Zero week is past us and this weekend is the first week with every school in action…..So often I get the question “who’s the best team?” before the season and these days I rarely have an idea. When Don Bosco was going strong, it was easy, but it isn’t anymore. When I tell you I don’t know, I don’t know; I just let things play themselves out…..Rumson-Fair Haven had a good win over Red Bank Catholic last Friday. A strong argument can be made for them being one of the five best public school programs in New Jersey…..Eye openers: Hunterdon Central: not the fact they beat Sayreville, but the way they won a 33-12 game and Will Ezema looks like a very good running back for the Red Devils…..Another eye opener was Cresskill beating 3-time defending section champs Hasbrouck Heights, 35-14. I am told by someone in the know that Cresskill will be a factor come playoff time…..Others deserving mention are Lakeland, Lenape Valley, Gateway, and Donovan Catholic…..Congratulations are in order for Bergen Tech. After enduring some tough seasons, the Knights beat Fort Lee, 35-0 and dominated in all three phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams…..Watchung Hills also got off to a good start, beating North Hunterdon, 7-0, after enduring a winless season a year ago…..After winning only one game last year, Cherokee beat Washington Township, 51-7…Two good games in South Jersey were Clearview beating Kingsway in double overtime, 14-7 and Cinnaminson over Delran, 21-10…..Don Bosco will still have a very good season; they simply played two teams that may be better than anyone in New Jersey, especially in the opener against St. John Bosco…..Old Tappan consumed the last seven-plus minutes on their winning drive in their 21-14 win over Northern Highlands…..I saw a very exciting first half at Ramapo against Sparta, tied 14-14 at the half. Ramapo pulled away in the third quarter to win what seemed like an easy 41-14 encounter. Keep in mind, a bad punt snap turned the game around and Sparta was not able to finish a couple of drives. Don’t sleep on Sparta come playoff time …..With Bergen Catholic having their opening game in Florida cancelled because of Hurricane Dorian, they have two “bye weeks” before they play St. Peter’s Prep next week, with the cancelled game and the scheduled bye week coming this weekend…..After losing 34-13 to Bishop Hartley of Ohio, Timber Creek turned around last week and beat Warren County of Virginia, 58-8…..I don’t know about you, but I am not a big fan of regular season games being played at Rutgers or West Point, although there is a certain prestige in playing at West Point…..Interesting nicknames are the Tartans of Highland Regional and the Burrs of West Catholic in Philadelphia. Tartan, I believe, is a Scottish reference and I called West Catholic to get the meaning of Burr. Speaking to Kim McBride, it is an object that falls from a tree with needles sticking out and sticks to somebody, upon sitting on it. There is the phrase “burr in the saddle” and a reporter from yesteryear used that to imply they were a pain in the btt to the other team…. New Jersey was 3-0 against Staten Island teams with Lenape beating Tottenville, Union over Curtis, and West Morris over New Dorp…..West Orange was off to a good start in beating Montclair, while West Deptford had an impressive win over Paulsboro…..Pet Peeves: when somebody calls a championship a ”chip.” Another is a growing number of late starts on Saturdays due to SAT’s and the ACT test…..That’s all for this week, I will see you next Wednesday with some more bull!
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