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The Football Show! Old Tappan sound | State Tournament top to bottom · NorthJerseySports.com

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Back on The Football Show, North Jersey sports.com's original
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multimedia series talking all things football across North
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Jersey. This is season 13 episode 13.
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Time flies when you're having fun.
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I am Corey Doviak, being joined by half of my illustrious panel
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of North Jersey football insiders, starting with the
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venerable 1. He is Jimmy Abatabo.
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What's going on, Jimmy? What's up, Cora, We're getting
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down to the end. I think Brian Carr is down at at
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Lot G at MetLife right now, making sure he has the first
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parking spot and the first spot to pick up his media passes.
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There's no doubt about it, he is not available tonight.
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Brian Carr, the head Husky, the Pope of the Cardinal of the
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Westwood, the Alpha dog in the Rutherford pack, the Ram of the
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Ramsey and all other things not available because he is
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predisposed. At the YMCA dinner, Jimmy
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blowing us off for a glad handing back padding rubber
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chicken circuit event. Can you believe it?
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He'll do anything for some fruit cocktail.
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I heard so. But we will soldier on without
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we can wrap up the group semi finals that took place last
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weekend. We'll preview what is to come
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here in on finals weekend, Thanksgiving weekend.
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The schedules are out. We got some really good
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matchups. I think because I don't know
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much about the South Jersey teams, but just what you can
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infer from reading different stuff and and soaking up
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whatever kind of coverage you can find.
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It looks like we should have some good games here.
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But let's start with the last week 1st and we'll start at the
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game. Well, well, well, let's start
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with the game that I was at because I have audio from the
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old Japan game against Wes Morris and that it's to me, this
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is crazy. And you'll hear it in the
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interviews. I mean, it's the recurring theme
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in my questions. I talked to Brian Dunn, I talked
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to one of the lineman and I talked to Devin Radoyan, the
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running back. Just, you know, and I, I kind of
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the theme is old Japan has played four state playoff games
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and put all four into the running clock.
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I mean, I, I, I don't know if it says how good old the pain is.
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I mean, obviously you got to, but you know, can we get
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somebody? You know, you know, of course,
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absolutely amazing. You know, we we had looked at
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that W Morris game, they had run roughshod over people this year.
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You know, they had ran run for over 400 yards the week before
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in the semi. And you know, we're watching it
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because it started at 6:00. We're in pregame of the Westwood
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as the mass game and sure enough, second play the game, as
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you know, fumble from West Morris.
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It gives old Japan the short field.
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They go in and score and here comes W Morris on a 9 1/2 minute
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drive from starting from their own 25 yard line.
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And then it's third down and three conversion, 4th down and
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two conversion. You know, they're they're
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starting to impose their will a little bit on that drive and it
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winds up 4th and three from the four and they get stopped the
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yard short. So all that 9 1/2 minute drive
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was from North old Japan goes down there within a within a
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minute or two, it's 14, nothing. And I remember telling people
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this game's over. And sure enough, it was, I mean,
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that another smothering defensive game for old the band
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offensively put up 35 points. And I, I, I, I'm sure a bunch of
3:58
people on that the West Mars sideline were shocked that their
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team was put on a running clock. Jimmy, they get off the bus, it
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looks like 1986 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
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Remember, these have the half shirts and the bellies hanging
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out big dudes. And you're like, oh, I mean, you
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know, they and they run the wing T so they're you know, it's
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going to be a meat grinder, like, you know, a steam roller
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rolling down, you know, putting down the pavement.
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And then they get the game, get started and it's like, how is
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this team 12? And oh, and I listen, say
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nothing. I, I don't know anything about
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the, the level of competition they played.
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I don't know how good, but when you play the Wing T like you're
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only, it's only good for one type of game and that's a game
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when you're in. Front, yes.
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It is worthless if you're behind, if you run however many
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offensive plays that they did on their first two possessions.
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You know, one obviously ending in the fumble, the other
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turnover on downs. But you run that many plays and
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you come out with no points, like you got no chance to win
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that game because the game's almost over.
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Yeah, you know, the the second score was the one in my mind,
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put them behind the 8 ball. The next drive, I believe Corey,
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they're going for it on 1/4 down around midfield.
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They don't get it. Here comes the the 38 yard
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touchdown pass. That was 2021.
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Nothing. But you know, that's the beauty
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of of old Japan defensively with coach Klaus.
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They do a great job Corey. They make you line up again and
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line up again and line up again and make you execute.
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They don't give up the big play, as evident in that second drive.
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And all of a sudden you drove the ball 7580 yards and you've
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got nothing to show for it. And, and it's just, you know,
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they were in shock and you took him out of their game. 2 scores,
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3 scores, they couldn't throw the ball.
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It was game over. Yes, I think they completed one
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pass. A team that was behind from the
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get go of the game completed one pass.
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And as you said, that 4th down, it was Damien du Toit for Old
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Japan, who is the opposite side. I believe the cornerback.
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I think, you know, he's definitely defensive back.
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I think he's the right cornerback.
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And you could just see Wes Morris in a past obvious passing
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situation. It was about fourth and seven,
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maybe 4th and eight. And their quarterback is rolling
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out with his back to the, you know, backside pressure from a
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quarterback. How do they think Joe Klaus is
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not going to blitz him in that situation with something crazy?
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And the quarterback is like rolling out of the pocket as if
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he has all day to throw the ball and hey, I'm in space, nobody
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could possibly be gaining on me from behind, could they?
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You know that that's what happens when you don't play that
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game, you don't practice throwing the ball.
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And how do you expect to do it in the big spot when you know
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you know that's not what you do it?
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Was it was just funny, like throw the ball, kid.
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There's a, there's a defender man on, as they say in soccer,
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you know. Yeah, anyway.
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And, and, and it's funny because you mentioned it on TV and you
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were there so obviously you saw it more close up, but they had a
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decided decisive weight advantage, size advantage.
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And and again, old Japan just gets it done again.
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Yeah, like Wes Morris's running back would be old Japan's
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biggest kid, pretty much. He'd be their left left tackle
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or left guard for sure, you know, and and they just, it was
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amazing that they just Ultipan just finds a way.
