There were no lay-ups in the 2016 high school football schedule for the Redwings of Hoboken High School, no games that the players could circle on the slate and say they were going to be walks in the park.
The formation of the New Jersey Super Football Conference saw to that, so the schedule makers gave the Redwings challenges from the opening kickoff of the year.
The Redwings’ first opponent? None other than Verona, the 2015 NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group I state champion, a program with a 23-game winning streak.
It meant that it was a pairing of the two state sectional champions from the North – Verona in Section 1 and the Redwings, the winners of Section 2, Group I last December.
But facing a program with two straight years of victories and a state championship to boot? Certainly no walk over, no breezy easy.
“I think it was a big motivation for us,” said senior quarterback Wilden Germain, one of the few returning starters from last year’s Hoboken state sectional champs. “It doesn’t take a lot for me to get motivated, but a team that didn’t lose a game and won 23 straight? That was in my head. Coach [Lou Taglieri] told me that Hoboken has had a huge rivalry with Verona over the years.”
It’s true. Taglieri won the first 21 games of his head coaching career, then had that streak stopped by Verona in the 2006 state playoffs. The two programs have faced each other several times over the years, including the 2008 state championship game that Verona won by a 13-12 margin.
“We knew that it was Coach Tag’s first loss ever,” Germain said. “That was in my head, too.”
What was also in Germain’s head was his responsibility of being the team leader. He had that role last year as a junior, but that importance becomes even more magnified now as a senior and especially with a basically new roster.
“From Day One this year, I told him that he had to be that player,” Taglieri said. “We needed Wilden to carry the team. He does everything for us. He’s the punter. He returns kicks and punts. He plays defense. He’s on the field all the time.”
“I have to make sure that everyone is on the same page,” Germain said. “I have to make sure we were all prepared. I have to give that extra effort now. If I put in a little more effort and give off positive vibes, the rest of the team should feel the way I do. If someone gets a long run, then I need to get one. If someone makes a tackle, then I want to get one. I want to feed off that.”
And Germain does everything with the best of personalities.
“He always has this broad smile on his face, from ear to ear,” Taglieri said. “People naturally gravitate towards him. He’s just a great person to be around. He’s one of a kind. I wish I had a couple more like him, but I don’t. But I’ll take him.”
Germain didn’t take anything for granted being the returning starter at quarterback.
“He worked on becoming a better thrower,” Taglieri said. “He went to a couple of camps to work on his ability to throw the ball. He’s bigger and stronger. He’s much more of a weapon now. He’s the best athlete out there and the ball is in his hands all the time.”
That included one stretch in the third quarter.
“He’s the punter, but I’ve given him the green light to run anytime he wants from anywhere,” Taglieri said. “We were on our own 20, but he took off on a punt, made the first down and on the next play, he threw a 70-yard touchdown pass.”
Germain made the right plays all night long – and the Redwings had the victory. They knocked off the Hillbillies, 28-8, ending their two-year-long win streak and gaining a little revenge for Coach Taglieri in the process.
Germain completed five of 10 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns, one of 50 yards to Kevin Winston and the other of 70 yards to fabulous freshman Nyjon Freeman that changed the face of the game.
Germain also carried the ball 16 times for 101 yards and an 8-yard touchdown, the Redwings’ first score of the game. He also included the two-point PAT run on that touchdown, giving the Redwings an 8-0 lead.
In the process, Germain has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the last week. Germain is the first such honoree for the 2016-2017 scholastic sports season. The weekly feature will culminate in the presentations of the Hudson Reporter Male and Female Athletes of the Year next June. The Reporter Newspaper chain is the only organization to honor the top athletes in Hudson County and has done so for a quarter century.
Germain was ecstatic with his performance.
“It is a real good feeling to stop their streak,” Germain said. “But it’s not just me. It was a chance for Hoboken to feel good. There’s all this positive energy now because we won.”
The hard road continues this week, as the Redwings travel to face Cedar Grove.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Germain said. “We have to practice hard to get ready. I have to make sure I’m ready every practice, every snap.”
“He has the ball in his hands,” Taglieri said. “He’s just a really good athlete with a great attitude. I really don’t think he’s reached his full potential yet.”
The United States Military Academy at West Point likes Germain’s potential. West Point is recruiting him as a quarterback. The University of Maine, Stony Brook, Monmouth and Wagner are all looking at him as either a wide receiver or a defensive back.
“There are going to be more,” Taglieri said.
“I don’t know where I’m going yet,” said Germain, who is a good student with a 3.3 grade point average. “But I know that every play, I have to give 110 percent, because I don’t know who might be watching. If I go hard all the time, then colleges will see that. All in all, it’s only going to get better.”
And that’s great news for the Redwings as they play their brutally tough schedule created by the NJSFC. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com