Joe Hofmann Notes Column: What a Wild Finish to These Seasons

The 1990 season may well have been the biggest climax to any in Morris and Sussex County history

What a way to end a season!

To those of you old enough to remember, Randolph 22, Montclair 21 to win North 2, Group IV needs no explanation. 

If you’re too young, go watch the final minutes on YouTube – but only after you read this. 

You’re welcome.

Randolph came into its game against Montclair set apart from any team in my 42 years of covering high school football. Why do I say that? Because the long winning streak caused many, many, fans to simply call the Daily Record office, asking if Randolph had won. 

No team in any sport had that kind of aura, before or since – and never will.  

On to what happened: Randolph’s Mike Groh booted a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rams their fifth straight sectional championship. The win broke Westfield’s record of 48 straight victories. But that only begins to explain the Hollywood-type movie this Randolph season could be made from.

On Nov. 14, Randolph’s beloved veteran coach John Bauer, Sr., died. The Rams, coached by John Bauer, Jr., went on to beat Union in the first round of the state playoffs, 6-0. 

Then against Montclair, they appeared destined for defeat when RB Justin Malinchak fumbled a pitch at the Montclair 22 with 1:30 left and Montclair ahead, 21-19. 

Then the fun began. Montclair QB Lamont Ponton took a knee three times, losing 8 yards to the Rams 14. The scoreboard clock at Montclair’s Woodman Field got down to five seconds and Mounties fans charged onto the field, thinking the game was over. The gutty officials cleared the fans off the field.

Montclair had to punt near its own end zone. 

On fourth down, with five seconds left, Ponton punted into the wind and Randolph’s Billy Williams caught the ball at the Randolph 20 before falling down – stopping the clock with one tick left.

Out came Groh, who calmly nailed a 37-yard field goal. Onlookers swore the ball did a strange dance before making its way over the crossbar – almost as if Old Man Bauer willed it over the goal post.

And now it was Randolph’s fans storming the field.

Said Montclair coach Jack Davies afterward, “You hate to think The Lord is involved in football decisions, but …”

Randolph’s wasn’t the only Morris team to perform a miracle. Down in New Providence, Butler QB Craig Eisenhart threw a 95-yard bomb to Khris Buntzen with a minute or so left and Bob Jones’ Bulldogs, trailing 13-12, went on to score a stunning 19-13 victory to win North 2, Group 1. 

The pass was underthrown and Buntzen outleaped two defenders, grabbed the ball, and sprinted to the end zone for the first of Jones’ five titles. Eisenhart threw three INTs that afternoon but completed the one pass that mattered most. Buntzen’s ensuing INT a short time later killed any chance that New Providence had of coming back. 

Oh yes, the Pioneers came into the game with a 31-game winning streak.

Lenape Valley, just 6-3-2, came roaring back to beat Lodi for the second straight year in a classic, 18-17. Don Smolyn’s Patriots scored 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. 

Things did not look good for Lenape early in the fourth. Lodi received a Lenape punt and immediately gave the ball to bellcow running back Johnny Murphy (35 for 194 rushing), who fumbled the ball away. Lenape recovered and soon scored. 

Then Lodi, which had dominated time of possession all game long, suddenly couldn’t move the ball and went three-and-out. The Rams then got off a short punt and the Patriots had the ball at the Lodi 21. Then, on fourth-and-3, Lenape QB Steve Baisley was hit as he threw but completed a touchdown pass to his brother Steve, who outleaped three Lodi defenders with 3:43 left in the game. 

Lodi then drove downfield to the Lenape 30 before Patriot defender Kevin Fleming hit QB Vincent DiChiara for a loss on fourth down, sealing the dramatic comeback win.  

Hanover Park, meanwhile, picked the wrong year to have its best season ever. The Hornets finished 11-0 after crushing an ultra-talented Roselle club in the North 2, Group II final, 51-14. Frank Franco passed for 167 yards and rushed for twoTDs. Coach Tony Sorrentino’s team overwhelmed every school in its path on the way to winning the section. In many other seasons, this Hornets team would have been the best in the area, but with Randolph around … that just wasn’t possible this season.

Pope John beat DePaul, 21-14, behind the running of Matt Petronzio (177 yards), Bobby Beach (117 yards, 1 TD) and Mike Johnston (2 TDs) to win Parochial B.

1981

Hackettstown had won 16 titles back in the day, but none of them were settled on the field (all of them before 1974). 

This time, the Tigers used their terrific defense to beat Springfield, 7-6, and got a chance to celebrate on the field. 

Springfield ran the option to eight wins but couldn’t move the ball against Tigers coach Ron Griffith’s team. The key to the game? The Tigers made their extra point (thanks to kicker Rich Middlebrook). Springfield’s PAT attempt failed because of a high snap. Holder Dan Ambrose then threw an incomplete pass. 

Hackettstown’s offense was led by RB Ray Bosques (24 for 101), who took a pitch and went in (following a Middlebrook block).