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Well, they gave they, they have superior game plans, at least as
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to what I've seen. I've seen a lot of old fan
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football this year, you know, so as the great Charlie Weis said,
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the last, I mean, they obviously had a schematic advantage
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against W Mars because W Mars, this scheme is, you know, it's a
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1 trick pony, which which is fun.
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It, it's if that's what you got to do to be successful in your
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league, in your section, whatever it is, and it works.
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And obviously, you know, they beat Ultapan 2 years ago, The
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only team in the last four years to beat Ultapan in the state
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playoff game, which is crazy in itself too.
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But it, it's just, you know, it went from bad to worse.
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All right, so let's get to some of the sound from this game.
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And the point that you made about how the clock goes from a
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big proponent of, you know, an advantage for Westmore says
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they're grinding things down to a, you know, huge detriment as
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they're behind and trying to make up ground 2 yards at a
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time. Brian Dunn references that at
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the end of this conversation with her.
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There was a nice gaggle of reporters around, too.
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Jim, you know, when you get this late in the season, everything
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gets compressed. And we used to be, you know, if
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you were at a big game 10 years ago, you'd have 20 different
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outlets there. Most games that I go to them
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there by myself and then, you know, in a game like this where
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it's a huge game, there were three or four other guys,
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although one of them was JC Balbar, who also writes for us
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at North Jersey sports.com. But anyway, let's get to Brian
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Dunn after the game. You know, you got one more game.
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You got to finish this off right?
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But I mean, to put 4 state playoff games at the running
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clock is crazy. Yeah, I mean, listen, obviously
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we got a good team, but like I told you last week, every game
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starts at 0 and you got to redo it and it's still a game and
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things can go wrong and you make mistakes and their kids and
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whatever. So there's never a point where
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you can weigh off and just say, Oh yeah, we got to figure it
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out. I mean, we don't have it figured
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out and we're just trying to trying to figure out every day a
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little bit more of what we can do.
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Do you feel that, you know, coming in the week, everyone
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will talk about they had the perfect game plan to beat you
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guys with a running attack and their offensive line, their
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interior. Do you feel like that motivated
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the guys knowing that, hey, we won the state championship last
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year, but we're being doubted? Because of it.
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You, that's a better question for the guys.
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It's just like we don't talk like that amongst like what I
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know is we got a lot of respect for that team and how they
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approach the game. I feel like it's similar, the
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mindsets between the coaches. They have the same coaches
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they've had for a long time and we got the same guys and yeah,
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for sure. And I feel like they approach
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the game the right way And I I like to think we do different
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styles of play. So yeah, the, the, they're both
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being tough teams, but whether it's motivating, like people
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saying whatever, we we just kind of focus on our business.
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I'm not, you know, I'm sure the kids read stuff or whatever, but
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you know, it's a. Social media guy.
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No, and it doesn't really come from us.
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Like we always say, like, listen, the day, the day the
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game will worry about who we're playing up to that point, it's
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just about getting ourselves locked in.
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You guys play with such? Heart.
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Well, I appreciate that. And that's a compliment.
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Like there's a compliment to all our coaches who just make the
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kids buy and the kids are the kids are a pleasure to coach.
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They have like a little bit of youth, like a little kid in
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them. Like they're excitable, like
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they talk a lot, they chat a lot.
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They're they're you know, we got some big kids and mature kids,
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but they're little kids at heart and enjoy the game.
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And I think a lot of that comes from that.
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They just play like, they play like like 7th and 8th grade,
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like enthusiasm, you know, with like 11th and 12th grader, it
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seems like mindset body. Yeah, yeah.
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Sorry, go. Ahead no did you ever think you
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know, cuz 2022 you guys won the first state championship?
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Do you ever think you guys could have a run like this where every
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year this team is capable of doing big things?
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It doesn't matter who's wearing your jersey.
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Again, like those are things like, you know, if I'm sitting
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on the beach in the summer and that comes across my head, then
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it's like, I mean, I don't really you don't think about
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runs with our squad or anything in high school football because
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the same thing we got 45 kids, like we had a real good team
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couple years ago and 12 of them were hurt and we didn't go
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anywhere. So you don't really think about
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it that way. You just hope that you're doing
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things the right way. Like so I mean, you know, so it
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is that that is what it. Is last one though, they, they
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come, you know, they, they were riding here on the bus going
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we're going to come win this game.
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And then they caught together a good drive on the 1st and then
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they fumble. Well, the fumble, yeah, we got
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the fumble early and that obviously that got us the extra
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possession. That would obviously everybody
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knows like they wanted to keep it like maybe hope that we have
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4 possessions or five possessions in the whole game
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and they would need to get a couple stops.
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And likewise we need to get a couple stops without them
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grinding 10 minutes off to do it.
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So that was the biggest part of the game.
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And then you go 90. 8:00 on the other end so.
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I mean, it was 14. Nothing.
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The way it happened, I was like, that's game over.
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It would be hard just based on our skill kids, it'd be hard for
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them to consistently like, get like they wouldn't be able to
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put deep plays together, you know?
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So even if they # us a little bit, it'd be hard for them to
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get like, X plays over 10 yards, 15 yards, whatever.
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And so, so yeah, the clock starts.
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It flipped. So the clock started working
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against them where it was really against us at the beginning of
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the game. All right, good stuff there with
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Brian Dunn. And now let's talk to some of
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the kids from old Japan here who made it happen, starting with Ek
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Ekin. You sell now.
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EKIN is his first name. YUCEL is his last name.
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I should have asked him for the proper pronunciation, but he's a
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well spoken kid. He plays both ways, offense and
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defense in the trenches. And here is what he had to say
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after the game. They had one new.
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Drive where they got. You stopped them anyway.
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Talk about what? You guys did to stop them.
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To be honest, man, we just got off the bat, got get off the
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most important thing, trusted our coaches, trusted us.
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You know, then they have size. But I know our team has heart.
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Our team's got a lot of heart. And what about?
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You know when you guys had the ball, you know, blocking for
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Zach and. And when we have the ball, I
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mean, man, I think our whole line is is willing to fight and
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die for it to protect Zach so we can get that ball off to one of
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our good receivers. You were.
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You guys were, you know, a couple of guys were hurt, you
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know. Yeah, and.
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Then but now it looks like you guys are intact.
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Yeah, we're, we're all, we're all back in business.
