9/27/2011 - Mustangs, Leach Make History
Bobby Leach walked Jerry Morelli and myself out to the football field at Sussex Tech on a hot and humid July afternoon shortly after he was named the new head coach of the struggling football program at the Sparta school.
When we reached the empty field, he stopped and told us to look around the field and he said, “Look at what a great facility this is. There is no reason why we can’t build a program here and win some football games.”
At first, I took the statement as a great sign that Leach was going to be at Tech for the long haul. On the other hand, however, I thought to myself, it would be a minor miracle if he helped the Mustangs post their first win on the football field in 12 years this season.
But like a motivational speaker, Leach told everyone he has talked to that the Mustangs would win games this season and through hard work and commitment, the Mustangs would become winners on a consistent basis.
Well, Leach proved a lot of people wrong last Saturday when the Mustangs not only won, they rolled past Dwight-Englewood 38-0 at Tech, scoring almost as many points in the victory than the team has scored since reinstating football back in 2008.
Kyle Bergman and Dylan Johnson had big games and the Mustangs, who had received forfeit wins over the last couple of seasons, finally walked off a football field with more points than their opponents after starting the season with two lopsided defeats.
Bravo!
When I saw the final score a huge smile came over my face. I could just imagine the fiery Leach whooping it up with his kids after the final whistle blew. But I could almost hear Leach telling his squad that the victory was just the first step and not to be satisfied with just one win.
Leach gave all the credit to his kids when he was quoted in The New Jersey Herald and that is no surprise. Leach is a football lifer even though he is still a very young man.
Something tells me that Leach would have taken the job for no salary if he had to. That is how much the game of football means to the former Pope John player deemed “too small” to play at the next level.
And after a fine playing career at Delaware Valley College in Pa. and assistant coaching stints at Hopatcong and Wallkill Valley, the man that defied the odds as a player once again did it again, this time as a coach.
You see, if you tell Bobby Leach he can’t do something, well you have another thing coming. He will prove you wrong or almost die trying. That is the type of passion Leach has for the game of football.
When we finished interviewing Leach in July he and I walked out to the parking lot and some of his prospective players were coming in to lift. He greeted every one of them with a big smile and he was already giving me scouting reports.
I knew Leach would put his all into it, but truth be told, I did not think this was the season the Mustangs would win.
What a great achievement for this senior group which has endured so much the last four years. I’m sure they were asked over and over, why do you do it? You guys can’t win. But they believed and their love of football is to be commended.
And you can’t forget the contributions former Sussex Tech coach Steve Massoti made to the program. The former Boonton assistant got the program back on its feet after being dormant for so many years.
There was a time many people felt that football would never come back to Tech. But thanks to the administration, dedicated players and Massoti, that all changed. I’m sure he was pleased when he heard the score as well.
All right, some of you reading might feel I am getting a little to giddy over one win over a program that was non-existent last year.
I’m not. This is a big deal.
Sussex Tech is a unique place in which under the right circumstances can become a football program that can be successful. The administration backs its athletic programs and the school can draw from all over the county.
The Mustangs can follow the examples of Passaic Tech and Bergen Tech, which are Group 4 schools that do well in football. In fact, Bergen Tech didn’t have a team until 2000 when the school revamped itself.
Yes, it is one win, but you have to start somewhere. I was talking Bill Roca, Mugs Media’s outstanding football analyst, who also coached with Leach at Hopatcong. He said coming from personal experience at Hopatcong, getting that first win is a major achievement which should be celebrated.
And Roca should know. He turned in one of the greatest coaching jobs this county has ever seen back in the 1990s.
Roca, who had an outstanding coaching resume, came to Hopatcong at a time when the school was thinking about giving up football. It wanted to leave the then-Sussex County Interscholastic League and go independent.
The league said no and Roca, who had guided West Essex to the North 2, Group 4 championship in 1980 and the No. 1 ranking in the state, plowed ahead and made the Chiefs winners in a very short time.
Roca then handed the baton to Todd Van Orden and then Paul Reduzzi brought the program to championship heights in the 2000s before leaving three years ago.
Roca said getting the kids to believe and work hard are the first steps and then winning will take care of itself.
And that is what Leach has accomplished already. He got a small group of kids from all over the county to believe they could win a football game when most felt they couldn’t. They have bought into the program.
I’m not saying the Mustangs will be in the state playoffs anytime soon, but by playing the right schedule, Tech can be competitive, and then, who knows?
People have been telling Bobby Leach his whole football life that he wouldn’t be able to cut it as a player. Leach already debunked that theory. Now he is giving coaching a chance.
I wouldn’t count him out.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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