Hackettstown was motivated in part by its 15-0 loss to Whippany Park the previous year. The team vowed to come back to the playoffs and win it this time and they did.

Lenape Valley beat Tenafly, 7-6, but this game carries some weight in both 3towns because of what the Patriots were able to do.

Coach Don Smolyn’s team used a little trickery to pull it off. Lenape had the lead and had a fourth down on the Tenafly 45 with three minutes left in the game. 

Lenape QB Mike Lanberto lined up behind center and then dropped back in the pocket without the ball. Tenafly jumped offsides and, after the referees talked it over, they agreed that the play was legit. 

First down, Lenape Valley.

State champion, Lenape Valley. 

Angry coach, Tenafly.

“It was a little trick we worked on,” Patriots coach Don Smolyn wryly. 

Tenafly coach Joe Spilewski, meanwhile, wasn’t amused, calling it “unsportsmanlike.” 

1984

Chatham Boro won the only sectional title in the town’s history when the Eskies beat New Providence, 20-14, to win North 2, Group I. Boro lost its opener to Bayley-Ellard but then reeled off 10 straight wins to take the title. Workhorse RB Chris Sheppard was 29 for 213 rushing and Joe Cataldo had a big interception. Another Chatham hero was Don Almgren, who booted two first half field goals.

Dover won the first on-field title in its history when it overcame a 14-0 early deficit and beat Warren Hills, 26-17. Keith Smith was a one-man gang for the Tigers, scoring an 84-yard kickoff return, ran in a 16-yard touchdown, and recovered a Streaks fumble in the end zone.

1991

Lenape Valley, Pope John, and West Morris won titles, but Randolph’s then-state-record 59-game unbeaten streak was ended by Union, 24-14. The Rams had Union completely bewildered and befuddled in the first half on the way to a 14-0 halftime lead. But Union adjusted and shut down the Rams. 

How unheard-of was Randolph losing back in those days? 

Here’s the lede to my column after covering that day: 

“Rivers flowed uphill yesterday. 

The sun rose in the West and set in the East. 

Earth moved off its axis.

Randolph lost a football game.”

The day was a lot happier for West Morris, which beat Nutley, 14-0. The two were scoreless at the half, but West Morris coach Pete Piccirillo said afterwards, “I just felt like we would take over.” 

That they did, pushing a bigger Nutley team off the ball behind the running of Tobin Barkman (20-78), who was given the ball eight straight times during one scoring drive, including a 17-yard screen pass. 

The Wolfpack were outweighed up front, but Piccirillo said at the half, “Let’s just go after ‘em.”

For the second straight year, Lenape Valley beat Lodi in a classic championship game, 28-27. Lenape won in overtime when Lodi’s Anthony DeSimone missed an extra point (Lenape’s Brian Kreher made his). 

Two of the heroes for the Patriots had checkered seasons but came up big in the clutch.

Michael Josephs (2 TDs) transferred in from Lake Placid High (NY). He started out the year low on the depth chart but he caught the eye of coach Don Smolyn, who wound up trusting the kid in a championship game. Another key player was Chris Whitmore (2 TDs), who missed much of the year with a broken collar bone but had two TD catches of 54 and 20 yards from QB Steve Baisley.

Pope John, meanwhile, built up a 35-0 halftime lead over Marist and won by that score for its then-record sixth straight title for Vic Paternostro. RB Mike Johnston rushed for 133 yards and two TDs (over 3,000 during his career) and Matt Petronzio (146 yards, 2 TDs) also had a big day for the Lions.

1992

Dover went 11-0 and had its way with Summit, 22-0. This edition of the Tigers was arguably the best team in school history and one of the best in Morris County in the last 40 years or so. 

Dover rushed for 362 yards, with Jessie Williams (21 for 163, TD), Phil C3onley (19 for 139, TD) and Mike White (44-yard TD) doing much of the damage for coach Jerry Tardive. 

Summit was very unique and gave teams fits by running the antiquated Single-Wing but the Tigers kept the Hilltoppers off the scoreboard. Kudos to Summit coach Jim Benedict, the coach who stuck his neck out by going with an old-time offense. If it fails, he looks really bad. But he got Summit to a final (Summit won it all the next year)..

Here’s another exception to my rule of not writing about losing local teams in sectional finals in this series. Lenape Valley, after beating Lodi in back-to-back nailbiters, dropped a 7-6 decision to Lodi this time. Lodi PK Anthony DeSimone, who missed the critical extra point in OT the year before, made his this time. Lenape missed their extra point. 

Coach Don Smolyn’s team took the opening kickoff and went 16 plays, 85 yards and took almost nine minutes off the clock before Tom Marks went in from the 4. That was it. 

In the fourth quarter, the Patriots drove down to the Lodi 3 but was stopped for no gain on a quarterback sneak.

1996

Two-time defending champion Butler began the year losing its first two games and some nutty sports writer (it wasn’t me!) said that the Bulldogs were “pretenders,” not contenders (I was always a little uncomfortable writing about high school kids that way). 