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You know, everyone healed up. We had a we had AI think what we
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really learned that our team specials when all those players
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got injured, we had like maybe it was maybe 6 weeks when we
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needed backup players to fill in big roles and we beat big teams
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and, and good teams with with those people there.
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So it was just the overall, you know, good learning experience
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for them and a good, but just, I just knew A-Team could, could
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come this far. How about the fact that, you
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know, Wes Morris on the bus right here?
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They thought they were coming here to win this game.
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Yeah, man, they put a together a good first Dr. fumble.
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Game over. Yeah, I mean, listen, little
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mistakes like that, fumbles, penalties, those things are
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drive killers, man. You know, you got it.
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You got to keep the basics, basics and you got to the
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foundation of the game is really where you win it.
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You got to protect the ball, got to get hats to the ball.
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You got to block to the whistle. It's it's all the foundations of
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the game, the pillars of the game.
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All right, great stuff there. And the last guy that I had a
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conversation with after the game was senior running back Devin
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Radoyan. And this is what Devin Radoyan
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had to say after the game. I mean, we were game planning
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for a good game all week. We thought it was going to be
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really close. We thought it was going to come
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down the water. They got a bunch of big physical
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kids, but we got a bunch of athletes that just out athleted
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them at the end of the day. What was?
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I mean, they get them put together a good drive on the
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first drive and fumble and then it was pretty much game over.
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Yeah, it's just, it's just every play in football matters.
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It's you got to, you got to be on it every single play.
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So if they make a mistake like that, we're going to take it as
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our momentum. We got ball at half so it just
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it just went our way. He got one more to go to finish
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this off, right? But, I mean, no matter what
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happens next week, this has been, I mean, one of the most
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unbelievable playoff runs that I can remember, that I've been
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doing this for 100 years. All four games into a running
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clock. Yes.
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Is, you know, no one thinks that's going to.
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Yeah, right. Just.
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Just talk about this team this season, this, this, this whole
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thing. I mean, we work hard.
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It's an all year long thing. We're in, we're in every single
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morning at 6:30 during the offseason.
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So it's just it, it never stops here at NBA2.
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We got amazing coaches and we just, we go out there, we come
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out and practice. We don't care what the weather
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is. We just we go out and grind
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every single day. All right, Jimmy, that's all I
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got from the old Japan game. So why don't we switch gears now
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to the Group 2 state semi finals where you were in attendance?
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Why don't you take us through? I mean, I think we all picked
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Shabazz to win that game. It certainly turned out that
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way. Your impression of the end of
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another brilliant season for the Westwood Cardinals.
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Yeah, you know, you brilliant is the is the operative word there
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another sectional title. I think that's three and four
17:04
years. You know, with we're going into
17:07
the season. We've said a couple of Times Now
17:09
on the show that maybe people were looking for a little down
17:13
season, maybe a 500 season. But guess what?
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They proved us all wrong. Shabazz, the game, you know,
17:20
called a game played out very much like last year's game.
17:24
Westward lost, I believe 13, 6 or 13, seven last year and the
17:29
sectional semifinals. They were behind the field
17:33
position game all night. That's certainly what happened
17:37
this year. You know, Shabazz comes off the
17:40
bus and you look at some of their kids and you say whoa, you
17:45
know, they're I poppingly good looking kids.
17:48
I'll tell you what you must say about them.
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They seem to be coached pretty well.
17:54
You know, do I agree with them having the run, the complete run
17:58
of Newark? No, I don't, but I have to give
18:01
them their due in the fact that their kids seemed to be pretty
18:06
well coached. Their kids were disciplined.
18:08
They didn't commit a lot of penalties.
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It was like a business trip to them.
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But ultimately what it came down to, Cory, is they were bigger,
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they were faster, they were more athletic and it and they were
18:19
more, they were stronger and I think that sums it up.
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It was 7 nothing at halftime. It really felt like 21 or 28
18:27
nothing because they dominated, dominated the first half.
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They came out in the second-half and West would pooch tick to try
18:35
to keep the ball away from their returners.
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The kid broke 3 tackles and ran it inside the 20 yard line and
18:42
they ultimately scored. And from then on they just, they
18:46
just, it was like a boa constrictor.
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They just squeezed the life out of Westwood.
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And you know, congratulations to Shabazz.
18:53
They they will now go down and play Hampton at Rutgers on
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Wednesday the 3rd. And you know, 2 very similar
19:02
teams, you know, Camden, you know, as a big area to draw
19:08
from. From what I understand, Camden
19:12
might be a little bit more talented than than Shabazz.
19:16
But going back to Westwood, another great year for Coach
19:19
Guy. And you know, the senior class.
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What else can you say? 3 sectional finals, A state
19:28
championship. Yep, it's as good as you can do
19:31
at a public school. Group 2.
19:33
That's that's that's really what you know, that's more than most
19:37
people will ever get out of a high school football experience.
19:40
So great job by Westwood and they're going to be good again
19:43
next year. I mean, yes, they're going to
19:45
lose some very talented players that we've been talking about
19:48
through Brian Carr's recorder for the last four years.
19:52
But you know, at Westwood, what is what is Brian car would say
19:56
Timmy? Isn't it weird doing the show
19:57
without Brian and I find myself saying things that Brian would
20:00
say and and here we go quote Brian Carr.
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What do we? Say it's a program.
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It's a program, so Westwood, the program for sure.
20:12
You know, the one observation that I want to make here is
20:15
that, you know, you're looking at the semi final round.
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So these are the four best teams in each bracket each, you know,
20:25
classification. So Group One through 5 on the
20:27
public school side and they were just not a lot of good games,
20:29
not a lot of competitive games. The best one of the bunch
20:32
probably Cedar Grove over Butler 2421 with a late field goal.
20:36
Last second field goal to win it, which is really and a field
20:39
goal from distance too. I just saw the clip on Twitter
20:41
and it had to be at least 3540 yards.
20:45
So it was it, Corey. It was a good 48 yards.
20:49
Well, OK. With yeah, with room to spare.
20:52
We were watching that on the sidelines in the second-half and
20:56
I was watching it with Danny Medvino and I said, you know,
21:00
what are they doing here? They're going to try to settle
21:02
for 48 yard field goal, then see how much I knew the drilled it.
21:06
But the, the interesting thing about we always talk about the
21:09
experience of, of high school sports and what it means.
