When Par Hills was finished practicing at MetLife Stadium for its state playoff game against Wayne Hills back in 2005, coach Dave Albano and his Vikings were greeted by a group of monstrous football players ready for their turn on the field.
Albano thought it was the Giants.
It was Montclair – the same Mounties who’d be preparing for their state championship game against Morris Knolls.
How good was that Knolls team? Well, coach Bill Regan’s team beat Montclair a day or so later, 21-6. The Golden Eagles had the ball for almost two-thirds of the game.
“I couldn’t believe what Knolls did to them,” Albano said.
Knolls wound up being my No. 1 team in Hofmann’s All-Quarter Century look back at Morris-Sussex football since 2000.
The Golden Eagles’ performance against what had been a powerful Montclair team gives you a glimpse of just how great that Knolls team was.
Albano’s observation of how physically imposing Montclair looked the day before was just one anecdote I learned after putting my five-part football series about Morris-Sussex football 2000-2025 to bed.
I’d never heard that story about how impressive and ferocious Montclair looked.
Before that game, I strongly believed Knolls would beat Montclair because of the intricacies of Regan’s Veer triple-option running attack. When Knolls was at peak efficiency, out-of-area teams rarely stopped it. That is exactly what happened that afternoon.
But, as I found out later, not many others thought Knolls would beat Montclair. But the Mounties couldn’t handle Tommy Hennessy, Brigham Farrand, and Co.
I came across that little tidbit, as well as many, many others, while researching my wide-ranging series for BigStateSports.com.
Oh, the memories!
For the last few months, I have raged many, many debates to myself: Who were the best teams since 2000? The best offensive players? Best defensive players?
Over the years, I’d spent literally hundreds and hundreds of hours on sidelines, in the Daily Record newsroom, or on my cell phone talking to coaches, ADs and players.
Those are all published on the website, but I uncovered a whole lot of similar anecdotes and interesting tidbits I’d like to share in this notes column.
Here are a few:
1. It’s funny how things work out in high school football. When Jefferson fell just short of winning a sectional championship against Mount Olive in 2002, two of the little kids rooting for the Falcons that freezing cold night – Gavin McCarney and Kevin Murphy – would lead their school across the finish line seven years later. Jefferson beat West Essex in the 2008 sectional finals at Rutgers and, when the Falcons returned, there was a massive gathering at the school’s field. The Falcons coach, Joe Mattesich, was an interesting guy who began his coaching career at a Bergen County prison, of all places. That began Mattesich’s coaching odyssey with Bergen County coach Babe Mongilia (Palisades Park, Cliffside Park) before coming out west (West Milford, Vernon, Jefferson).
2. When Madison returned after hammering Summit to win a second straight sectional crown in 2011, the team’s buses made their way past the Nautilus Diner on Route 124. When word got out in the diner that Chris Kubik’s Dodgers had won the championship and finished 12-0 for the second straight year (a third straight 12-0 was coming the following year), everyone rose up from their seats at the diner and gave the team a standing ovation.
After West Morris walloped Cranford to win the Group III Regional championship at Metlife, the Wolfpack buses were greeted by the police and received an escort down Route 206 before returning to school.
3. Some schools had many, many candidates capable of cracking Hofmann’s Quarter Century Top 20. Before I give you some of them, remember my first ground rule regarding selecting the Top 20: Once I name a team, they are out of the running. Morris Knolls (2005) was my No. 1, so the Golden Eagles were scratched off my list of candidates. West Morris (2021) was No. 2, and the Wolfpack were no longer in the mix. So if you’re looking for Delbarton (2020), which might have been the best team in New Jersey, that is why. That season was not only ruined by Covid, but by many paranoid administrators at many schools who panicked. The Covid risk factors of teenagers playing football outdoors was infinitismal. The 2020 underclassmen at least had a chance to return to the field the following year. The senior football players from that 2020 season were seriously deprived of something they’ll never get back.
4. Pequannock (2000) was a fascinating team. Cosmo Lorusso’s Golden Panthers were a team for the ages the previous season, one of the very best in Morris County history (seven D-1AA players). The 2000 team lost all of the stars from the year before and wound up losing its first two games but wound up winning the rest of its games en route to winning its second straight championship. Lorusso was a well-deserving Coach of the Year that year.
