Bull Session Week One
The Bergen Catholic–Winslow game is over with Bergen winning big, and the game was on a running clock. The public schools cannot match the top Catholic schools on both lines, and they lack their depth. My concern for Winslow was whether they could match the lines, and they could not. Those in North Jersey have been aware of this for years. People ask if the gap is that big; yes, the gap is THAT BIG. The Top Catholics are not high school football teams; they are glorified junior colleges. How many schools have approximately twenty players who are at least 6-2 and 250 pounds? And all of these big Catholic school players are capable athletes, and they do not include kids who are big, unathletic, and have no interest in sports. I once spoke with someone who has coached college and high school in New Jersey, and he said a good public school can occasionally (and they have) beat a good Catholic school, but they will never win consistently. Even a good Catholic school, such as St. Augustine in South Jersey, has had some outstanding players, but they face the same problems the public schools have, especially with depth…..Northern Highlands‘ fortunes improved when Greg Russo became head coach. When he left for Paramus Catholic, Dave Cord picked up the baton and kept the program on a high level…..The same goes for Holmdel when Jeff Rainess brought the program’s fortunes up. When he stepped down, Noel Kavanagh kept it going, beating Rumson-Fair Haven last weekend…..Some good grass surfaces I have been on recently are Teaneck and Glen Ridge…..The Glen Ridge band was creative this past weekend with an old jazz tune…..A new team in my Public Groups 1-2 poll is the Dumont Huskies. They are 3-0 and as Frank Zappa once said: “Watch out where the Huskies Go!!” Brian Carr certainly knows…..Some of the best performances of the week, courtesy of NJ.com. Passing: Lukas Prock of Hun: 22-27-651-8, Mason Shansey of Burlington City: 14-19-289-3, Zymere Weaver of St. Thomas Aquinas: 12-13-285-3, Ty Costabile of Holy Spirit: 26-32-278-5, Rahmir Rivera of Red Bank Catholic: 21-24-252-2, Jason Lajara of Brick Memorial: 13-15-251-2, Owen Robson of Middletown North: 15-19-248-1, Danny Farrauilo of Wayne Valley: 17-22-241-3, and Devon Thomas of Plainfield: 19-21-230-3. Rushing: Joshua Allen of Woodbridge: 40-338-4, Jake Long, West Essex, 38-321-4, lAbel Paul of Livingston: 18-273-4, Donte Davis of Burlington City: 14-244-5, Steve Klein of Westwood: 13-217-3, Jack Cannon of Holmdel: 20-200-4, Patrick Randolph of Park Ridge: 10-191-4, and Roman Coney of St. Augustine: 10-184-4. Receiving: Jaylin Reeves of Monmouth: 5-282-3, Jaden Harvey of Oakcrest: 5-186-2, Malachi Sadler of Burlington City: 7-180-1, RJ Wortman of Colonia: 8-179-3, Reginald Holley of Millville: 9-164-1, Grant Lorentzen of JFK Iselin: 9-168-2, and Cayson Williams of Matawan: 7-165-3. One of the crazy things in the Giants’ overtime loss to Dallas was tackle James Hudson getting four penalties on the first drive of the game. At that point, he was replaced by rookie 5th-round draft pick Marcus Mbow, who did a good job…..The Jets were terrible against Buffalo, and the Eagles look like the NFC favorite…..A battle of undefeated, non-traditional Group 1 schools in South Jersey square off this week: Riverside and Burlington City…..Speaking of Winslow, they are still the favorite in Group 4 this year. I left them at number 1 in my Public Groups 3-4-5 because no other public school was going to beat Bergen Catholic or IMG…..Piscataway may be getting back to the good old days, especially with senior transfers becoming eligible in RW/DB Josiah Zayas and WR/DB Mickeye Simmons. They return home from St. Thomas Aquinas. I saw Zayas last year against Paramus Catholic, and he is one of the state’s best, who has verbally committed to Iowa State….. That’s all for this week! I will be back with more bull soon!