21:13
If you look at the video and you look behind the goal post,
21:17
Corey, there were about 8 or 10 little Cedar Grove kids.
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I don't know if they were pop Warner kids or not.
21:24
They were looking at that ball and when that ball crossed, you
21:29
know, and it was good. They were jumping up and down
21:32
that that caught my eye. But man, what a 48 yard field
21:36
goal. The level, you know, I've
21:37
spoken, I was spoke, spoke to Coach Dunn from Rutherford the
21:40
other day at A at a Meadowlands football Super Bowl game.
21:45
And I said the level of kicking in the last 25 years is just,
21:50
it's become outrageous. It really is that how good it
21:53
is, how good it's become. And that, you know, to think
21:56
that someone would try a 48 yard field goal 25 years ago, you
22:00
know, you would have been laughed off the field.
22:03
He, like I said, he made it by, you know, by a good 5 or 6
22:07
yards, you know, and again, that's another, as Brian would
22:10
say, another program in Cedar Grove, you know, the, they,
22:14
they're used to winning, they're successful, they keep most of
22:17
their kids at home. Their numbers are great.
22:21
They play a great schedule. I mean, you know, they played
22:24
some, they played Wayne Valley, they played Caldwell, they
22:27
played, you know, some really good teams.
22:30
They suffered a couple of losses early, but you know, they get to
22:34
the playoffs and and then make a, you know, they make a great
22:37
run. They're they're the the North
22:39
champions. Unfortunately for them, they
22:43
have a rematch with Glassboro, who, you know, totally
22:46
dismantled them last year at the at MetLife.
22:50
They'll be playing, you know, on, I believe on Sunday at
22:55
Rutgers. You, you want us watch a game.
22:58
Obviously most of our fans won't drive down there to watch it,
23:01
but you want to watch the talented team take a look at
23:04
Glassboro. They've been running roughshod
23:07
over people down in South Jersey.
23:08
So it's one of those things core congratulations and my
23:12
condolences. Yeah, Cedar Groves fans aren't
23:17
driving down there either. And that's not, I'm not taking
23:18
anything away from Cedar Grove fans, but Old Depend folks
23:22
didn't make the run the ride last year to Rutgers.
23:25
Brown PO didn't make the ride down there.
23:27
You know, I was talking to someone.
23:29
I went down to Franklin on Saturday to cover.
23:32
So I did Old Depend Friday night, quick turn around
23:34
Saturday 1230 game, Ramapo against Middletown South in the
23:39
Group 3 state soccer final. So it was fun because, you know,
23:43
a Ramapo ones was a good story to wrap up the year with.
23:45
My friend Evan Baumgarten with his eighth would think about
23:49
that. His eighth outright Group 3
23:51
state championship in soccer, which is unbelievable, you know.
23:55
But it was funny because that was, you know, the day after the
24:00
night before, which was the Ramapo ride out to Phillipsburg
24:06
for the Group 4 state semi final, a trip that nobody wants
24:09
to take. And it turned into an all timer
24:13
for Rambo because they went in there and they kind of bossed
24:16
the game against Phillipsburg, which is crazy because nobody
24:21
does that to the state liners and the state liners home
24:23
stadium for sure. But do you know that they rent,
24:28
They had a fan bus available for the kids to go to Phillipsburg
24:31
on Friday night and they cancelled, Cancelled it for lack
24:34
of interest and. That tells you something.
24:38
Yeah. What does that tell you?
24:40
I mean this, you know, these these kids, Casey Grosser, he's
24:43
been around these this senior class, you know, they built a
24:47
reputation here. They, you know, they've been
24:49
playing varsity, some of them for the last, you know, two or
24:52
three years. So it's a, a group with
24:54
continuity and everything else and Ramapo tradition and a big
24:59
roster and the buy in from the entire, you know, Franklin
25:03
Lakes, Oakland, Wyckoff community and all the junior
25:06
teams are in the Super Bowl championships and all that other
25:09
stuff. And the interest in these group
25:12
state semi finals. If you have to travel and even
25:16
if you don't have to travel, because I was at the old Japan
25:17
game and it was not sold out, you know, like the stands were
25:21
mostly full. Mostly there was of some people
25:25
standing around the fence, but it wasn't I, I don't know, I, I
25:29
just, I think it's too much. Five playoff games for Old Japan
25:33
or four of them at home. What are you supposed to do
25:36
every week is the big, You know what I mean?
25:38
It's too much. Too much for.
25:40
High school, you know, two things, two things for we, we've
25:43
talked about it a lot off the air.
25:46
You know Big State Sports has has the rights to the games
25:54
thatnj.com doesn't do. So nj.com will usually do 2
25:59
maybe three games during the weekend.
26:02
Big State Sports does 13 games. That game was also on Big State
26:08
Sports, so you could stay home and watch it.
26:11
Is that what we yeah, but is that is that what we want to do
26:14
is are we are we doing this? So big state sports, I mean, you
26:18
know, are are we playing these two extra rounds of football so
26:21
that big state sports can show them to a streaming is.
26:24
That the. You know.
26:26
No, but if you're going to ask, if you're going to ask me as a
26:29
15 or 16 year old kid, that's not a sports, not like we were
26:34
growing up. Yeah, I.
26:35
Guess do you want to get on a bus and drive for an hour, or
26:38
would you rather be able to while you're hanging out by your
26:41
girlfriend's house so you can watch it on your phone maybe?
26:44
Maybe, maybe I'm an old an old man saying because streaming was
26:48
not available to us back in the day.
26:50
But. I guess you know what though.
26:52
Like if if you don't care, why do we care?
26:55
You know what I mean? That is kind of the way I see
26:57
it. And I don't know what the
26:58
streaming numbers are. Maybe there were 5000 people
27:00
watching the game, who knows. But it just seems to me like
27:04
they're the a big problem, the fact that's too many games.
27:09
It's just you know, it's not there's no profit motive.
27:13
There's no you don't gain anything by keep moving on.
27:16
Except, you know, more unpaid practices for high school.
