Joe Hofmann Notes Column: High School Football’s Most Unforgettable Seasons (Part 1)

Some high school seasons go by and … well, they may have been fun to watch and all, but not at all memorable. Ho-hum. 

Just another year.

Other seasons, there may have been a lot of schools who won a championship and did something special in the process. Or there was an off-the-charts Cinderella story. Or something very unique or interesting took place. 

So, where am I going?

I was going through old clippings to prepare for my coverage of the 2026 season for Big State Sports. I came across the years 1985, 2006 and 2007, when not a single team from Morris or Sussex County brought home a sectional championship.

I remember in two of those seasons (2006-07) that putting together the All-Area team for the Daily Record lacked the usual excitement that seasons with championship teams had. There were no big winners. Yes, some nice accomplishments here and there, but nothing special. No juice.

That made me think: What were the years in local football that really meant something more? Let’s face it, some years end with a lot more buzz than others.

Off the top of my head, I knew some individual seasons (1980, 1999) immediately came to mind, personally. In 1980, Whippany Park ended Madison’s three-year run as state champion. That’s a pretty big deal! The 1999 campaign had three Morris teams ranked in the Top 12 in the state. 

There were other years that had more juice than others.

In 2001, Hopatcong and West Morris won wild state championship games on the same Saturday afternoon. In 2008, Mountain Lakes and Jefferson ended a two-year local drought by winning sectional championships. That was a big deal back then. 

Then it hit me: Why not write about the seasons that had the greatest state championship stories? What years had a ton of big wins for the locals to end the year? 

I began doing the research and … wow! So many great seasons. I came up with 33 that were worthy of mention.

Rather than squeeze these into one story, I divided it up into a five-part series (six, if you include 1974, which gets a separate story down the road … what took place will actually stun you). 

Some ground rules:

1. Mind you, I’m not writing about every single season, or every championship team. In many years, as you’ll find out, there was a lot that went on, a lot of excitement, and a lot of interesting tidbits for me to re-hash. In other years, frankly, there wasn’t as much as excitement – even if a team or two won a sectional title. So I skipped over those. 

2. What I did want to make sure of was this: Every team that has won a sectional championship will be mentioned somewhere along the way. So schools that have won a bunch (Butler, West Morris, Sparta, Pope John, etc.) will be mentioned many times (but not every title). But if a school has won one title (I’m looking at you Kittatinny, Newton, Whippany, Hackettstown, etc.) it is certainly worth a mention.

3. I wrote exclusively about the championship teams but there are a few exceptions. When Randolph saw its historic 59-game unbeaten streak snapped at Union in 1991, don’t you think that deserves a mention? You better believe it – and I wrote it, of course. 

I also wrote about Lenape Valley (1992), Delbarton (2001, 2024) Morristown (2002), and Randolph (1994) – teams that lost in a sectional final but those were no ordinary losses. You’ll have to read them to see what I mean.

4. I’m only interested in titles won on the field. I believe Hackettstown won 16 titles off the field before winning one on the field in 1981. I’m not interested in those earlier years … yet. Perhaps I’ll go back, investigate, and get back to you all on that one. 

So strap in. This is mammoth and I think you’re gonna like it.

One of the fun things about doing this is the enormous amount of trivia. Here are some interesting questions that will be answered in the coming weeks:

1. What coach didn’t permit his team to practice at Giants Stadium or MetLife leading up to a sectional championship game? His reasoning made perfect sense – and one of the reasons why he was an exceptional coach. Oh, he was 4-0 at Giants Stadium-MetLife.

2. Has a Morris team ever won a state championship despite being at or under .500 entering the playoffs? Yup. Talk about hitting your stride at the right time.

3. How many teams have Morris-Sussex schools defeated that are no longer open? I counted six. Who beat them? And who were those schools that closed? Fascinating stuff, but there is a pattern to the school closures.

4. Have two Morris teams ever faced off in a sectional final – after having played in the regular season? Oh yes.

5. Have two Sussex teams ever faced off in a sectional final? Yup, three times, in fact.

6. What Sussex school played the same Bergen school three straight seasons for a sectional championship? The Sussex team finished 2-1 in those games. All three games were epic. And the better team lost each game, the coach of the Sussex team once told me.

