Post 429 – Bull Session Week One

This will be the first weekend of the season that has some of the North Jersey Catholics facing off with one another, featuring St. Peter’s Prep at Bergen Catholic and DePaul going against St. Joe’s (Montvale)…..Ridgewood-Old Tappan was the first very good game I saw this year, won by Ridgewood, 16-15…..While I did not see the game, Camden-Cedar Creek looked like a barn burner with Camden winning, 42-41. Another was Holmdel beating Shore, 26-23 in overtime…..After experiencing winless seasons, both Bergen Tech and Watchung Hills are 2-0. Bergen Tech hosts Eastside this Thursday, while Watchung Hills travels to Linden on Friday night…..It has been a while since Sayreville has been 0-2 and it doesn’t get any easier this weekend with North Brunswick coming to town. Nevertheless, I have the utmost respect for their program…..The NJSIAA has been cracking down and denying passes to some who have been reporting on high school for many years, including myself, because of trouble with too many having press credentials at basketball games. First, this is football. Second, fix the problem by going after the basketball pimps, not honest people who  are doing an honest job with high school sports and coming up with a bunch of unnecessary rules. As Frank Zappa once said, it’s like treating dandruff with decapitation ….. Williamstown is a tough out in South Jersey, winning South Jersey Group 5 and returning 10 starters on defense. They feature Aaron Lewis, arguably the state’s best player on the defensive line and Brandon Perkins is very good at linebacker….. Eye Openers: Wall beating Shore power Rumson-Fair Haven, 14-3, last Friday night…..Somerville has picked up where they left off last year with new players and outscored their opponents, 100-19. Next week begins a very tough two week stretch against Cranford and Summit, followed by Rahway two weeks later…..During 00 week, I went to Rutgers for the St. Joe’s (Hammonton)-Highland Regional game. It featured two of the state’s best backs in senior Jada Byers for St. Joe’s and Johnny Martin for Highland. Checking out their Hudl highlights is a must…..Park Ridge is 2-0 without their best player: QB/LB Vincent Pinto. RB Justin Wagner has picked up the slack, doing it all running, receiving, and defense. Pinto is due to return soon…..  Bridgewater-Raritan is 1-1, winning by one point and losing by one…..Two teams that suffered surprising down years look to be back on track: Westfield and Passaic Tech…..Good win for St. Joe’s (Metuchen) over North Brunswick, 22-20, after losing to Woodbridge the previous week…..It was an impressive opening night win for Ridge over what I think is a very good Hunterdon Central team…..Wayne Hills is better than I thought after watching them last week against Wayne Valley and I look forward to covering their game against Old Tappan this Friday night…..It looks as if St. John Vianney may be back after a 35-7 win over Middletown South. The Lancers were 5-5 last year…..A team that bears watching over the next few weeks is Waldwick, who is 2-0 by a combined score of 61-0. They will have some interesting games over the next few weeks ….. Giant notes: It was time for a change at quarterback. Eli Manning is not what he was and he looked like a beaten man this past Sunday. I would have liked Daniel Jones sitting a little longer, but it was time. That’s all I can say. Now, if the defense can improve, they might win a few games…..Pet Peeves: This does not have anything to do with football, but I hate it when I am in a supermarket parking lot, notice a very good parking spot, until I get close and see a shopping cart in the middle of the space……That’s it for this week. I will be back with more bull next Wednesday!