In Vince Ascolese’s brilliant 40-plus year football coaching career, he’s probably never had to replace as many players on the North Bergen High School roster as he has to this season.
“We got whacked pretty hard by graduation,” said Ascolese, the state’s third all-time leader in coaching victories. He has 326 wins, both at North Bergen for the last 35 years and dating back to his days at Hoboken High. “We lost seven linemen and a bunch of skilled people.”
One of those players was three-year starting quarterback and free safety Evan Rodriguez, the Hudson Reporter Male Athlete of the Year last year, who is now at the University of West Virginia.
“I don’t think it’s easy replacing kids like Evan,” Ascolese said. “It’s the most we’ve lost in one year to graduation.”
But no one’s going to cry for Ascolese and the Bruins just because a bunch of their players moved on in life. The veteran coach has to continue the winning ways with a new group of kids.
“We started talking early, like in December and January, that it was going to be very hard to reach the level we’ve expected over the years,” Ascolese said. “We told the kids that the only way to make up for the big loss to graduation would be hard work. We had to get a commitment from the kids, that they had to be there every day in the weight room and for running.”
So from March through July, Ascolese had a strong contingent of 40 dedicated kids who were willing to give of their free time and make it to the weight room and work on their conditioning.
“Three days a week, we were lifting,” Ascolese said. “The other two days, we were running. We averaged about 40 kids per session, even the kids who played other sports came. It was all about hard work. That’s how we were going to achieve with this group.”
Added Ascolese, “There’s one other thing we have, and that’s tradition. People say that tradition never dies and I believe that. The tradition is all well and good, but it’s up to these kids when they step on the field. It’s not about the people who played before you or will play after you. It’s about you now. That’s what I think motivated this group.”
Senior Thomas Guaschino (6-0, 180), whose father, Brian, was a standout track and field performer for North Bergen and later the University of Tennessee, has the dubious task of trying to replace Rodriguez at quarterback.
However, Guaschino has had some experience calling the shots. Last preseason, it appeared as if Guaschino was going to be the starter at quarterback while Ascolese experimented with using Rodriguez at running back. “He got a lot of snaps last year, so he has some experience,” Ascolese said. “He’s a very good athlete and he’s handling the role very well.”
The Bruins have a lot of depth in the backfield, and Ascolese plans on using all of the players to give the team a different look and keep the backs fresh.
“We have some kids who can run and we’re going to interchange them,” Ascolese said. “I’m impressed with the way the backs have looked in the preseason.”
Junior Armando Guerrero (5-11, 180) is the Bruins’ starter at halfback. Ascolese said that Guerrero is strong, quick and can carry the load.
Senior Bernie Castano (5-10, 190) is the fullback. Castano, a standout on defense a year ago at linebacker, got to play some offense at the end of last season after some players were injured.
“He’ll get the job done,” Ascolese said.
Senior Eric Salgado (5-6, 150) is the wingback. Salgado is very quick and very elusive.
The new addition to the backfield is senior DeShawn Sloan (6-0, 195), who may be the missing link. Sloan transferred to North Bergen from North Carolina after Sloan’s mother sought out a place to move to in New Jersey last fall.
“She read about North Bergen on the Internet and decided she wanted to move here,” Ascolese said. “She called me and asked me about North Bergen.”
It didn’t hurt that the head coach had been at the school for as long as the mother had been alive. Sloan will be a fine addition to the team.
The wide receivers are returning starter Steven Palma, a 5-10, 170-pound senior, and senior Alexis Menendez (6-3, 205), who came out for football for the first time after playing basketball for the Bruins.
Senior Christian Guardiola (6-3, 220) is the tight end.
The team’s starting left tackle is an interesting story. Steven Rahbari (6-4, 305) never played organized football before and attends High Tech High School. Because High Tech doesn’t have a football team, Rahbari is eligible to play for the Bruins.
“He has excellent feet,” Ascolese said. “It’s very rare to see a kid with this much natural talent never having played before. It’s scary. He’s a good football player.”
Rahbari is joined at tackle by senior Julian Torres (6-0, 300). The guards are seniors Paul Pino (6-0, 220) and Jody Remache (5-9, 195) and the center is senior Willie Ramirez (5-10, 250).
While the offense has little experience, Ascolese likes the way the unit is shaping up.
“They’re moving the ball pretty well,” Ascolese said.
Defensively, Sloan and junior Danny Forbes (5-11, 180) will be the defensive ends, with Torres and Ramirez at defensive tackle. The nose guard position will be shared by junior Bennie Mena (5-11, 205) and senior Mike Valdivia (5-9, 200).
Senior Jose Rigolado (5-10, 190) and sophomore John Stark (5-10, 180) will be the linebackers. Ascolese likes the way Stark has developed.
“He’s going to be a good football player for us,” Ascolese said of Stark.
Castano has been moved from linebacker to strong safety.
“He just attacks the ball,” Ascolese said of Castano. “It’s what you need out of your safety.”
Guerrero tries his best to replace Rodriguez at free safety. Rodriguez earned All-Area honors four times as a defensive back, one of only two players ever to earn All-Area honors four times in football, joining fellow former Athlete of the Year Mike Brown of St. Peter’s Prep (currently at the University of Virginia).
Palma and Salgado are the cornerbacks. They are very tough and physical at that position.
The Bruins, who opened play last weekend against Lincoln, were 8-2 last year, losing only to local rival St. Peter’s Prep and to Clifton in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV state playoffs. In fact, the Bruins have come up short come playoff time, losing in the first round in each of the last seven seasons. The Bruins have qualified for the postseason 20 consecutive years and have failed to qualify just twice in Ascolese’s storied tenure.
But the state playoff failure doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Oh, they know,” Ascolese said. “We don’t have to remind them. I think they realize what has happened in the playoffs and they don’t want it to happen again. That’s what we shoot for, to make the states every year. I hope we can do it.” Count on the state playoff appearance. That’s a given. What the Bruins do when they get there remains to be seen.