By Tom Szieber
Posted: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 12:45 pm
A is for Montclair defensive end Josh Allen. Quarterback Elijah Robinson was the main recipient of media attention throughout the Mounties’ North 1, Group 5 title run, but Allen’s speed rushing ability helped stymie opposing passing games. The senior notched 22.5 sacks on the season.
B is for the battle of the unbeatens that took place in the North 1, Group 2 final. There was only one matchup of undefeated, 11-0 teams, and that was the one between Westwood and Waldwick. The Warriors forced five turnovers, but the Cards managed to win a second straight championship thanks to a shut down defensive effort. Vito Campanile’s squad won the title, 21-7.
C is for Charlie Volker of Rumson-Fair Haven. After last season’s 2,108-yard, 24-touchdown campaign, Volker had his sights on a second-straight 2,000-plus yard year. That accomplishment would have put him in a group with only former Middletown South star back Knowshon Moreno in Shore Conference lore. An ankle injury limited him to just 27 total quarters of play this year, yet he still churned out 1,441 yards and 18 scores. One of those touchdowns—and 161 of those yards—came at the expense of Delaware Valley, as the Bulldogs downed the Terriers in the Central, Group 2 final.
D is for Delsea. The Crusaders won a third championship in a row with a 42-35 overtime win over Allentown in South, Group 3. Running back Isaiah Spencer led the way on the ground, as Delsea became the first team to win three straight in the section since Mainland did so from 1995 to 1997.
E is for Red Bank Catholic quarterback Eddie Hahn. He was nearly perfect in RBC’s long-awaited Non-Public, Group 3 title win over Delbarton, going 9-of-10 for 219 yards and one touchdown. He will return as a senior in 2015 coming off a year in which he went 81-of-127 for 1,485 yards and 20 touchdowns.
F is for Sparta running back Lucas Faria. The star of the North 1, Group 3 finals, Faria rushed for 239 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Spartans past River Dell. Injuries hurt his quest to replicate his state-leading 2,171 rushing yards from 2013, but he still ground out 803 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior.
G is for Darnell Grant, head coach of Shabazz. The leader of the Bulldogs for the last five years, Grant led Shabazz to the North 2, Group 1 championship with a 14-6 victory over Dunellen. The championship—the first-ever for the program—came in the aftermath of an offseason that saw players end up the victims of gun violence in crime-riddled Newark. Grant’s leadership forged unity and perseverance throughout the roster, and allowed the Bulldogs to hoist the hardware after two close calls in 2012 and 2013.
H is for the Horne brothers of St. Joseph (Hamm.). Running back A’Laam Horne ran for 1,180 yards and 22 touchdowns on just 96 carries (meaning he scored on 23% of his rushing attempts), and also caught 13 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Salaam Horne, meanwhile, ran for 749 yards and eight touchdowns, and also threw for 1,053 yards and 14 touchdowns. All those numbers are even more impressive considering Joe’s played only 11 games and were frequently involved in blowouts. The Wildcats went 11-0 and cruised to a sixth-straight Non-Public, Group 1 crown.
I is for the Indians of Pascack Valley. It was another big year for Craig Nielsen and company, as PV went 10-2 and won another North 1, Group 4 title. After having not won a championship in 23 years, the Indians have now won two straight, and made a big statement about their place in the New Jersey public school hierarchy by downing eventual North 1, Group 5 champ Montclair on opening day and trouncing Paramus in the sectional final.
J is for Jackson. It was a banner year for the Jaguars, who won the Central, Group 4 championship with a 21-18 win over Middletown South. Behind 1,000-yard rushers Vincent Lee and Michael Gawlik, Jackson also earned one of the biggest wins of the year in New Jersey with its 33-27 upset of Red Bank Catholic in October. That win snapped RBC’s 40-game Shore Conference winning streak, and paved the way for the title run that gave the Jags their first sectional title since 2005.
K is for St. Joseph (Met.) offensive tackle Nicholas Krimin. The powerful 270-pound lineman has six Division 1 FBS offers, and stood out as one of the top non-public blockers in New Jersey—no easy task. Only a junior, his stock should only rise as St. Joseph (Met.) heads into 2015 hoping to improve on a 4-6 season that saw it win two of its last three games.
L is for a long time coming. For several of this season’s state sectional winners, their accomplishments were extra-gratifying, as they ended years of coming up short in the quest to win it all. For Parsippany Hills, Manalapan and Shabazz, 2014 brought the first championships in the histories of their respective schools. Meanwhile, Linden won its first sectional title since 1985 (29 years) and Red Bank Catholic its first since 1976 (38 years).
M is for the Marauders of St. Peter’s Prep. They won their first Non-Public, Group 4 title since 2005 by beating Paramus Catholic, 34-18, in the sectional final, and St. Peter’s went a perfect 9-0 against New Jersey opponents. Behind quarterback Brandon Wimbush and wide receiver/defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, they beat Bergen Catholic and Seton Hall Prep twice each, cruised through the HCIL and finished #1 in the final Gridiron New Jersey Top 20.
