Bull Session Week Seven
October 24, 2024
A big weekend awaits, the last of the regular season for public schools, not including Thanksgiving Day. Playoff seedings will be finalized and some teams will know whether they will qualify….I look forward to the Old Tappan-Pascack Valley on Friday night. I strongly considered the NJIC final at Butler, which hosts Glen Rock….I enjoyed the Summit band last week….I always hate injuries, but the broken leg of Aidan Hutchinson of the Detroit Lions was tough to see….Alabama is 0-for-2 in Tennessee this year with their losses to Tennessee and Vanderbilt….NFC East: The Eagles spanked the Giants as expected. Saquon Barkley had a big game for the Eagles against his former team, but I don’t think the Giants would be one game better had he remained….I expected Mount Olive to be one of the favorites in North Jersey Group 4, but they have three losses at this point. Maybe the playoffs will be a different season for them….Atlantic City has rebounded nicely from a 0-2 start and sits at 6-2. Granted their first two games were against Maniland and Millville….One of the surprises to me is Becton who is 6-1. I saw their consolation against Glen Rock last year and left at the half since the running clock was starting in the third quarter….Pet Peeves: Calling the best players in this or that the Mount Rushmore. Whoever thought of that needs to be dipped in hot oil…. Toms River North has outscored the opposition 310-39 with the defense recording four shutouts and another game when the opponent only had a safety…. Kudos to Ramapo, now at 4-3 after starting at 0-3. They play Northern Highlands on Friday night….Lakeland has been the Cardiac Lancers the last three weeks: losing to West Milford with five seconds left, losing to Ramsey, 29-28, on a touchdown and two-point conversion with one minute remaining, and beating Vernon last week, 21-14 with Vernon’s completed pass, a last-second Hail Mary when the receiver was tackled on the 1-yard line. This was after Lakeland went ahead with 25 seconds remaining. The Lancers host Passaic Valley on Friday night….Delaware Valley is 7-1 with their only loss to Bernards, 7-0. They play 6-2 New Providence on Friday night….Passing: Jack Moran of Hun completed 24 of 28 for 545 yards and 6 touchdowns, Daulton Phalines of Paul VI went 10-14-347-3, Owen O’Toole of Rumson-Fair Haven went 26-31-329-2, TJ Valerio of Toms River North went 15-19-261-3, Jett Genovese of Phillipsburg went 6-6-255-4, Michael Schweitzer of Allentown went 10-14-253-1, Robert O’Connor of Millville went 15-21-246-4, and Sean Taylor of Willingboro went 16-25-223-5….Rushing: Kevin Giusti of Lenape Valley ran for 351 yards and 5 touchdowns on 40 carries, Damani Williams of Dwight Morrow/Englewood went 18-343-3, Denzel Lee of Cherry Hill East went 23-285-3, Remi Rodriguez of Middle Township went 21-206-3, Chukwuma Odoh of St. Thomas Aquinas went 19-189-2, Mekhi Simmons of Bishop Eustace went 14-216-2, and KaRon Caesar of Penns Grove went 23-249-3…. Receiving: Welman Crooms of Matawan caught 15-146-1, Jackson Morrice of Cedar Grove went 10-214-2, Matthew Scerbo Jr. of Phillipsburg went 3-190-3, Austin Bailey of Paul VI went 4-181-2, Abel Paul of Livingston went 6-159-2, Dante Benvenuti of Passaic Valley went 6-140-2, Tamir Rex of Atlantic City went 3-150-1, and Shane Bell of Lodi went 9-135-1….Another noteworthy performance was St. Joe’s (Montvale) quarterback Mason Geis, who went 8-11-201-2 in relief of Lamar Best….Lee Tobon of JFK (Iselin) caught 5-133-2 and teammate Grant Lorentzen went 8-132-2 for a total of 13-265-4….…. That’s all for this week! I will be back with more bull soon!