Bull Session Week 3
One player who is lighting things up and setting records is senior quarterback Nick Kargman of Woodrow Wilson. Last week, he threw for 539 yards in a 59-37 win over Timber Creek, a state record, according to Kevin Minnick at nj.com. Kargman was 21-28-403-4 in the second half, as Wilson trailed at the half. Two weeks before, he set a record of eight touchdown passes in one game and is currently ahead of Timber Creek QB Devin Leary’s (now at NC State) records in passing yards and touchdown passes. Info courtesy of Minnick and Marc Trible of the Courier Post……….On a side note, I saw Kargman in a scrimmage throwing a beautiful, accurate ball and one of his receivers is senior Stanley King, a Louisville verbal. If there is a better passing combination in the state, it will have to be darn good, as both Kargman and King are among the best at their respective positions……….Wilson isn’t the only team in Camden that is good. Camden is also very good, coming off a very good win over Delsea and its only loss came in zero week to a good Wise program in Maryland……….A week from Saturday, October 6, St. Joe’s (Montvale) will honor Tony Karcich by naming the field after him. He was easily one of the best coaches in the state and his impact on Joe’s was beyond tremendous. The program was average at best when he arrived and the program became a powerhouse. I wonder if they will allow him one last ride around the track on the golf cart, maybe with a sausage-and-pepper sandwich in his hand, another St. Joe’s staple at the concession stand. Let’s not forget he had a distinguished nine years at Bergen Catholic before he was at Joe’s, including three state championships in his last four years……….This is one of those years where it looks like there aren’t many top teams in Groups 4 and 5 yet. The public school Groups 3-4-5 poll currently has five Group 3 schools in the Top 10 and it could easily end up that way. I will be Friday night’s River Dell-Ramapo game, two of those teams in what should be a very good game……..Bergen Catholic is in the process of remodeling their field, pending the snooty town of Oradell’s demands. When it happens, I will miss the current shoebox of a field. It may have many warts, but it is an outstanding place for a game, especially when it is close in the second half……….A win that surprised me last week was Union beating Phillipsburg and Delbarton taking DePaul to overtime also surprised many………..Toms River North, after being in two straight state finals, was 1-9 last year and have currently rebounded nicely to 3-0 ……….Manalapan and Millville both got off the schneid with wins. Both have won state titles in recent years, with Manalapan suffering two heartbreakers and Millville opening with St. Peter’s Prep and St. Joe’s (Hammonton)……….Eye openers – Summit beating North Hunterdon, Bernards winning easily over Madison, Highland beating Winslow, and Hillside beating Delaware Valley, 49-0……….Last week, I brought up the fortunes of the Rutgers football team, but there is another college team in New Jersey that deserves more attention: Princeton. Fresh off a 51-9 win over Monmouth, the Tigers play competitive football, deserve attention, and are worth seeing in person. However, they could still use a man like Joel.……….Uniform front – The Good: The Dumont Huskies with their home orange jersey is a good look with white pants and helmets. As Frank Zappa would say: watch out where the Huskies go! In addition, I like the fact that Lyndhurst is back to wearing blue numbers on their white jerseys, instead of the yellow. The Bad – The all-black look of St. Joe’s (Montvale) had last week. They’re the Green Knights and they’re wearing black! They’re not the Black Knights, only Army can be the Black Knights! The Ugly – The Indian Hills helmet with some kind of design on the front of their helmet. Bring back the old Florida State-style helmet……….BC-Bosco is one of the best rivalry games around. The games, like last week, aren’t always pretty, but there is great intensity. The only one that may be better, and that’s an if, is Phillipsburg-Easton……….Pet Peeves – When I go to a game between two Catholic schools, they have an invocation before the National Anthem. I am a devout Catholic, but too often, the invocations get long-winded, taking well over a minute and sometimes two minutes. The players are nervous and it doesn’t benefit them to stand for both the invocation and anthem – especially if the anthem singer is dragging it out in a self-serving manner. The invocation should be no longer than 20 seconds……….That’s all for now: I’ll be back with more bull next week!