It’s what every New Jersey high school football team dreams about when practices begin in the sweltering summer days of August. They all aspire to be playing in the cold and frigid days of the first week of December.
Because if that happens, then it means only one thing: Your team is playing for a state championship.
Three local teams have earned that right, namely Lincoln in North Jersey Section 2, Group II; St. Anthony in Non-Public Group I, and the state’s No. 1-ranked team St. Peter’s Prep in Non-Public Group 4.
The Lions punched their ticket to MetLife Stadium courtesy of an impressive 36-6 rout of Madison last Saturday afternoon in Madison, taking down for the second straight year a program that had won three North 2, Group II sectional titles in 2010 through 2012.
The Lions will face Mountain Lakes, the top-seeded team in the section and a squad with an impressive 23-game winning streak, in the state title game in the Meadowlands on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 10 a.m.
Mountain Lakes soundly defeated the Lions, 45-12, in the sectional semifinals last year. This will mark Lincoln’s first trip to a state title game since 2010, when the Lions lost to New Providence in the North 2, Group I finale at MetLife Stadium. Lincoln hasn’t won a state title since 1981.
The Friars advanced to the school’s first-ever state sectional football championship by defeating previously unbeaten St. Mary’s of Rutherford, 19-6. They will face St. Joseph of Hammonton, a program with a state-record 23 NJSIAA titles, at Kean University on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 4 p.m.
The Marauders have earned a return trip to MetLife Stadium to face the same team that defeated them in the same state title game a year ago, namely Paramus Catholic, the team that has won the last two sectional titles and the team that has knocked the Marauders out of the playoffs the last two years.
St. Peter’s Prep will face Paramus Catholic on Friday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. at MetLife Stadium.
For Lincoln, the win was especially impressive, considering that they collectively took the ball and ran it right down Madison’s throat.
Senior Devell Jones, headed to Monmouth on a scholarship next fall, said that he expected to be able to control the ball and the line of scrimmage against Madison.
“We just attacked the play,” said Jones, who rushed for 189 yards and two touchdowns. “Once we got past through the first line [of defense], we knew that they were not going to be able to stop us.”
Sophomore Kamani Addison, who added 112 yards rushing, including an 81-yard TD run late in the game to close the scoring, agreed with his backfield mate.
“I’m grateful to the other running backs, because they open it up for me,” Addison said. “After the first quarter, we knew that we just had to keep giving the ball to our backs and let us run.”
Lincoln head coach Robert Hampton knew that this was all part of a process for his team. Two years ago, they lost in the first round of the state playoffs to Caldwell. Last year, it was the semifinals to Mountain Lakes. Now, they’re back in a state title game.
“What I think it did was make these kids hungrier,” Hampton said. “It made them tougher and resilient. They had a better attitude. They started to say, ‘Hey, why not us?’”
Why not? If the Lions can continue their progress, then the 32-year wait for another state title will be over – but it won’t come easy.
Hardly anyone thought the Friars had a chance to make it to a state title game. After all, St. Anthony had never even won a single state playoff game prior to two weeks ago and even then, that win came against a Marist team with only two wins this season. St. Mary’s had been to the playoffs 25 times in the past, had won 19 state playoff games, made 15 trips to the state finals and won three state crowns.
But the Friars did have someone with state playoff experience – namely veteran head coach Ed Stinson, who won six NJSIAA state titles during his incredible tenure at Hoboken.
“I have a great deal of respect for the St. Mary’s program,” Stinson said. “They’ve enjoyed a high level of success for a long period of time. This was a throw-back kind of football game. It speaks volumes to the way we played. We played well.”
Eli Terry had 250 yards rushing and teammate Torrance Williams added 147 more. The Friars amassed 450 yards of total offense and didn’t even attempt a single pass.
“The time of possession was incredible,” Stinson said. “We have a methodical system. We kept moving the chains.”
And the Friars’ immense front line did their job blocking and executing.
“This doesn’t get old,” Stinson said. “It’s a great time of year. These are two good weeks of football.”
As for the Marauders, they trailed Bergen Catholic, 14-10, at halftime, but came storming back in the second half, after Brandon Wimbush got his second pair of contact lenses and was able to see where he was throwing the ball.
The brilliant quarterback got poked in the eye during the first half and lost a lens. A Prep assistant coach had to scoot back to the school from Caven Point Cochrane Stadium to get Wimbush’s backup pair.
Inserted during halftime, Wimbush then hooked up with Minkah Fitzpatrick for TD passes of 44, 42 and 63 yards, all in the third quarter, and the Marauders earned the victory and the return trip to the Meadowlands.
“He was basically throwing by Braille in the first half,” St. Peter’s Prep head coach Rich Hansen said. “He threw one interception all year and had three in the first half. I think we all just had to learn to rebound and respond. We just had to play fast, physical and smart and I thought we could come back.”
Wimbush ended the day with 430 yards passing and four TDs, as he leads his team back to the game where he was injured a year ago and couldn’t continue. The Notre Dame bound signal caller will hope to bring the Marauders their fourth-ever state title, joining teams that won titles in 1989, 1994 and 2005.
With that, three local grid teams now get a chance to play in December. Dress warmly, get out that second pair of gloves and socks, because it should be a great weekend of football, both at MetLife Stadium and at Kean University.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
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