But the Bulldogs overcame the early-season slump and wound up beating New Providence, 16-8. QB Scott Brown threw 35 TD passes but none on this day. Instead, the Bulldogs relied on a terrific defense. So you think Butler was all about running and shooting and outscoring opponents? Not in this game. 

Believe it or not, the Bulldogs had a sign in their locker room that read, “Defense wins championships.” The game was played in a steady, day-long rain (long, long before turf fields became the norm).

 According to one player, the field consisted of one inch of water and three inches of mud. Butler’s Mike Micholas said, “Just standing on the field was hard.”

Meanwhile, Bill Regan and Morris Knolls made it three straight sectional championships in a row (all at Giants Stadium) when the Golden Eagles literally ran all over Shabazz, 36-20. 

How lopsided was the first half? Knolls ran 37 first-half plays. Shabazz? They ran 13. 

Knolls rushed 60 times for 361 yards and didn’t attempt a pass. QB J.R. San Julien was 11 for 64 rushing with two TDs, Dave Benfatti was 25 for 158 and Bryan Pojanowski was 24 for 149 with two TDs. 

Interestingly, security guards guarded Knolls’ Gatorade bucket. They didn’t want the players drowning Regan in it because the guards claimed it stained the Giants Stadium carpet. Oy vey.

Imagine them stopping Harry Carson dropping the Gatorade on Bill Parcells! 

Dover completed an 11-0 season when it ran all over Mendham, 37-7, at Giants Stadium for coach Gary Zakovic. A year earlier, the Tigers won their first five games and then the wheels fell off. The returning players vowed to never let that happen again. They didn’t. 

The stars against Mendham were Mark Jennings (2 TDs), Duray Taylor (1 TD), and Chris Franco (1 TD).

Who is the best running back in Pope John history? That’s a great question. Hank Trogani, all 5-6, 170 pounds of him, is in the conversation and DePaul wouldn’t have argued on the night after Trogani was 33 for 170 rushing in Pope John’s 14-7 win.

After the game, Vic Paternostro called the Lions defense the best he has coached at the school. 

2004

West Morris concluded a wild season by beating sister school and previously undefeated Mendham in the sectional final, 10-7. The Wolfpack lost to Knolls in the final game before the playoffs and began the postseason with a 4-5 record. 

But the defense stepped up when it had to in the final. Mendham running backs Marcel VanEeden (2 carries, 104 yards) and Cody Laferriere (22 for 100) had big games but coach Kevin Hennelly’s team bent but did not break. A late Mike Critchley INT capped the win off for West Morris. 

The team went through a silly racial incident and that distraction – blown out of proportion by the media being the media – took the focus off football. At one point, the focus at West Morris wasn’t on winning a sectional championship but winning a single game. 

2025

Two usual suspects – Butler and West Morris – came away with sectional titles. 

Jason Luciani’s Bulldogs won their second straight NJIC and Section 1, Group I championship.

In 2024, QB David Smith had a terrific season passing the ball (25 TDs, 2 INTs) but he became a fearsome runner in 2025 – especially in the playoffs. He rushed for 1,000 yards in the playoffs alone and ran away with Big State Sports Player of the Year. 

Butler QB greats of season’s past – namely Scott Brown (three titles from 1995-97) and Dan Madine (1994) did it with the Run and Shoot. Brown did it with his legs.

In the sectional final, he was 24-for-213 rushing with two TDS in a 28-14 win over Kinnelon to win the section. 

Smith was 231 for 1,875 and 30 touchdowns rushing during the season. He also threw the ball effectively, going 90 for 144 for 1,284 yards and another 16 TDs as the team won its 10 sectional championship.

For his career, he fell just shy of 5,000 rushing and passing for a combined 76 touchdowns.

He is in the conversation for best quarterback ever – if not the best – at Butler.

The Wolfpack, meanwhile, dominated Summit and came away with a 35-14 victory in North 2, Group III. The visiting Hilltoppers packed the box but that didn’t stop Kevin Hennelly’s team, which was 48 for 356 rushing. RB Deacon Frayne was 23 for 178 yards and two TDs and Mike Finlay was 10 for 130 with two TDs.

I remember Wolfpack lineman A.J. Codella told me that winning the section was great, but so was hearing the complements from the Summit linemen.

“A couple of kids said that we were legit and the real deal. That means so much,” he said.  

The team rushed for more than 3,600 yards and scored 49 touchdowns rushing. Not bad for a club whose backfield was in flux the summer leading into the season. But the program always finds a way and West Morris did with the likes of Frayne (1,423 yards, 17 touchdowns), Finlay (943 yards, 14 TDs) and Brody Mansolino (700 yards, 7 TDs).

Frayne had maybe the best sophomore season a running back at the school has ever had. Stefano Montella, who made my All-20th Century team, didn’t start at running back until his junior year. Frayne now has a chance to top Montella’s school record of 4,296 yards and 50 TDs.

Next week: Back in 1974, the NJSIAA chose which teams played in the playoffs – and which teams didn’t. 1974 was great for Morristown, not-so-great for other teams.