27:21
You know, if you're, if you're that kid that that's grown up at
27:24
Old Japan, how many of the, the average kids in old Japan
27:28
walking that hallway know anything about Phillipsburg, the
27:33
tradition of Phillipsburg? They, you know, it, it doesn't
27:36
matter to these kids. And that game, you know, that
27:39
game was a lot like going in like the old Japan W Morris
27:45
game, you know, Phillipsburg, a predominantly run game, team
27:50
game, Ramapo A-Team, an up tempo offense, they spread it out, a
27:56
very explosive offense. And you know, the, the question
27:59
going in was would they get stuck in Phillipsburg game and
28:06
their pace or would they be able to dictate the pace to
28:11
Phillipsburg and that Phillipsburg would not be able
28:14
to play at that pace. And sure enough, that's what
28:16
happened. So twice, twice this week we had
28:20
those type of matchups and it worked out with the team that,
28:24
you know, was able to spread it out.
28:27
Yes, but you know, Phillipsburg last year played that classic
28:30
against Northern Highlands in the same round and was the last
28:34
second field goal there too. I believe that that won that
28:36
game and that. And listen, I'm not surprised
28:39
when Round PO wins the football game.
28:40
I'm not saying that I thought they were going to go to
28:42
Phillipsburg and get crushed. It's just the fact that they
28:45
really, you know, you felt like if you were watching as the
28:49
scores went and, you know, highlights and everything else
28:51
like you, you kind of felt like Round PO was the better team
28:55
from start to finish. And then, you know, once they
28:57
took the lead, there was no way that Phil Phillipsburg just
29:00
couldn't stop him, you know? Yeah, a lot.
29:02
You know, you, you mentioned quarterback rusher.
29:05
I mean, you know, when you have to defend the quarterback that
29:08
could throw it as well as run it, they always have a bunch of
29:13
interchangeable parts as far as running backs and wide
29:16
receivers. You know when you know, I wonder
29:20
how many times a year Phillips Ferg has to has to go up against
29:24
the team like that. Probably not many.
29:26
Yeah, probably really not many at all.
29:28
And until you see it, but they always see it in the state
29:31
playoffs, you know, and they're so, you know, they're they're as
29:37
Bryan Carr would say, they're a program.
29:38
So they should be able to play any, any style that you want to
29:42
or play against any style that you want to play.
29:44
And Rampel coming in there, putting 41 points on the board,
29:47
a great job by them. And then maybe the shocking
29:50
close game of the weekend was Winslow, which basically has
29:55
been, you know, the number one public school team in New Jersey
29:59
from the start of the season. You know, good enough that they
30:02
thought they could go up, take a step up and play some
30:04
parochials, put them on the schedule.
30:06
And Winslow escapes against Brick Memorial, 14 to 12.
30:11
Yeah, you know, they played IMG Academy, they played Bergen
30:15
Catholic. Obviously they they were not
30:17
competitive against Bergen. They are a team with a
30:22
tremendous quarterback, skilled kids all over the place
30:25
receivers we actually went down court to on on Saturday, the
30:31
Meadowlands Junior Football League had their Super Bowl Kiwi
30:36
intermediates and and varsity seniors and coach Eddie Surrey,
30:42
the Hasbro kites coach was kind of running the day and he said,
30:46
Hey, if you get down here early, we're going to put on the the
30:51
Winslow game. So I actually went into
30:53
clubhouse over there and Hasbro kites and and I watched the
30:56
game, believe it or not on on big state sports and.
30:59
Jimmy, you are a junkie and you are a football junkie.
31:03
Yeah, you went down to watch the little kids Super Bowl while
31:08
putting on the Winslow game, and it's something you don't hear.
31:12
I'll take things you don't hear every day from normal people for
31:15
100. Please, Alex.
31:16
Yeah, no, it's funny because we were watching the game.
31:19
Winslow's at Grass Field. It had rained in the morning on
31:24
Saturday as well, as well as it did here.
31:26
They jumped out over Brick Memorial 14.
31:31
Nothing Brick Memorial could do nothing in the first half.
31:36
So it happened that at 14, nothing.
31:38
We went out to watch the games and you know, it's interesting
31:42
to go to those games core and see the purity of the of the
31:46
little kids playing for the love of playing, you know, the peewee
31:51
kids. I think it was Hasbro Kites and
31:53
Rutherford. Coach Dunn was there to support
31:56
the the the Rutherford teams. Coach Shuri was there to support
32:01
Hasbro Kites. Coach Katrona was there for the
32:04
intermediate Saddlebrook team. Coach Fuero was there for the
32:09
senior winners. So, you know, those those
32:12
coaches are doing what they have to do to try to market their
32:16
programs and try to just show the kids, hey, I'm here, I care
32:20
about you. But next thing I knew, the game
32:23
was 1412. I went back inside and, you
32:27
know, yeah, see you later, Brick.
32:30
Memorial actually had a field goal there from about 30 yards
32:35
or so to win it to take the lead with about four minutes left and
32:41
and the kick was just left and and they held on.
32:44
So you know, that's going to be a really, really interesting
32:47
game with Ramapo and and and Winslow because as we know, we
32:52
just said Ramapo has the, you know, the spread offense crusher
32:58
and them and and you know, they have some tremendous off state
33:03
quarterback, they have some receivers.
33:06
So I, you know, it could be, it could very well be a 4238 type
33:10
of game. Yeah, yeah, it really could.
33:13
Now I'm just. I was also on Saturday, again,
33:18
I've mentioned it before as the season, but has gone along, but
33:22
I've taken an interest because I said it before, my wife is a
33:25
special Ed teacher in Englewood and her group of kids last year
33:29
were like 4 or 5 football players.
33:31
So that was a great group of kids and they played last year
33:35
and on the 5th, you know, so it's 5th, 6th grade this year.
33:37
They're 6th graders. We went to probably four games
33:40
this year. My wife probably went to five.
33:41
And Saturday was the, what did they call it?
33:45
tri-county Junior Football League championship?
33:48
Yeah, they're Super Bowl. Yeah.
33:49
Super Bowl. Yep.
33:50
So they were played at Ridgefield first good football
33:55
games played at Richfield, Ridgefield facility in a long
33:57
time. But why?
34:00
We went to watch the 5th, 6th grade Super Bowl there and it
34:03
was Carney against Anglewood. And again, you had community
34:06
turn out it it. I was there as a fan rooting for
34:10
little kids. I have a vested interest in
34:12
these guys. And it was fun.
34:14
You know, I wasn't there working.
34:16
I didn't have my camera. I didn't have a notebook.
34:18
I didn't have, you know, my recorder.