5. Montville (2003) almost made the list. The Mustangs finished 9-2 that year and reached the sectional semifinals before losing a heartbreaking 14-10 decision to eventual champion Sparta. Sparta’s Ryan Lindsley was told to get out of bounds by Sparta coach Pat Shea after making a catch, but Lindsley wound up running into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 11 seconds left in the game to win it for the Spartans, who’d beat Dover at Giants Stadium two weeks later for the sectional crown. What do I remember most about that Sparta-Montville game? I wanted to get Montville coach Gerry Gallagher’s take after the game. Common courtesy: Wait until after the coach is finished addressing his team before asking him questions. Before speaking to Gallagher, I watched him give his team one of the most passionate, heart-felt addresses I have ever heard a coach give. Very moving. It is no wonder his passing this summer was felt by many, many people.
6. Newton (2022) was a terrific team that I thought could have made my list, but coach Matt Parzero opted for the 2017 club that was an undefeated state champion. In most other years, the 2022 Braves team would have been a state champion were it not for a Caldwell team that was worthy of the Top 20 in New Jersey at season’s end. Caldwell obliterated Newton in the 2022 playoffs, 35-7. “Theyh did to us what we did to everyone else,” Parzero told me. That Newton team rushed for almost 4,000 yards with the incredible tandem of running backs Brayden Nolan (1,515 yards, 15 TDs) and Thaylor Sibblies (1,234 yards, 14 TDs).
7. Roxbury (2012) was nosed out of a spot in my Top 20 by the Gaels from 2009. Roxbury from 2012 was a shade below 2009 but managed to surprise what was thought to be a highly regarded Pascack Valley team at Kean, 14-6. What made Cosmo Lorusso’s team’s victory so amazing was that the Gaels recovered a PV fumble inside the Roxbury 5 with about seven minutes left in the game. The team proceeded to string together five straight first downs and never allowed the Bergen County school to get the ball back.
8. Morris Hills (2017) was a sectional champion, winning its final five games and beating Parf Hills for the sectional title. That team featured QB Daymon Fleming, who wound up being my Player of the Year for the Daily Record. But was that team the best this century at the school? Coach Mike Sabo opted for 2020, when the Scarlet Knights were on their way to an historic season before it was abruptly cancelled.
9. Randolph (2010) was an easy call because that was the school’s lone championship this quarter century. But let’s not forget Will Nahan’s Rams of 2022, when they reached the sectional before losing to powerful North Hunterdon, 49-35. QB Sean Clark threw for 2,142 yards and 28 TDs. Interestingly, he completed passes to 13 different receivers that year.
10. Mount Olive of 2002 got the nod over Mount Olive 2017 in a photo finish. The Marauders of 2002 had several interesting nuggets. The year before, coach Jimm Kramer’s team (yes, he actually spelled Jim with two Ms) won its first two games to open the year and then lost eight straight to close out the year. During that losing streak, Kramer sat down and pondered whether he was cut out for coaching or not. Then, he decided to stick with it. At the team’s banquet that year, he told the crowd that he guaranteed eight wins the following year. He was off by two: The team lost its opener to Mendham and then won every single game the rest of the season, culminating with a sectional championship.
The 2017 team, meanwhile, was led by Liam Anderson and incredible high school player now with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
11. During the 2006 season, I was recovering from knee surgery and spent some of the year covering games from the bleachers. I found most fans to be reasonable, but some were ridiculous in their criticism of coaches. I can recall sitting in the Knolls bleachers that year (mind you, this was one year after Bill Regan guided the team to a 12-0 season and what turned out to be the best team in this century). Knolls lost a lot to graduation and wound up being a very ordinary team the next year, but I remember some parents being critical of Regan and wondering why the Golden Eagles weren’t passing more. A few moments later, the parents got their answer when Knolls’ QB threw an interception.
12. I contemplated whether or not to include Morristown-Beard (2007) but chose not to. The Crimson did have Boston College-bound Colin Larmond (my Daily Record Player of the Year that year) and reached the state finals in Parochial B before losing to Paterson Catholic in the finals at Giants Stadium, 28-7. That Crimson team was 6-5 under coach Steve Romano, but there were several bad blowout losses. I chose to not include them.
