If there had been one problem during Czar Wiley’s brief tenure as the head football coach at North Bergen, it had been a slow start that forced the Bruins to make a mad scramble to get into the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group V state playoffs.
And after all, it is an annual tradition for the Bruins to play in the postseason, qualifying for the playoffs every year except three going back to the inception of the state playoff format back in 1975.
That’s correct. Under legendary head coach Vince Ascolese, the Bruins were a playoff staple, failing to make the states only three times (1979, 1987 and 2008) in Ascolese’s brilliant coaching career.
Wiley, who played for Ascolese and was a key contributor to the Bruins’ last undefeated state championship team in 1997, wanted to make sure that he kept that tradition going – and he’s done so during his first two years.
But the Bruins struggled out of the box in each of Wiley’s first two years, dropping their first two games in 2012 and posting a 1-2 record after three games a year ago.
So Wiley made some drastic changes prior to this season. He scrapped the high-paced, no-huddle spread offense he implemented in 2012 and went back to the traditional power football that he was used to playing during his days under Ascolese.
Wiley also knew that the Bruins had two tough opponents to start the new season, facing Essex County Group V schools Bloomfield and Columbia in consecutive weeks.
“I thought we could compete with Bloomfield, but I was really nervous about Columbia,” Wiley said. “But playing at home [against Bloomfield] gave us a big advantage. We might not be as athletic as we were in the past, but we have a lot of heart. What I like the most is that we battle for four quarters. We don’t give up.”
The Bruins prevailed in their first two games, defeating Bloomfield, 12-10, and dispensing of Columbia, 35-21.
Wiley credited the addition of John Conroy to the coaching staff. The former Ferris head coach is now the Bruins’ offensive coordinator.
“He’s done a great job and has been a great addition to a great staff,” Wiley said. “He’s put the kids in the best possible situations to be successful.”
One of those moves was to insert Anthony Ramos as the team’s quarterback.
“He has taken the job and done a great job,” Wiley said of Ramos. “He’s a dual threat, running and passing.”
Another move was to insert Ronald Fuentes as the featured running back. Fuentes responded with 170 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Columbia.
“We knew last year that Fuentes had the ability to be a tough back,” Wiley said. “He just doesn’t go down, carrying two or three kids with him. He is always getting positive yards.”
It has made returning senior Anthony DeOrio into a dangerous threat as a return man and DeOrio has responded with three kick and punt returns for touchdowns in the first two games.
“He’s still a huge part of the offense,” Wiley said of DeOrio.
Defensively, the Bruins have received big performances thus far from standout senior linebacker Sam Rosa (at least 10 tackles in each win) and safety Mario Fuentes.
So instead of starting slow, the Bruins are sitting pretty at 2-0.
“We’re happy where we are,” said Wiley, whose team faces St. Anthony this weekend. “We’ve set ourselves up pretty well. We have a different mentality this year. It was brutal trying to come back and make the playoffs the last two years. This is a lot different and it feels great.”…
The Bruins are not the only local team to start the season off undefeated. In fact, six local squads have unblemished marks after two weeks of the season, with the Marauders of St. Peter’s Prep owning a 3-0 record.
Last year, the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League set up a deal to all play teams in the Super Essex Conference in Week 2 of the regular season and it worked out well for the HCIAL squads.
Lincoln is 2-0 now after defeating Weequahic. Hoboken owns two wins over SEC teams, defeating Shabazz in the first game and Cedar Grove last week. Hudson Catholic is also 2-0 after a solid win over Glen Ridge. Bayonne is also 2-0, having defeated East Orange in the first week and Bloomfield last week.
The Marauders of Prep moved to 3-0 with a win over Seton Hall Prep. It turned out to be a good arrangement for the HCIAL squads…
There were also some standout individual performances. Hudson Catholic brilliant sophomore Syhiem Simmons had 134 yards and three touchdowns. Devell Jones of Lincoln had 108 yards and two TDs. Paris Crawford of Bayonne had 146 yards and a TD in the Bees’ win over Bloomfield.
Dickinson’s great win over Belleville, which featured Athlete of the Week Daniel Taylor’s eye-popping 281-yard performance, also had Junior Feliz Perez’s 151-yard, three TD outing and Juan Munoz’s 112-yard, two TD game. It meant that the Rams had an incredible 544 yards rushing.
Weehawken quarterback Oliver Molano had 100 yards rushing and 117 yards passing and three touchdowns in the Indians’ 28-3 win over Queen of Peace.
St. Peter’s Prep quarterback Brandon Wimbush, last week’s Athlete of the Week, had another incredible game, completing 15-of-18 passes for 246 yards and two TDs. It means that Wimbush has now completed 41-of-52 passes this season (an incredible 79 percent completion rate) for 686 yards and 10 touchdowns. That’s just unreal numbers…
In closing, last week, Jersey City artist Paul Lempa, who specializes in sports paintings, gave a special presentation at the Hudson County Community College-Union City campus as part of the Smithsonian Institute’s “Hometown Heroes” series.
Lempa did three paintings involving the Brooklyn Dodgers playing 15 home games at the old Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City in 1956 and 1957, one of Jackie Robinson, one of Willie Mays and another of the front entrance of Roosevelt Stadium, which was torn down in 1985 and replaced by the current Society Hill luxury housing complex.
Those paintings are still on display at the HCCC-Union City library, along with other artifacts from the Smithsonian’s roving museum, which has been showcased at other sites in New Jersey. This reporter was honored to speak in the presentation as well and give a perspective of the Dodgers’ relationship with Jersey City for those two seasons. There were several HCCC writing students on hand for the presentation that asked poignant questions and were interested to learn more about the historical perspective of Major League Baseball in Hudson County…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Football Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (3-0). 2. Union City (1-1). 3. Hoboken (2-0). 4. Lincoln (2-0). 5. North Bergen (2-0)…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Soccer Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (5-2-1). 2. North Bergen (5-1). 3. Memorial (4-3). 4. Dickinson (7-0). 5. Union City (2-5-1). – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.