Bull Session Week One
One clarification: I was in an auto accident a few weeks ago, but I am fine, as I said on Twitter. The car was totaled as the driver did not notice me and made a left turn, and hit my car (T-bone), which was moving straight ahead and had the right of way. What was time-consuming and took away time from doing a few more team previews was the process of looking for a new car. I found one that I am happy with and I am back to a normal life…..While I did not go to a game on the Thursday of zero week, I did watch parts of 21 games on the internet. I just bounced from game to game…..Ramapo used to have a big rivalry with Wayne Hills for years, but that has died off. The big rivalry for Ramapo is Northern Highlands. The Raiders travel to Allendale on Friday, October 24, and they may meet again in the playoffs…..Winslow made a strong showing against IMG Academy of Florida two weeks ago and faces a tough test against Bergen Catholic on Friday night. To me, Bergen has the advantage up front, and we will see what happens…..Same shhh, different year: the Giants’ performance against Washington. The offensive line is no better than it has been, and that’s bad. At least the Jets were in the game…..And thank you to the Eagles for beating the Cowboys, one of two days a year when I might yell E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!….. Some of the best performances of the week, courtesy of NJ.com. Passing: Samad Jiles of Montclair: 35-39-318-4, Dakota Lassiter of Freehold Township: 13-17-246-2, Tyler Bell of St. Peter’s Prep: 13-18-265-5, Shane Hoover of Sparta: 9-10-279-4, Cameron Desfosse of Manalapan: 15-17-234-2, David Oravetz of Kingsway: 17-23-282-3, and Myles Balchan of Rutherford, 19-24-242-3…..Rushing: Ethan Valenza of Hopewell Valley: 18-308-4, Jaylin Jones of Morris Knolls: 9-200-2, Daysir Spille of Immaculata, 29-297-3, Brendan Markovsky of Cherokee, 19-233-4, Zamir Davis of West Deptford: 15-205-3, Sakai Maxwell of Dwight Morrow/Englewood: 16-259-2, Aidan Barbato of Gateway: 19-259-2…..Receiving: David Van Hook of Wayne Hills: 14-153-2, Nehki Martin of Paramus Catholic: 9-170-1, Zamarr Raiford of JP Stevens: 9-168-3, Adam Schmitt of Montclair: 9-171-2, Josh Krutyanski of Howell: 9-124-2, Austin Busso of Bergen Catholic: 6-155-2, Jake Schultzel of Freehold Township: 6-151-1, Justin Mary, Jr. of Delran: 4-138-2…..I watched the highlights of Phillipsburg’s win over Westfield, and tailback Sam Dech rushed for 218 yards on 3 touchdowns on 18 carries, including a 95-yard touchdown run, according to TapIntoPhillipsburg. After watching Dech play, he is what high school football is all about: one heck of a football player…..North Jersey Group 5 is wide open, as last year’s champ, Union City, is 0-2, and Passaic Tech, the champion of 1922 and 1923, is also 0-2. Only four of the twenty-four teams have not lost yet.… Another early-season surprise is seeing Millville at 0-2….. Westwood had a big and unexpected win over Pascack Valley Friday night…..Back to my team previews: if one notices some good programs have not been included, it takes two to tango. My success depends on cooperation from coaches. A coach has to be both available and willing – sometimes that is the same. Some are unreachable even after numerous attempts. And in other instances, they are not interested and don’t want others to know about their team in the detailed manner I request. There are a few I do not even reach out to any more because I know it is a waste of time. My door is open, but I don’t expect them to knock. It is not personal, but I am not going to go where I am not wanted.…..That’s all for this week! I will be back with more bull soon!