Questions … so many questions.
Which teams will win their divisions in the Morris-Sussex area in 2025? We don’t know yet, but we began gathering clues last week, when games got underway. Divisional races are about to take shape.
Some of the many issues:
Can Mendham rip through the SFC-Liberty Blue once again?
Will Morris Knolls go undefeated in the Liberty White?
Can Delbarton topple DePaul and the rest of the SFC-White again?
Can Newton once again wrestle the American Blue away from High Point?
Does Hanover Park have what it takes to sweep through the American White one more time? Can Boonton hold off Wallkill Valley again in the National Blue?
Can Sparta withstand some of the challengers in the Patriot Red?
Can Butler make another run at the NJIC-Meadowlands?
We can already begin to make some educated guesses.
Here is a quick division-by-division rundown:
LIBERTY BLUE-Montville made a major statement with a 38-22 victory over Sparta in a game that had all of the trappings of a playoff game last week. The Mustangs then went out and trounced Warren Hills (38-13) and are for real. This division should come down to the wire with Montville and Chatham. Morris Hills has a terrific crop of sophomores and will be heard from.
LIBERTY WHITE-Morris Knolls stopped a West Morris two-point conversion on opening night last year and went on to go undefeated in the league. But West Morris looked imposing a 41-31 victory Saturday. Those two teams are the co-favorites and at the top of the league again. Watch out for Mount Olive. Roxbury has a very talented group of sophomores. Morristown dropped a 14-11 decision to a Summit team that is supposed to be strong this year, so that loss bodes well for the Colonials. The Colonials went out and beat Randolph, 24-14.
UNITED WHITE-DePaul looked overpowering in a 31-3 victory over Pope John, and Delbarton went out to Ohio and lost a 48-28 decision to powerful St. Edwards. The Green Wave lost to Malverne Prep, 29-0. St. Peter’s Prep and Seton Hall are never an easy out.
AMERICAN BLUE-Newton finished tied with High Point but won the unofficial league title with a wild 36-32 victory over the Wildcats last year. The Wildcats don’t return QB John Elko but they do have Jerron Martress, the runaway best running back in Morris-Sussex. Newton counters with running back-linebacker Nick Kurilko, arguably the best two-way player in Sussex County. Kittatinny has a lot back from last year and is a sleeper in the league.
AMERICAN WHITE-Hanover Park had its best season in over 40 years and came away with the division title but lost a great senior class. The Hornets beat Madison Friday night, 33-19, and figure to be contenders in the league with Madison and Mountain Lakes.
NATIONAL BLUE-Boonton graduated a lot but will turn to two talented freshmen in quarterback Daniel Coutts and running back Hasan Cherry. Both will keep their running game percolating and the team can throw it a little this year. Wallkill Valley, like last year, is the other contender. Whippany Park is much improved. Wildcats coach Greg Gruzdis turned around Waldwick and reached two sectional finals there. Kinnelon, which opened a lot of eyes with a 20-12 win at Lenape Valley, followed that up with a 22-20 win over Verona.
PATRIOT RED-Sparta may have dropped its opener at Montville but the Spartans figure to put up a lot of points and that will be enough to withstand all challengers in the Patriot Red. They went out and moved the ball up and down the field in a 34-7 win against Lakeland. QB Shane Hoover and able pass catchers such as RB Brady Shagawat, TE Stone Herbison and WR Christian Brevig. Lakeland and West Milford should be in the thick of things but don’t have Sparta’s firepower.
NJIC-MEADOWLANDS-The Bulldogs had one of the best teams in school history – which is saying something at a football-rich school – and Butler brings back quarterback David Smith. Butler opened with a 27-6 win over Becton and will be a handful once again.
PRESEASON ALL-AREA
The Morris-Sussex area is as talented as always, so I figured I’d come up with a preseason All-Area team.
OFFENSE
QB-Shane Hoover (Sparta)
RB-Jerron Martress (High Point)
RB-Matt Tufari (Delbarton)
RB-Carson Fitch (Mountain Lakes)
RB-Kevin Giusti (Lenape Valley)
OL-Jase Catullo (Chatham)
OL-Evan Kennedy (Pope John)
OL-Tommy Borgia (West Morris)
OL-Hudson Flemming (Madison)
OL-Ethan Thompson (Jefferson)
OL-Bradyn Brown (Dover)
WR-Jason Post (Jefferson)
WR-Nick Lagunowich (Chatham)
WR-Jasiah Brown (Morristown)
TE-Connor Hoebee (Wallkill Valley)
PK-Dominick Grunke (Montville)
UT-Soren Potrada (Kinnelon)
DEFENSE
DL-Timmy Weidman (Morris Knolls)
DL-Dante Palladino (Montville)
DL-Holden Gillespie (Mountain Lakes)
DL-James Giammanco (Mount Olive)
DL-Ralph Langone (Mendham)
LB-Hunter Bigham (Chatham)
LB-Nick Kurilko (Newton)
LB-Gavin Mericle (Sussex Tech)
LB-James Doehner (Madison)
LB-Michael Sclafani (Delbarton)
DB-Chaz Cusimano (Delbarton)
DB-Josiah Chaplan (Boonton)
DB-Jaylin Jones (Morris Knolls)
DB-Lucas Zuravnsky (Morris Knolls)
P-Lucas Inglima (Kittatinny)
UPCOMING NOTES COLUMNS
As I mentioned on Dan Cleary’s podcast late in the summer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVv5UsEMf3Q&t=2887s), I became addicted to Newspapers.com during the summer and will begin publishing my All-Quarter Century teams for Morris and Sussex beginning with defense next week.