7. What Morris school played the same opponent for three straight years with a sectional title on the line?

8. Who was the final SCIL team to have played a game? 

9. Which was the Morris team to have played the final high school at Giants Stadium – and the first high school game at MetLife?

I already gave you the answer to a great trivia question: What three seasons didn’t have any sectional champions in Morris-Sussex? Answers: 1985, 2005, 2006.

So here goes, the first of five parts.

1980

Two area teams won titles: One (Sparta) is seemingly always in the hunt and the other (Whippany Park) had its best year ever. To me, a school like Whippany winning a sectional title automatically gets everyone’s attention. 

Back in my newspaper days, I had a rule when picking winners of games: In a big game, always pick tradition over the up-and-coming team. But in 1980, my theory was proven wrong when upstart Whippany Park won its only state championship with a 10-9 win over three-time defending sectional champion Madison. Wildcats D-Linemen Jim Bell, John Torkos, and Tom Paganus combined to sack Madison QB Jeff Lucht seven times. 

On the game’s final play, Whippany’s Dan DiPrimo tipped a 39-yard field attempt by Madison’s Mike Mantone, ending the Dodgers streak. Madison had a 38-game winning streak snapped by Summit earlier in the year. 

In Sussex County, Sparta won its second straight title in North 1, Group II when Sussex County sprint champion Paul Maassen scored a 28-yard touchdown for a 13-7 double-overtime win over Saddle Brook. Amazingly enough, Spartans coach Ron Earl said that his team was exhausted and Sparta was simply trying to get into field goal range at the end of the game.

1986

Jefferson made the state playoffs for the first time ever and made it count. John Cinotti’s Falcons knocked off Dover, 26-14, thanks to the work of workhorse Mike Bencivengo (27 for 138, 3 TDs). Cinotti’s team escaped Hackettstown in the first round (four teams qualified back in those days) in a 7-3 win and he was determined to open up the offense (and he did) … but it was nice to run the ball with Bencivengo.

Something special was beginning in Randolph. The Rams, known for their wide-open passing game, used a staunch defense to beat Summit, 12-7. So what made this significant? Well, it would be the first of five sectional championships for Randolph, culminating with their wild, Hollywood-like win at Montclair to win the fifth championship (I think that 1990 season has a chance to make my list of top seasons!). In Randolph’s win over Summit, star QB Matt Nardolillo threw four INTs but rushed for 98 yards and a 2-yard touchdown pass to Dan Bierals for the go-ahead score early in the fourth quarter. John Rago and Tony Moschella were two of the Rams defensive headliners. 

2001

Two incredibly wild finishes took place on the same afternoon. In Hopatcong, the Chiefs found themselves trailing Mahwah in the second quarter, 28-7. But Paul Reduzzi’s team went on a run for the ages, capped by Dan McNamara’s 35-yard field goal in the closing seconds to win the first state title in school history. Chiefs QB Jerry Venturino, who’d go on to become an outstanding coach (he would win an unlikely championship for Jefferson  in his own right … think that year made my list?), threw three INTs early but then found his footing. Once he did, he was unstoppable, going 24 for 44 for 392 yards and 3 TDs for the game.  

Meanwhile, in Long Valley, West Morris had an incredible finish to its game, capped by QB Keith Allan’s two-point conversion run to beat Mendham, 15-14. Did he score or didn’t he? That was the question after the play was completed. Mendham swore that Allan never touched the pylon but the Wolfpack insisted that he did – and the referees agreed. Allan was hit once, spun around and was whacked again before stretching out his 6-foot-1 frame for the score to beat his sister school for coach Kevin Hennelly.

I want to keep this story limited to winning teams, but Delbarton’s 10-9 loss to Bergen Catholic is worthy of mention. The Green Wave missed an extra point and BC won it when kicker Chris Hanly booted a 45-yard FG into the wind – and the kick barely scraped over the goal post at Rutgers. Some longtime Delbarton observers believe this was the best Green Wave team of all and they might be right. 

