Vince Ascolese knows the situation perhaps better than anyone. After all, as the long-time head football coach at North Bergen High School and the third all-time most successful coach in New Jersey state history, Ascolese has been fully aware of the power point system that determines how football teams qualify for the NJSIAA state playoffs.
Ascolese has been monitoring that power point system since its inception in 1974. During that time, his North Bergen teams have been left out of the state playoffs twice, the last time happening in 1987, when the Bruins were 7-1 and only got bumped out of the state playoffs because Fair Lawn was undefeated.
But every single year in between, the Bruins were part of the post-season parade, including the last 20 seasons in a row, the longest consecutive streak in northern New Jersey.
Throughout those years, there have been six state sectional titles, one overall state No. 1 ranking (1978) and countless other trips to the playoffs for Ascolese and the Bruins.
But now, the Bruins are faced with somewhat of a dilemma.
In order to extend the consecutive playoff streak to 21 straight years, they will have to defeat a very tough Hudson Catholic team, a squad that has already created its own slice of history this season by winning the HCIAA American Conference title, the school’s first football title of any kind since 1977, when the HCIAA was broken up into three divisions.
Sure, there are other ways that the Bruins can get into the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV playoffs.
If Teaneck beats Ridgewood this weekend and Nutley somehow manages to beat Paterson Eastside and Passaic and Belleville play to a tie, which is highly unlikely, then the Bruins can get in.
The Bruins are also helped if Ferris defeats Lincoln, because it would give the Bruins an additional power point.
Currently, the Bruins are seventh with 42 power points in an eight-team sectional. There are six teams separated by a total of seven points. It’s a complete logjam.
So the Bruins can either do two things this weekend _ win and get in, or lose and pray for a lot of help along the way.
Obviously, the winning part would be the easier, more conventional way, although beating the Hawks will not be as simple as it seems.
“They’re a very good football team and they’re very good in a lot of areas,” Ascolese said. “It’s a big challenge. We need to go out and play a good game.”
It’s a totally different scenario for the Bruins to be in under Ascolese’s reign. Usually, they already know that they’re going to be a part of the playoffs. By Halloween, the Bruins’ playoff fate had already been set.
For example, last year, the Bruins were playing to get the top seed in the sectional. In 2005, they were playing to secure a home game.
Even when the sectional was a four-team party, the Bruins were always locked in by this point, except for that fateful year of 1987, when the town had jackets made for the team after the Bruins got snubbed from the playoffs simply because undefeated teams got the upper hand, regardless of power points.
But since the NJSIAA expanded the sectional fields from four teams to eight teams in 1998, the Bruins never had to worry about their playoff destiny.
Until now.
“It’s a little different feeling,” Ascolese said. “I don’t think we’ve ever been in this position before.”
So do the players know their fate? Do the Bruins themselves realize what they’re fighting for this weekend? In essence, their playoff season begins this weekend with the showdown with Hudson Catholic, now ranked among the Top 20 teams in the state.
“I don’t want to say that,” Ascolese said. “But we have to win to get in. That we know. We have to win the game. The level of importance of the game is evident. It’s why you want to get in the state tournament in the first place. We’re on the fence and we know it. But I don’t want to put any further pressure on the kids. They’re practicing hard. The game means something to them. They understand what’s at stake. Our goals are always to get into the state tournament and everything else will take care of itself.”
Ascolese fully well knows that just getting into the state playoffs can cure a lot of ills. It did last year for Clifton, which won the state sectional as the No. 8 seed. And who did the Mustangs defeat in the first round? Yes, North Bergen.
In fact, the top seed has captured that sectional title just once in the last eight years, when Morris Knolls won it all in 2005.
There’s another thing hovering over the Bruins. They haven’t won a game in the state playoffs in eight years, losing in the first round every year. Since winning the state sectional title 10 years ago, with their undefeated brilliant team of 1997, the Bruins are 2-8 in the state playoffs.
So if they got a chance to get into the state playoffs this year, maybe they could reverse the trend.
But they have to get in first.
There is one positive aspect to the Bruins’ playoff chase. They enter play this weekend on a three-game winning streak. They have surrendered just one touchdown over the last three games and have back-to-back shutout wins over Memorial and Dickinson.
“We are getting better,” Ascolese said. “I always believe that you have to get better as the year goes on. If you do that, then that’s the sign of a good team. We’ve been getting more out of the kids lately. I think they’ve improved.”
The Bruins’ running game has been solid of late, with backs Armando Guerrero, Bernie Castano and DeShawn Sloan all making positive contributions. Quarterback Thomas Guaschino has improved as the season has progressed and clicked for two touchdown passes last week. Receiver Steve Palma has emerged as a go-to pass catcher.
“I think they’re all getting better,” Ascolese said. “I could care less what the odds are of us winning the game. We should be prepared as coaches and the kids should want to win the game.”
But what happens if the Bruins don’t defeat Hudson Catholic? And the other scenarios that need to happen fail?
“I don’t want to even think about it,” Ascolese said. “It would be our worst nightmare. It would really hurt the kids. I always tell the kids that they should walk off the field on the day of their last high school football game, making sure that their heads are held high. They know what they have to do. If they don’t know by now, then shame on them.”
It should be interesting to see what pans out over the weekend. We’ll know by late Saturday night whether the Bruins are making yet another trip to the playoffs or preparing for one of those dreaded consolation games.
Somehow, the words “consolation” and “North Bergen football” don’t even belong in the same sentence. We’ll see if they are associated together by next week.