34:20
I didn't go up to anybody after the game except to say, hey,
34:22
congratulations, well done. And the, you know, the purity of
34:26
that level of football is great. And yes, and Englewood 112,
34:31
nothing. And also I've had, you know, and
34:33
I also got Jimmy. This is funny because I got the
34:35
experience. You know, how many times do we
34:38
sit here and rail about, you know, these parents in the
34:40
stands, they're crazy. Just be quiet, you know, like,
34:45
and then I'm watching the game and I'm rooting for Englewood
34:47
and I'm sitting there going, that's a bad call, That's a bad
34:50
call. And then, you know, one of one
34:54
of my wife's students too, Jaden Lewis, he goes for a 74 yard
34:57
touchdown on a, on a running play and they call it back.
35:01
And I'm like, that's a bad call. I think professor against us.
35:05
You know what is going on here almost my wife's like, hey, calm
35:10
down over there. I'm like, Oh yeah, right, That's
35:12
right. I can't be one of those people.
35:14
But that, you know, that's neither here nor there, just a a
35:18
love of football type story, Nothing compared to what you and
35:22
Brian Carr do on a weekend, a weekend, week out basis.
35:26
And I think I misspoke before. Let's go back and think about
35:29
it. Highlands didn't.
35:30
It wasn't Highlands. That wasn't the group semifinal.
35:33
Did Highlands play Phillipsburg? Because I thought, I think they
35:37
played. I think they played Phillipsburg
35:39
in the sectional final last. Right, that's.
35:42
What? It was Ramapo?
35:43
I could be wrong, right? Right, because Ramapo beat Mars
35:47
Knowles in that game in the other section final, right And
35:51
then Ramapo went out to Phillipsburg and lost and that's
35:53
where the season ended last year.
35:54
I. Think the Northern Highlands
35:56
game. If I'm not mistaken,
35:58
Phillipsburg won it with a last second field goal that actually
36:01
hit the crossbar and went over. Yes.
36:05
So actually Phillipsburg beat Highlands and Round poll last
36:07
year. Is that the way it went?
36:09
I think so. I mean I can check wait.
36:12
I know I just want to I don't want to misspeak here because,
36:17
you know, we got to get Phillipsburg at the Proppers and
36:20
also just try to see how it goes with here we go.
36:24
Phillipsburg from 2024 they beat, yeah, a back-to-back
36:29
weeks. They beat Northern Highlands
36:31
1311 in the section final and then beat Ram PO35 to six in the
36:37
Group 4 state semi final. And how about that?
36:39
Ram PO last year makes the trip out West, loses 35 to 6, goes
36:44
out there this year and hangs 41 points on the state liners.
36:48
Very impressed. Yeah, so good.
36:51
The other thing we didn't, we didn't talk touch on was we
36:54
talked a lot about old Japan. What do you know about Cedar
36:57
Creek, which beat Holmdel 4838? And let me guess, Jimmy, you
37:03
watched it on Big State sports? I, you know what it was on big
37:06
state sports. I, I tried to watch a little bit
37:09
of the highlights today of it. Holmdel has a tremendous
37:13
quarterback who kept them in the game.
37:16
As you mentioned, it was a it was a shootout.
37:20
I think it was what 404838 Cedar Creek is a is along the lines of
37:27
a Winslow, very, very athletic, very talented, 11 and two.
37:32
Their quarterback is a dual threat kid that can that can
37:36
really throw it. He could take off, you know
37:39
that. I think that's gonna that's
37:41
gonna be another another big game.
37:42
You know, I think I think ultimately though, I think the
37:46
system of old Japan. You mentioned it before, Corey,
37:50
about game plans and, and obviously they put together very
37:53
good game plans. But you know, putting a good
37:57
game plan together is one thing, but having your kids execute it
38:02
as close to perfection as you can is a whole another thing.
38:06
And I, and I think that's the, that's the the secret formula
38:11
right now that old Tappan has. Yeah, and Brian Carr, you know
38:15
not to be. He didn't want to be left out
38:17
completely. So we get this text, you know,
38:19
Jimmy and our group text, Old Japan thoughts for this week.
38:24
They have one loss in their last 19 games.
38:27
They have a 92% winning percentage over the last four
38:30
years. And their junior quarterback,
38:33
Zach Michelle, 46 touchdowns and four interceptions.
38:39
That's amazing. And, you know, like, that's a
38:41
kid who doesn't have the size to play Division One football.
38:45
He's got the brain to play Division One football.
38:48
But he's one of those guys who could go to the next level, you
38:50
know, like, reminds me of an an AJ Wingfield maybe, you know, an
38:54
Ithaca or, you know, even Rob Korsich from Westwood a couple
39:00
years ago. You know, I did.
39:02
Yeah. Yeah.
39:03
Estevez, you know. David Estevez.
39:06
Yep. Hit Grito from Paramus Catholic.
39:09
The guys that just make plays, you know, whenever a play needs
39:12
to be made, they seem to do it. And he's he's right in that
39:16
category. And he looks off defenses, he
39:21
spreads the ball down to receivers.
39:23
He does not make up his mind. I'm going to throw it too.
39:26
You know what? He could too, because he's got a
39:28
kid like Shane Small, who's, you know, big tight end target who
39:32
we could lock in on and just say I'm going to force it in there.
39:34
Or he could do with, you know, I'm going to pump it down the
39:36
sideline to Leo Etter every chance I get.
39:38
But he he actually reads defenses.
39:41
He sees what's in front of him and he makes great decisions.
39:43
And you know, I'm even thinking about one of the interceptions I
39:47
see. I don't know why he's popping
39:49
into my head but was on a deflected ball he dropped pass
39:51
by his own receiver so you know it popped up in the air, was
39:54
picked off. So really like decision wise
39:56
maybe he's thrown 3 interceptions now in his second
40:00
year as a starter for a team that's going to only.
40:03
Needs to know for his last year as a sophomore he is the
40:07
starting quarterback and they move.
40:10
I forget his name. I.
40:11
Forgot me. Alex Arecchio.
40:13
Yeah. That's right, Alex Arecchio
40:15
leads him to a state title the year before and they move this
40:20
kid in miss Ellie and, and, and Arecchio being unselfish and the
40:24
team player says, no problem, coach, I'll go play wide
40:28
receiver. Well, I'll tell you what, the
40:30
coaching staff at at Old Japan really knows how to evaluate
40:35
talent because he's been he's been tremendous.
