10/1/2007 - I'm baaaack...
First off, let me just say it is an absolute pleasure being back on the sidelines covering Sussex County Interscholastic League sports once again. After sitting out the last two-and-half school years pursuing other interests in the field of journalism, I have been out of the SCIL loop.
But just like riding a bike or seeing a buddy from the old neighborhood after an extended period time, it has all come back to me, and that is thanks to the warm welcome back I have received from the numerous coaches and athletic directors with whom I have dealt with since I began covering SCIL sports in the Fall of 1988.
Wow, 1988. Bear in mind, I was a child prodigy, and I was 7-years-old when I started. Don’t let the grey hair fool you, or let some yahoo from Vernon tell you that I went Vernon Township High School in the early 1980s. Lies I tell you.
Anyway, enough of that nonsense.
The SCIL sports scene has been near and dear to my heart for over the last 20 years plus and I couldn’t think of a better league in the good ole Garden State to cover. I have to thank Jerry Morelli for the opportunity to rejoin the team here at Mugs Media. Jerry is a true Sussex County treasure, having provided outstanding sports coverage since the 1980s (Although, I don’t know if Jerry was a prodigy). Thanks, pal.
So this is the first of what I hope is a weekly blog entry for Mugs Media. It will contain random thoughts and observations from SCIL action in football, boys and girls soccer, field hockey, and whatever else comes my way. I hope you enjoy.
HAPPY VALLEY IN HAMPTON: Don’t look now, but this isn’t your father’s Kittatinny Fall sports season. No sir, the Cougars have stepped it up a notch and there is a buzz in Hampton that is usually reserved for the wintertime and the school’s outstanding wrestling program under coach John Gill.
The undefeated football team (4-0) bumped off Lenape Valley, 16-0, on Saturday, and, the Cougars stunned Pope John, 25-23, two weeks ago at the Pope to put themselves in the driver’s seat for the SCIL crown.
The Cougars posses speed and athleticism at every position, but it is the outstanding play of triple-threat, Kyle Hayes, which has the SCIL buzzing. Hayes is a throwback to the old days when one player could do it all. Hayes can beat you with his arm, his legs and with his feet, kicking field goals and pinning teams down with his deadly accurate punting.
Longtime Kittatinny observers have put him in the same company as Greg Kylish, who has always been considered the best overall athlete the school has produced since opening its doors in 1975. Pretty rarefied air. Kylish was an outstanding quarterback, basketball player and baseball player. He was no dummy, either. Kylish continued his career at Brown University and was a top-notch Ivy League football and baseball player.
It will be interesting to see if the Cougars can run the table and win their first ever North 1, Group 2 state sectional crown. And if they do, I’m sure Hayes will be right in the middle of it with his arsenal of game-changing talents.
The football team, however, isn’t the only team enjoying success this season in Cougarland. The girls soccer team, just two years removed from a winless season, set the SCIL on its ear when it bumped off defending SCIL champion Pope John, 3-0, earlier in the season. Coach Matt Majka has done a superb job and has the Cougars sitting at 6-2 and in the thick of the SCIL race. No surprise here, Meghan Hayes, has led the resurgent Cougars with her creative work on the front line for the Cougars.
Pete DeMartini has the boys soccer team in contention every game with a 5-4-1 mark, while the field hockey team keeps rolling and awaits its big showdown with archrival Newton Oct. 3 at the Merriam Avenue School in Newton. Karen Ruitenberg has the Cougars off to a 7-1 start in SCIL play and 7-2 overall with their losses coming to Wallkill Valley, 4-1, on opening day and to state Group 1 power Pingry, 4-3, in overtime.
Ruitenberg just also celebrated her 100th career win for the Cougars. Way to go, Karen. Ruitenberg is a class act and has kept the winning tradition going that Linda Crawn created way back in the 1970s.
So with so many teams in contention for SCIL crowns, AD Chris Carroll may have to make some room on the gym wall for some new league championship banners.
MAGIC MILESTONE: Anyone who thinks that Sparta girls tennis coach Jeff Hughes just rolls out the balls and tells his girls to play hasn’t seen Hughes in action. Sure, Sparta is a tennis town with a continuous fountain of talent. But Hughes has molded that talent to the tune over 500 wins in 32 seasons, compiling an amazing 508-113 (.818) career record. He has guided Sparta to 21 of the last 22 SCIL crowns and he picked up career win No. 500 in the Spartans’ 5-0 victory over Hopatcong on Sept. 12.
Hughes, a member of the Sussex County Sports Hall of Fame, is a student of the game and he played a large role in starting the first-ever tennis team at Wayne Hills High School when he was a student. The Spartans’ dominance on the court is a tribute to the players and to Hughes for his great work ethic.
Hughes, who has a combined 929 wins with both the girls and boys tennis teams, is one of the legendary coaches that Sparta has produced. The late Dick Cassels put Sparta on the football map in the 1960s and 1970s, while Bob Cannon’s unprecedented run from 1960s to the mid 1990s as the golf coach is a marvel. You can’t forget Fred Geffken and the girls hoops program. The former top cop in Sparta has led the squad to over 600 wins, three state titles and is showing no signs of slowing down.
And last, but not least, Manny Reis did for Sparta boys soccer what Cassels did for football, and Andrew Lowery, the current Sparta coach and Sparta grad, is on pace to join the exclusive group of legendary coaches as he nears his 300th win.
JUST WONDERING… There were plenty people scratching their heads when Pope John coach Vic Paternostro opted to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the Kittatinny 4-yard line with 1:14 left in the game in the Lions’ 25-23 setback . The Lions were on the right hash and Paternostro skipped a field goal attempt that was essentially the distance of an extra point to try a quarterback sneak that the Cougars bottled up to seal their second-ever win over the Lions.
Paternostro said after the game he thought it was a tough angle for his kicker and went for it. Well, if anyone knows his players strengths and weaknesses, it is Vic. No matter what you think of him, the man is a legend and can flat-out coach. But you had to think Jim Green and his outstanding staff would come up with the right call after being burned a couple times previously in the game on quick-snap QB sneaks. Either way, it was a thrilling end to a classic SCIL football game.
That is it for this week. See you on the sidelines.
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