2002

Thanks to a blizzard on the Thursday leading up to the 2002 championship weekend,  playoffs were postponed until 1-2 days later – except at Mount Olive High School, where the township’s Parks, Building and Grounds Dept. spent the entire day shoveling the foot of snow off the playing surface. Anyone who had a shovel in the entire Mount Olive community helped out. That made the Mount Olive-Jefferson championship game literally the only game played in New Jersey on that Friday night.

When a longtime losing program comes out of nowhere to win a section, I’m all in. Nothing can compare with that kind of story and that is what happened to Mount Olive in 2002. Jimm Kramer’s Marauders were 2-18 in the previous two seasons combined (Olive was forever rebuilding) but this time, they ripped off 11 wins in a row after losing their opener. Their season was punctuated by a 14-13 victory where Jefferson missed the extra point in the fourth quarter, which would have tied the game. 

The next day, Mountain Lakes won its first sectional championship in 26 years by beating neighboring Boonton, 23-6. No school treats its history quite like the Herd, whose legendary coach Doug Wilkins had 45 former Herdsmen – many from the 1976 state championship squad – come in and talk to the 2002 squad leading up to the game. Few schools treasure their football history quite like Mountain Lakes, which won thanks to the all-around play of Paul Chiara, one of the school’s very best players ever. He rushed for 60 yards and a TD and threw a 59-yard option pass to set up another score.

The following day (Sunday), Morristown drove downfield in its first possession (five plays, 70 yards) and scored when Javar Parks went in from 36 yards. But that was all she wrote as Montclair rode the running of Alvin Bowen (36 for 193 rushing) to a 12-7 win. Bowen was a man amongst boys.

That night, on one of the coldest, windiest evenings ever, Pope John overwhelmed Queen of Peace (Lyndhurst) to win Parochial Group II, 41-12. Several tidbits from that game: 1. Lions running back Ryan Pepe was 33 for 213 rushing with four TDs and fell 15 yards shy of Hank Trogani’s then-school record for rushing yards (2,070 yards … since topped by Tylik Hill’s 2,336 yards set two years ago (when he was Big State Sports’ Player of the Year). 2. It came against Ralph Borgess, who coached Pope John coach Vic Paternostro when he played at QP. 3. It was the last time the Lions would ever win a state championship. They moved up to Group III and could never get over the hump. 4. Pope John’s field was unplayable, so the game was played at Mount Olive High School.

2008

The campaign ended a two-year drought and had a great conclusion thanks to Jefferson and Mountain Lakes.

The Falcons defense was incredible as the season drew to a close and the team upended River Dell in the state semifinals, 19-7, and West Essex in the finals at Rutgers, 21-7. The coach was Joe Mattesich, who began his coaching career in a Bergen County prison, of all places. Don’t get the wrong idea, Joe worked there. Three reasons why those wins were pretty monumental: 1. It was the first time in New Jersey since 1997 that a team had beaten not one but two undefeated teams in the state playoffs. 2. Both teams were defending sectional champions and the Falcons beating both on the way to the state championship is believed to have been a first. 3. The Falcons were the final SCIL team to have played a game (the NJAC began the following year). 

The Falcons were led by two standouts all year (and in the playoffs) in two-way players Ryan McCarney and Kevin Murphy.

Meanwhile, at Giants Stadium, Mountain Lakes finished the year a perfect 12-0 – thanks to playing a perfect second half on the way to beating Glen Rock, 35-21. The game was tied at half, 14-14, so coach Wilkins decided to switch out of the Wing T to what they called their Bison Formation, where the Herd used two wideouts, two slot backs and halfback. It worked beautifully as backs Greg DeLuca and Nick Lobiondo combined to go 14 for 239 rushing in the second half.

2010

The NJSIAA scheduled Randolph and Morristown back-to-back at MetLife Stadium and the Morris County schools didn’t disappoint by scoring impressive victories.