N is for Westwood wide receiver Nolan Borgersen. Borgersen set New Jersey state career records for catches (247), touchdown receptions (52) and receiving yards (4,212) this year. In just 2014, he caught 90 balls for 1,324 yards and 19 touchdowns. His numbers are eye-popping, and they also translated to wins for his team: the Cardinals won their second North 1, Group 2 championship in a row this year.
O is for overtime championship games. As if there wasn’t enough drama in an ordinary finals contest, two sectional title games needed extra time to be settled. In South, Group 3, Delsea and Allentown engaged in a high-scoring affair, with sophomore running back Rashaad Washington busting a 10-yard touchdown to give the Crusaders the victory in the extra period. Phillipsburg and Colonia went to the brink in North 2, Group 4, with the Stateliners nearly losing after leading 21-6. They kept their cool, though, and quarterback Anthony Guarino cashed in from a yard out to win the game.
P is for Kinnelon quarterback Kyle Presti. The Colts’ gunslinger tallied a state-best 3,204 passing yards and threw 38 scoring strikes in 2014, as Kinnelon went 7-3. He also set a state-record for single game touchdown passes, throwing an astounding nine scores against Sussex Tech on Nov. 15.
Q is for DePaul defensive end Quayshon Alexander. Spartans running back Kareem Walker was the catalyst behind the team’s offensive onslaught, but the fellow junior Alexander had just as important a role on the DePaul “D.” One of the Big North’s best pass rushers, he had 18.5 sacks in 2014, two of which came in his team’s dominant 42-0 win over Holy Spirit in the Non-Public, Group 2 title game.
R is for repeat champions. An incredible 13 of the 24 possible sectional champions (54%) were champions for at least a second straight year. Westwood, Sparta, Pascack Valley, Mountain Lakes, Phillipsburg, Rumson-Fair Haven, Haddonfield, Shawnee, Cherokee and DePaul all won titles for the second year in a row, while Montclair and Delsea capped off three-peats. St. Joseph (Hamm.), meanwhile, took home its sixth consecutive championship. These numbers speak to two things: the top-heaviness of the NJSIAA’s watered-down playoff brackets, as well as just how good the aforementioned programs are.
S is for the Shore Conference. The Shore had a remarkable year in terms of championship count. Six teams—Shore, Rumson-Fair Haven, Matawan, Jackson, Manalapan and Red Bank Catholic—won their sections, accounting for one quarter of all NJSIAA titles.
T is for East Orange Campus wide receiver Tyraiq Beals. Behind only Westwood’s Nolan Borgersen, Beals was second in the state in receiving. The UConn-bound senior caught 71 passes for 1,198 yards and 16 touchdowns on the year. The Jaguars struggled this season, but won their last two games to finish 4-6.
U is for Undefeated. Five teams finished the season with an unblemished record, and surprisingly none were from the Big North United or Non-Public, Group 4. Verona, Westwood, Mountain Lakes. Haddonfield and St. Joseph (Hamm.) all finished 2014 without a loss.
V is for the Vikings of Parsippany Hills. Although seen as very good, Par Hills was a bit under-the-radar until beating Roxbury, 21-16, on Nov. 7. The Vikes had just been clobbered by Sparta a week before, but bounced back to beat the Gaels and never look back. They proceeded to down Orange and Summit in the North 2, Group 3 playoffs, and upset previously undefeated Cranford in the sectional final.
W is for Long Branch running back Dahmiere Willis. The Shore Conference’s best running back set a league record with 2,589 rushing yards and scored 27 touchdowns on the year. He rushed for 200-plus yards eight times, and ran for an astounding 370 against—of all teams—the Central, Group 3 champs from Matawan.
X is for Manalapan finally exorcising its finals curse. The Braves had suffered three consecutive losses in the sectional finals, but finally won the school’s first title with a win over South Brunswick in the Central, Group 5 finals. They had lost in the Central, Group 5 final to Hunterdon Central in 2013 and South Brunswick in 2012, and in the Central, Group 4 final to Sayreville in 2011.
Y is for youth under center. For all the talent at quarterback in New Jersey, several studs proved that you can, in fact, walk right on to the scene and have an impact as a ninth-grader. One primary example was Nick Verducci of Parsippany Hills, who led the Vikings past then-undefeated Cranford to win their first North 2, Group 3 championship. Meanwhile, George Pearson of Matawan guided the Huskies to their own championship victory over Carteret in Central, Group 3. Both will be players to watch out for over the next three years, and big reasons why the Vikings and Huskies should be in the thick of their sectional races going forward.
Z is for zero, the number of public school opponents on Paramus Catholic’s 2014 schedule. Say what you will about the Paladins, but one thing that cannot be questioned is PC’s ambitious, take-all-comers schedule. Paramus Catholic played all 11 of its games against non-public schools, including out-of-state foes Gilman (Md.), St. Frances (Md.), St. Ignatius (Ohio) and Eastern Christian (Md.). Add in its Big North United slate that included Bergen Catholic, Don Bosco Prep, St. Joseph (Mont.) and DePaul and its sectional final matchup with St. Peter’s Prep, and you’ve got one competitive, and difficult, schedule.
Tom Szieber can be reached by emailing tom@gridironnewjersey.com.