40:38
And let's remember, he's got another year left next year.
40:41
Yes, unbelievable. And then Alex Arecchio leaves
40:44
for Johns Hopkins to play college football.
40:46
And now we have Leo Etter. It's like, OK, it's crazy.
40:51
All right, So Old Japan against Cedar Creek, that should be
40:54
interesting. That's a 4:00 start at MetLife
40:57
Stadium on Friday. And then you go to Group 5.
40:59
And I think the North Jersey team that I am most surprised
41:03
that is still standing here is Passaic Tech.
41:06
They go on the road to Bridgewater.
41:08
Raritan, 23 to 14, victory over Brian's beloved alma mater
41:14
there, the Panthers. The Fighting Panthers go down to
41:18
Passaic Tech and Passaic Tech is in the group five final, one O
41:22
clock on Friday against Washington Township.
41:26
Which Washington Township? I'm not really sure, but yeah.
41:29
You know. Not the one in Bergen County,
41:31
that's. Right, the six Washington
41:34
townships and there are 6 Washington townships in the
41:36
state of New Jersey. But Jimmy Passaic, tech from
41:39
nowhere at the beginning of the season to last Passaic County
41:43
team last big, you know, Group Five team standing in North
41:47
Jersey. You know what they've been,
41:49
they've been they, you know, couple of years in a row core,
41:52
they went down to Rutgers and and got beat by a superior Toms
41:57
River North team, right? Two years in a row.
42:00
I mean, but you got to realize one thing.
42:01
They lose the first two games of the year.
42:04
Their quarterback, who was originally a Paramus Catholic,
42:09
transferred to Passaic Tech going into his senior year.
42:13
He decides he's transferring out of state, transfers out of the
42:17
state during the summer. Then I, I don't know what
42:20
happened there, whether he didn't find it to his liking or
42:23
whatever. He decides, you know, back in
42:26
August, I'm transferring back to Passaic Deck.
42:30
He had to sit to 30 days. So, you know, they lose, they
42:33
yeah, they lose to Burlington Township.
42:36
It was a good team. They lose to West Orange, Owen
42:39
too. He comes back after game
42:41
three-game four and all they've done was, you know, win every
42:45
game but one. So, you know, that's the, I
42:49
think that was the reason why they started off slow, but they
42:52
got everything going right now. Washington Township High School,
42:56
13 and 13 and now Corey, really, really good team.
43:01
They've been, they've been beating people up down there.
43:05
They beat the Kingsway Regional 3527.
43:10
They had beaten them previously earlier in the year, 3936.
43:15
So they're very, very even, evenly talented matched.
43:20
They won both of them. So they will take on the safe
43:24
tech as you mentioned. 1:00 Saturday at Met, Friday at
43:29
MetLife. Yes, they've won seven straight
43:32
games going into the coming into the they they lost to Ramapo on
43:36
October 3rd, 41 to 7 and they haven't lost.
43:40
It's seven straight games. That's a lot.
43:42
And you know, 10 and three. I can't believe the high school
43:45
team is going to play 14 games of the season, though.
43:47
It's that's that's more than a a college team that that goes to a
43:51
bowl. I I, to me, it's too much.
43:54
But again, it's another argument for another day.
43:57
And maybe we'll have that next week with a special guest that
44:00
I'm working on getting us for the season finale of the
44:05
football show here on North Jersey sports.com.
44:06
All right, Jimmy, so that's the public schools.
44:09
That's what what happened last weekend.
44:11
That's what's coming up this weekend and now we got to turn
44:15
to the big boys because all of the hullabaloo about we got to
44:18
play down to 1 state champion. We've actually been doing it for
44:21
years because whoever wins non public Group A will be the
44:27
overall state champion in the great state of New Jersey.
44:30
This year, as in all years, you got Don Bosco Prep, the top seed
44:36
which ended Bergen Catholics reign as the king of Non Public
44:41
A and they will take on Saint Joseph Regional which survived
44:48
against Saint Peters Prep in one of the better games of the non
44:53
public state tournament in the state this year.
44:56
Yeah, You know, St. Let's talk about Saint Joe's.
44:59
Any time you have to go down to Caven Point, you've been down
45:02
there numerous times playing Saint Peter's.
45:05
They're a different animal when you get them on their home
45:07
field. And Saint Joe's jumped out 13.
45:11
Nothing. You said OK, there's going to be
45:13
a blowout. Next thing you know, Saint
45:15
Peter's races all the way back to take a 1913 game a lead.
45:21
I think it was 19 or 2113. Joe's had a comeback barely
45:28
their outstanding senior running back, receiver do it all kids
45:32
scored four touchdowns lined up. They wound up making a
45:35
commitment to running the ball in the second-half and and held
45:39
on to take the victory there. So Saint Joe's will will take on
45:44
Don Bosco prep. You mentioned they they ended
45:47
Bergen's run. Bergen was actually up 10 three
45:52
late in the first half with the ball threw an interception.
45:56
Bosco scored to tie it in 10 at half.
45:59
And you know, Bosco's defense went to work from there.
46:02
They intercepted in another pass.
46:04
They actually hit the quarterback.
46:06
The ball popped up in the air. One of the Bosco kids picked it
46:10
up out of the air, ran it in for a touchdown.
46:12
So, you know, congratulations to Don Bosco.
46:16
They played the giant and you know, the first time they played
46:20
Saint Joe's, that was an overtime game.
46:23
So it should be another outstanding game.
46:25
That'll be 7:00 Friday night at MetLife.
46:29
The customary spot for the big boys for the state title.
46:33
And just a quick word on Saint Peter's Prep.
46:36
You know, in 2023 they were 1:00 and 9:00.
46:39
Last year 4 and 6, this year the number two seed in non public A8
46:45
and three records. So I would expect Seaton Saint
46:49
Peter's prep to be back up there again next year.
46:51
Looks like they have rebuilt Reloaded and they're, you know,
46:55
the Hudson County representative in the big Boy division and
47:00
moving in the right direction for Rich Hansen the third.
47:03
Yes, no doubt. And then we move over to non
47:08
public. Be Jimmy.
47:09
And last but certainly not least, in your heart, I know you
47:13
are intimately involved with this match up.
