Bull Session Week Five
October 11, 2024
I am getting used to the fact that the season will be over by Halloween for some teams. The last regular season weekend for public schools is October 25-26. Their season is over if they are not in the playoffs or choose not to participate in the consolations. I always thought football and November went well together….It was a pleasure to listen to pregame and halftime music at Pequannock with football tunes such as ZZ Top’s LaGrange, The Who’s Baba O’Riley, Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, Guns & Roses’ Welcome To The Jungle, Motley Crue’s Wild Side…Another thing is the song by The Who is Baba O’Riley, not Teenage Wasteland. I was at the Ridgewood-Ramapo game and Ridgewood’s band performed it, but the PA guy announced it was Teenage Wasteland….One of the good things about high school football is a very different kind of player can emerge which happens less at the collegiate or professional level. One example is Middletown South running back Shane Volante. He is listed as anywhere from 5-foot-2 to 5-foot-4. What matters is he is productive, rushing for 500 yards to date….A good band to hear at a high school game is from Bogota. They were entertaining the entire evening against Wood-Ridge last week….Don Bosco plays the last of their three-game gauntlet this weekend against St. Joe’s (Montvale). Their previous two games were against Bergen Catholic and DePaul….Some players who caught my eye, courtesy of nj.com are Passing: NaCari McFarland of Peddie going 19-0f-25 for 379 yards and 4 touchdowns, Nicholas Patterson of Hackettstown went 12-18-303-5, Jalen Parker of Winslow went 22-27-297-4, Zachary Miceli of Old Tappan went 14-29-278-2, Josh Moeller of Shore went 20-24-252-2, Ryan Novak of Morristown-Beard went 11-11-242-6, and Matthew Schweitzer of Allentown went 11-15-231-2. Rushing: Matteo Tramutola of Voorhees ran for 249 yards and 4 touchdowns on 23 carries, Jeron Martress of High Point went 20-232-2, Connor Ohnikian of Pascack Hills went 15-185-2, Kenny Smith of Glassboro went 11-182-3, Shamar Wells of Woodbridge went 15-287-3, Jakir Thomas of Carteret went 10-161-3, and Mitchell Jenkins of Hillside went 11-149-1. Receiving: Paris Platt of Washington Township catching 10 for 186 yards and 1 touchdown, Sal Palmisano of Whippany Park with 12-186-2, Nahjae Smith of Elizabeth with 6-173-1, Amari Sabb of Glassboro with 3-148-3, Elijah Burress of DePaul with 4-132-2, Max DeLagarde of Wayne Hills with 11-144-1, and Sal Livoti of Ramapo with 12-131-1….The best game I saw last weekend was Paramus Catholic vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, won by PC in overtime. The Paladins scored first in OT, followed by STA, who went for two points and came up short. STA has played Paramus Catholic and DePaul tough in the last twelve months. Good matchups around the state this weekend include Johnson vs. Delaware Valley, Phillipsburg vs. St. Joe’s (Metuchen), Point Pleasant Boro vs. Brick Memorial, Timber Creek vs. Camden, Willingboro vs. Woodbury, St. Mary vs. Pompton Lakes, Don Bosco vs. St. Joe’s (Montvale)….…. The Camden-Timber Creek features Camden coach Rob Hinson facing off where he was the head coach….That’s all for this week! I will be back with more bull soon!