So the next several weeks on my weekly notes column will consist of:
Sept. 11 – All-Quarter Century Defense.
Sept. 18 – All-Quarter Century Offense.
Sept. 25 – All-Quarter Century Top 20.
HERE AND THERE
1. One of the amazing things I read about while researching the last quarter century – absolutely stunning, when you think about it – was how Randolph AD John Bauer, Jr. was permitted to coach as an assistant at IHC-Iron Livingston High. While he was AD at Randolph!
Let me write that again, so you can digest how incredible it was: Randolph AD John Bauer, Jr. was permitted to coach as an assistant at IHC-Iron Livingston High. While he was AD at Randolph!
Much of the time, I found Bauer to be charming before and after football games. Oftentimes, he was downright brilliant. Once in awhile, we had a bit of a rocky relationship but we smoothed things over.
Bauer had been coaching as an assistant or head coach at Randolph for over 20 years (his dad had reached legendary status) but the roster had dropped to 19 players in his final season as head coach. After he retired as AD, no one could run a passing offense nearly as well, as he exhibited as an assistant at Ridge and Lenape Valley.
The amazing thing about him coaching as an assistant at Livingston was that it was actually allowed to happen. In the 2001 season, Livingston beat Randolph at Randolph and the Lancers posed for a group picture at midfield after the game. Bauer – Randolph’s AD! – was in that picture.
The Randolph Board of Ed was good with their AD coaching at Livingston? The Superintendent was on board with it? No one stepped up and said, “Hey John, you gotta pick one!”
Mind boggling!
2. Don’t look now, but West Morris is close to becoming a Group II school. So what does that mean? Well, the Wolfpack losing in enrollment might well result in the school changing some of its opponents from traditional rivals Randolph, Roxbury, Morristown, Mount Olive, Morris Knolls in order to schedule smaller schools such as High Point and Kittatinny, among others.
Say it ain’t so!
At least, that is what coach Kevin Hennelly says.
“We’re getting small, numbers wise and we might go Group 2,” Hennelly told me this summer. “I don’t want it to happen. Nothing against schools like High Point or Kittatinny, but do want to play them over Roxbury for a Homecoming Game? No way.”
In the past, the architects of the Super Conference would have put the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter in West Morris’ conference if they were the same Group size. In the early days of the conference, schools were grouped exclusively according to Group size. So Group III schools Par Hills and Chatham were grouped with Group III “rivals” Barringer, Ferris and Orange.
It gets worse: Group V Morristown was the lone Morris school in what was basically an all-Essex division along with Montclair, West Orange, Bloomfield, etc.
The SFC has come a long way with its groupings and, if West Morris does one day drop to Group 2, I see the conference leaving things as is. Thankfully.
3. Last week, Montville ran its opening play of the game against Sparta out of the Wing-T in honor of the late, great Gerry Gallagher, who coached for many years at Montville. Mustangs coach Rick DeBonta played for Gallagher at William Paterson and later served under Gallagher as an assistant.
The Mustangs made a gigantic statement in their 38-22 win over a very good Sparta team.
QB Jackson Gering (14 for 23, 203, 1 TD) showed he could play on the varsity level and so could RBs Clement Hofbauer (18 for 111, 2 TDs) and Tyler Goldman (8 for 9, 1 TD) and WRs Brett Kunkel (6 for 86, 1 TD) and Ryan Conlon (3 for 63).
“Our running game started to open things up,” DeBonta said. “Hofbauer is a junior but a first time guy. He had a great, great day running tough. Goldman had a big run and that helped us. Two of them did a nice job running the football. Jackson threw well and had a big night.
“Overall what I like about Jackson is his commitment. It’s unreal. He’s into it year-round with the quarterback training, he works on 7 on 7, and he lives and dies football. I love his composure. “In the pregame, I told him things move fast so I told him to slow things down. We’re so happy for him.”
Defensively, Montville had several standouts, including tackles Alex Husti (½ sack, 3 tackles for loss) and Zion Cyler (2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss). R.J. Fardo had 14 tackles.
And Montville has arguably the best kicker in the area in Dominick Grunke, who booted a 44-yarder with plenty of room to spare and was 5 for 5 kicking field extra points.
The team is gunning for its first sectional championship in school history. The furthest they have gone was under Gallagher in 2006, when the Mustangs reached the sectional finals and lost at Giants Stadium to West Essex, 8-7.
The Mustangs have been eliminated in the sectional semis the last two years.