47:16
It is DePaul, it is Paramus Catholic.
47:20
The field, the floor is yours. Yeah, let's, you know, let's
47:25
start with the poll. The number one seed that the
47:27
defending champions, they defeated Paramus Catholic 2614
47:33
earlier in the year, maybe midway through the season.
47:36
It was Paramus Catholic was up at halftime 14-6.
47:40
It was a tie game at 14 going into overtime and their
47:45
tremendous quarterbacks, Amit made a couple of big throws.
47:49
They wound up winning the game. You know, for Paramus Catholic,
47:52
you look at the schedule they've played, it's been, it's been
47:55
ridiculous, quite frankly. They had to take on Red Bank
47:58
Catholic at Friday at Paramus Catholic.
48:02
If they had given Red Bank Catholic their only loss of the
48:06
year 30 to 16 in October, they came back in.
48:11
And all I have to say is their offense right now is really,
48:16
really clicking. Marco Green, one of the kids
48:20
you're really root for, senior quarterback who waited his turn,
48:24
hurt his elbow in the De Paul game, believe it or not, And you
48:30
know, was really trying to work himself back.
48:33
They Paramus Catholic went to sophomore Rowan Martin, a dual
48:37
threat quarterback, and since they brought him in, their
48:41
offense has really been been taken to another level.
48:45
The previous week they scored 63 against Mac nine and two
48:50
Immaculata. And last week, all they did was
48:53
put up Red Bank Catholic and not giving up a point in 14 quarters
48:59
and all they did, Corey was put up 50 on them.
49:03
They're running back. Yeah.
49:04
Junior running back to Otto, transfer from from Saint Thomas
49:10
Aquinas and Edison when when they had the problems down there
49:14
with the coach, he transferred in six foot, 215 LB running back
49:20
who believe it or not, opening night against Saint Peters was
49:23
on his way to having a great game.
49:26
Kind of rolled his ankle, got stepped on his Achilles.
49:29
He it took him a good five or six weeks to get health.
49:34
All he did the other night was I think 15 carries for 301 yards.
49:41
The pre the game previously against Immaculata scored five
49:44
touchdowns. So you know, Paramus Catholic
49:48
right now, you know, playing very well.
49:51
Their defenses has played better.
49:54
And when you're scoring 50 points or 63 points in a game,
49:58
all you're reading, all you really need is a a couple of
50:02
stops and then that's what they've begotten.
50:05
Yeah, well, it should be fun. I mean, you got tough
50:09
logistically, though. I mean, 10 AM start on Friday
50:12
morning, nobody plays, you know, nobody plays Saturday afternoon
50:16
games, let it, let alone Friday morning games.
50:19
It's going to take a little bit of an adjustment.
50:20
You know, of course, both teams have to do it, so it's not an
50:23
excuse, but it does. Change you know a.
50:25
Little bit add some. Normally, Corey, on that Friday
50:31
day after Thanksgiving, the the times have always been 11 to
50:37
5:00 and 8:00. They decided for, you know, the
50:41
infinite wisdom of the NJSIA decided they're going to go 1014
50:46
and seven. And as you mentioned, you know,
50:48
to get to the stadium for 10:00 game.
50:52
You know, especially in the in the non publics where you have
50:55
kids coming from so many different towns, counties,
50:59
states, who's in New York State, who's you know, you know, what
51:03
time do you have to get to the school?
51:05
It kind of throws your your whole thing off.
51:10
But ultimately, I'm I'm sure coach Russo and Coach Nikki
51:14
Campanelli, if he gave them the opportunity to play on Route 17,
51:18
they play on route. 17. Yeah, you know, it's just
51:23
listen, it's, it is what it is. You know, you can't complain to
51:27
the state. We know that it's going to be
51:30
cold. It's going to be in the upper
51:32
30s. It's supposed to be windy on
51:35
Friday. So it's going to be a good game.
51:38
I, you know, I, I'm just proud of, of the job Greg Russo's
51:41
done. You know, when he took the
51:44
program over 4 years ago, they were in the midst of I think a
51:47
17 or 18 game losing streak. Numbers were down.
51:53
You know, he's built the program up.
51:54
He's taken some lumps along the way.
51:58
You know, he was competitive, really competitive against Saint
52:02
Joe's. He was really competitive
52:04
against Saint Peters, Iona Prep, who's playing for A state
52:08
championship and you know, and the list goes on and on and on.
52:12
But I think right now that they're hitting their stride.
52:16
Well, let's see if they can finish it off with an upset at
52:19
the MetLife Stadium on Friday. I mean, yeah, that would be, it
52:24
would be a great story for Prams Catholic.
52:26
And you know, Jim, because of your acquaintance, obviously
52:29
your long standing acquaintance with the school.
52:30
I'm always rooting for him. So because I don't.
52:33
And I know it makes your life easier when they're winning.
52:36
So fuck yeah. You also, you know, you also
52:39
have the other angle where Nikki Campanelli grew up on the
52:42
sidelines. That's true too.
52:44
I need to talk about Yeah. You know, his dad was the coach
52:47
there. I coached with that for his
52:50
entire tenure at Paramus Gothic. So, you know, I, I always root
52:54
for them to do well. Obviously I, I, I would like
52:58
Paramus Gothic to win. But you know, I'm happy for
53:01
Nikki, what he's done at the pool and, and obviously veto
53:04
what he's done at, at, at Bergen Catholic.
53:07
You know, you lose 1 and already they want to run you out of
53:10
town. And you know, all he's done is
53:13
1/4 to five. But I I guess that's not good
53:15
enough, you know? Why was that?
53:17
Was that chatter online? I didn't even see that.
53:20
No, no, right away, you know, you lose and a day after, yeah,
53:26
who's on who's on Instagram saying, you know, I'm, I'm
53:30
transferring out and who's gonna and I'm gonna announce where I'm
53:34
going next And you know, it, it, it, it just it, it like you
53:38
said, what have we done? But.
53:41
I'm not gonna stick it out and fix the problem.
53:44
I'm gonna go somewhere else. That's right.
53:47
Yes, well, it's all going to play out the way it's going to
53:49
play out this weekend and into next week in the state finals,
53:55
parochials, non publics, Publix, we got it all going on and we
53:59
will stay on top of it here on the football show.
54:03
Follow the leader.