (2023) had one of its best teams in many years, if not the best in school history. The Vikings were undefeated in the American White largely behind the running of Logan Pych (1,825 yards, 17 TDs), who played on a broken ankle in its home OT loss to Passaic Valley – the first Vernon home state playoff game since 1982. Steve Downs’ team defeated nemesis Sparta and tied the school record for victories (8-2). Vernon also had a stellar season in 2005, giving eventual sectional champion Morris Knolls a great game in the sectional semifinals before losing. That Knolls team was one of the very best of the quarter century, as you’ll find out in two weeks.
(Montville 2006) reached Giants Stadium and the sectional finals before losing a heartbreaker to West Essex, 8-7. The Mustangs led, 7-6, but allowed a touchdown before West Essex’s 295-pound behemoth Tom Grossi plowed into the end zone for the stunning two-point conversion. Montville coach Gerry Gallagher and his staff were trying to get his team’s attention to prepare for the two-point conversion on the field, but the players couldn’t hear their coaches as West Essex pulled off the play. OT Chris Collins (6-5, 320) was a punishing blocker and DB-RB Mike Todisco were two of the Mustangs team leaders.
Boonton (2019) beat Cedar Grove in the sectional finals in North 1, Group I, 34-21, before losing to Park Ridge in the Group I regional championship. Ryan Dempster rushed 17 times for an incredible 264 yards and two TDs in the Cedar Grove game and rushed for 1,522 yards (21 TDs) that year. Coach Bryan Gallagher’s Bombers were 49 for 559 rushing in that game and had one of the best running attacks in all of New Jersey that year. That team peaked at the right time (the Bombers were 9-4) and won slugfests against Cresskill (59-55) in the semifinals and Pompton Lakes in the first round (48-21).
(Pequannock 2000) captured a North 2, Group II championship with a 21-7 victory over Dover for coach Cosmo Lorusso. One year earlier, the Golden Panthers were one of the best teams in all of New Jersey and graduated all of its stars and struggled early in the 2000 season before finding its way. The 2000 team was blue-collar all the way and was led by LB John Hukowski and DB Rob Lomoriello. If the 1999 Pequannock team had waited one more year and did what it did in 2000, I would have ranked them among the top five this quarter century.
(Kinnelon 2012) won its lone sectional championship when it beat New Milford at Kean, 26-14. The biggest memory I have of that game was when Colts built up a stunning 26-0 lead early in the second quarter and Coach Kevin White joked about how it seemed like the longest game of his life. White coached brilliantly that year. A devoted Wing-T coach, he went to the spread that year because of the talent on hand such as quarterback Sean Robbins, who was 27 for 118 rushing and 13 for 21 passing for 232 yards in the state final.
(Mendham 2024) was a true powerhouse last season before a key injury to running back Kevin King (flu) resulted in a one-point home loss to River Dell in the first round of North 1, Group III. Coach Ethan Jeros’ running game was overpowering all season with the likes of Cole Capuzzi (169 for 1,181, 17 TDs), King (109 for 959, 10 TDs), and Jordan Lieberwirth (73 for 710, 7 TDs). If King plays in that River Dell, the Minutemen could well have won their section last year.
(Dover 2003) lost one game in the regular season and converted a two-point play to beat Lenape Valley in the sectional semifinals but committed four turnovers and lost a 16-0 decision to Sparta at Giants Stadium. Kent Schilling’s Tigers could go on long drives or hit you with a quick strike. QB Ronnie Moore (1,700 yards of offense, 16 TDs) was electric with the ball in his hands. RB Jason Body (love that name) rushed for 1,200 yards and 10 TDs.
(Lenape Valley 2012) was a very workmanlike, no-frills team under legendary coach Don Smolyn. But boy, could they play! Lenape had the misfortune of having arguably its best team of the quarter century right here – but that was when Madison had one of the best runs of football an area team has ever had (three straight 12-0 seasons under coach Chris Kubik). Lenape gave Madison perhaps its toughest battle during the entire Dodgers dynasty but fell short in a 17-15 Madison win. Nick Rafferty was a terrific two-way player for the well-balanced Patriots.
(High Point 2024) had a big-time offense, finished in a tie for the division (American Blue) with Newton, and won a state playoff game (46-6 win over Becton) before losing to Glen Rock (35-18). You want offense? Running back Jerron Martress (267 for 1,671 yards, 26TDs) burst onto the scene and QB John Elko could throw (1,241 yards passing, 13 TDs) and run (754 yards, 11 TDs).
(Parsippany 2019) enjoyed a wild ride to make it to the sectional finals. Coach Jason Hurta’s team lost its opener to Kinnelon and then won a school-record 10 straight games – including Mountain Lakes twice – before losing to Lyndhurst in North 1, Group II, 26-7. It was the school’s first appearance in a sectional final since losing to PBurg in 1977. The Red Hawks were 23-126 in the 15 seasons leading up to 2019. Linebacker Anthony Rillo was a dominant force.
(Wallkill Valley 2018) finished 9-2 overall, won its first divisional crown in school history (National Red) and beat New Milford (34-7) in the first round of North 1 Group I. The team was led by QB Alex Mastroianni (735 yards passing, 865 yards rushing, 11 TDs) and RB Justin Rivera (131 for 964 rushing, 8 TDs) but ran out of gas in the sectional semifinals, losing to eventual champion Butler (20-0).
