The North Bergen football coaching staff had its concerns. They wondered how in the world the Bruins could replace Dominick Trautz, the school’s all-time leading passer, who compiled more than 4,000 yards in the air over the last two seasons and took his school records off to Cheyney University in Pennsylvania.
“We all said, ‘Where do we go?’” said North Bergen head coach Czar Wiley. “We had a phenomenal quarterback, the all-time leading passer in North Bergen history. How do you replace a kid like that?”
Meanwhile, Anthony Ramos was patiently waiting for his chance. The junior knew that he could possibly be the one to replace Trautz – or at the very least, try to fill his shoes.
“I sat behind him [Trautz] last year and learned things I didn’t know,” Ramos said. “I learned a lot. He taught me how to read coverage and check downs. I learned a lot from him.”
Ramos thought he had a shot to win the starting signal caller’s position. So much so that he started to work on it during the summer months.
“I would bring my receivers to the [North Hudson Braddock] Park to work on running routes and catching passes,” Ramos said. “I worked on that a lot.”
Ramos did a lot of work on his own, running hills to improve his leg strength and stamina.
“I live on 46th Street, so that’s a pretty big hill to run up every day,” Ramos said. “I did a lot of hill running.”
So when the season was about to begin, Ramos was poised to be the one.
“I was very confident,” Ramos said. “I was prepared for it. I actually felt confident all the time. I had faith.”
However, Ramos’ quest to be the new Bruins’ quarterback was stalled a bit by a thigh injury he suffered playing basketball in July.
“He was out all of July and most of August,” Wiley said. “He didn’t come back until the first week of the season. We thought he was going to be a backup because he wasn’t in football shape.”
But after a while, things changed and Wiley realized he had his new quarterback.
“He just naturally started to fit in,” Wiley said. “All of a sudden, he was doing everything right. His passes were crisp. His reads were excellent. Everything started to go right for me. It was a nice thing to see.”
“My confidence has been coming out every week,” Ramos said. “I just wanted to make the team succeed.”
Right now, the Bruins are definitely succeeding, enjoying a 4-0 start, the Bruins’ best four-game start since winning their first seven games in 2005.
And a lot of the reason for the Bruins’ success is the play of Ramos, who has been nothing short of spectacular thus far.
Two weeks ago, in a 31-7 win over St. Anthony, Ramos completed 6-of-7 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns and carried the ball 10 times for 68 yards and two touchdowns.
Last week, in a 40-0 whitewash of Memorial, Ramos was 5-of-7 passing for 78 yards and carried the ball seven times for 65 yards and scored three more touchdowns.
Seems like he’s filling in for Trautz pretty well.
For his efforts, Ramos has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
It’s an honor that Trautz earned once in each of the prior three seasons, the first three-time honoree in the 23-year history of the feature. And now Ramos falls right in line.
Obviously, Wiley is impressed with Ramos’ explosive introduction to Hudson County football.
“I think he’s fearless,” Wiley said. “He is not afraid of anyone or anything. Once the equipment goes on and the lights go on, he’s ready. He just has that look that you want your quarterback to have. It’s always a good thing to have a quarterback who is confident. All of the great quarterbacks had confidence. He has that thought, ‘I’m going to make that run or I’m going to make that throw.’ He’s been very good.”
Wiley was asked if Ramos has been better than he thought he would be.
“I wouldn’t say he’s doing better than I expected,” Wiley said. “I expected great things of him. But we really didn’t know what would happen. He’s handled everything so very well. He’s our overall leader on both sides of the ball. He’s also a great safety on defense. He keeps everyone focused on the task at hand.”
Wiley knew that Ramos took a lot from watching Trautz the last two seasons.
“Dominick was a phenomenal quarterback and was a role model,” Wiley said. “Anthony learned a lot. He’s just a better athlete and a role model. The kids look up to him. He’s a leader on defense as well.”
Ramos is a well rounded athlete who also plays baseball (pitcher and centerfielder) and basketball. He’s looking forward to this weekend’s meeting with neighboring rival Union City.
“I played baseball with Nawell Rojas [the Soaring Eagles’ talented running back],” Ramos said. “I grew up with him. This is going to be a real test. I can’t wait.”
Ramos still has another year remaining to improve on his skills. However, he’s completed 14-of-21 passes for 267 yards this season and four touchdowns while rushing for 214 yards and four scores.
“This is just the beginning for me,” Ramos said. “My goal is to become a college quarterback.”
Just like Trautz is.
“I haven’t spoken with him recently, but I will reach out to him,” Ramos said. “He used to tell me that I just had to push myself and you’ll never know.”
It’s safe to say that everyone knows now. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.