Randolph, known for its high-octane passing attack down through the years, won it with defense, mixing up its defensive looks and picking off five Montclair passes on the way to a 19-0 win for coach Joe Lusardi for the school’s first title in 20 years when it beat … Montclair in the epic Miracle in Montclair. Rams QB Chris Westenhiser connected with receivers Mike Rampone and Mike Mastrangelo for touchdowns and running one himself.

Morristown, meanwhile, overwhelmed Nutley, 40-6, as bellcow RB Kevin Gaskins rushed 30 times for 308 yards to lead the Cinderella Colonials. Yes, Cinderella Colonials. Coach Chris Hull’s team was blown out by West Morris in late October, 34-14, to fall to 4-4 at the state eight-game cutoff. But less than a month later, Morristown turned the tables on West Morris and scored a stunning 14-7 road win.

The wins were nice for both Lusardi and Hull. All year long, no two coaches were more maligned on nj.com’s (stupid) fan page, where anonymous (stupid) trolls could say anything (stupid) they want about anyone. The two coaches may have said they didn’t read that stuff (Lusardi wasn’t exactly a computer whiz) but they had to have known what was being said. So I was glad for them.

Meanwhile, at Kean, Madison began one of the best runs of football a Morris County team has ever had, beating Caldwell to finish 12-0. QB Matt McHale, who started his career at Seton Hall Prep, had two rushing TDs and eventual Daily Record two-time Player of the Year Justin Goodwin scored one, but the biggest touchdown of the night for coach Chris Kubik’s club was Aaron Fant’s 95-yard kickoff return that answered a Caldwell touchdown in the third quarter. Madison had held a 21-0 lead at half but Caldwell drove downfield and scored to make it 21-7 before Fant’s heroics. The Dodgers would go on to post three straight 12-0 sectional championship seasons under Kubik, who retired after his 19th season last fall. 

1979

Madison won its 34th straight game under legendary Ted Monica after it beat New Providence to win its third straight sectional championship. His son Mark booted two field goals to give him eight for the season, tying the state record at the time. It was Ted Monica’s sixth undefeated season as coach. An interesting tidbit: Madison finished first in The Star-Ledger’s final Top 20 in 1979, which is quite remarkable for a small school. 

In addition, there were two schools from Sparta that won sectional championships. Jim Beach, one of the many outstanding Beach brothers to go through Pope John, rushed for 187 yards and two TDs to lead the Lions to a 28-6 win over Montclair Immaculate. Two years earlier, Immaculate had beaten Vic Paternostro’s club in overtime, 17-14.

Meanwhile, Brad Winfree’s 70-yard punt return for a touchdown was the decisive play in the Spartans 14-7 win over Garfield.  

NEXT WEEK: A future NFL player leads a Morris team to a sectional championship.

HERE AND THERE

1. Roxbury scored a nice 28-20 win over Morris Knolls in a matchup of two of the county’s heavyweights. Roxbury D-Linemen Matthew Donnelly and Ian McMahon were a handful up front. These two might meet again down the road, if you catch my drift. Both appear playoff worthy.
2. It is interesting to see the groupings for the postseason. I’ll get into who the favorites are as the season moves along. West Morris, which is in Group III, was a mere handful of students away from being a Group II. Group IV Roxbury, meanwhile, was about 10 students away from being back in Group III.
3. West Morris coach Kevin Hennelly became the school’s all-time winningest coach after the Wolfpack’s 42-0 win over Morristown. Hennelly, in his 26th season, passed legendary Pete Piccirillo. 
4. If you missed my season preview on Dan Cleary’s podcast, it can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0SfN1TnQRA 
5. One of the big surprises in the early going was Morris Hills’ 28-18 victory over Warren Hills in the SFC-Liberty Blue. The Scarlet Knights and Roxbury are 2-0 and tied for first. Is Morris Hills for real? We’ll find out more Thursday night, when coach Bruce Campbdell hosts the Gaels.
6. Another big game to keep an eye on Thursday night is when Passaic Valley hosts Montville in the Liberty Gold. 
7. Yet another game with some juice Thursday night: Par Hills makes the trek across town to Parsippany, which is 2-0 and off to its first 2-0 start since 2003.