The Secaucus High School football team snapped a two-game losing streak with a resounding 45-13 victory over Ridgefield last Friday night.
That alone isn’t newsworthy. But what it is impressive about the Patriots’ win is the way they got to the lopsided win.
The Patriots gained a total of 484 yards rushing, easily the highest ground total in decades and perhaps the school record for yards gained on the ground.
Even more impressive is the idea that the Patriots had six different players score rushing touchdowns and that no one back had more than 100 yards. Delve into the game a little further and decades and perhaps the school record for yards gained on the ground.
Even more impressive is the idea that the Patriots had six different players score rushing touchdowns and that no one back had more than 100 yards. Delve into the game a little further and you’ll see that the majority of the backs who did the damage for the Patriots were either freshmen or sophomores.
“We have six or seven backs who are all capable of doing something,” Voorhees said. “They can run, they can catch, they even block. They’re unselfish. They all have a job to do and they do it.”
Jaden Gonzalez, who had 88 yards on 11 carries, is the lone senior among the Patriots’ “Kiddie Corps.”
“We had three freshmen and three sophomores back there,” said veteran Secaucus head football coach Charlie Voorhees. “They’re all capable and they’re all young. We rotated players all night long. We’re still trying to see who’s good and who’s going to be good. At one point against Hasbrouck Heights and Cresskill, we had seven freshmen on the field. That’s how young we are.”
So spreading the wealth last Friday and giving everyone a chance to carry the ball was Voorhees’ idea all along.
“It was the plan,” Voorhees said. “We wanted to see how it worked. It makes us look like we know what we’re doing.”
Derek Fernandez had only one carry, but he broke it for an 85-yard touchdown. Chuck Snyder had 10 carries and 83 yards and a touchdown. The Schaffer twins, Tommy and Bobby, both freshmen, had eight carries each and a score. Tommy had 64 yards. Raequan Andrews had 10 carries, 60 yards and a TD.
Fernandez, Snyder and Andrews are sophomores. The Schaffer twins are freshmen. The youth movement is well underway at Secaucus.
“It might have been the most we’ve ever spread it around,” Voorhees said. “We’re like a hockey lineup, changing all the time. We even rotated quarterbacks and linemen. It takes a special team to be able to care about each other so much. If you have a strong bond, you can go a long way. It’s awesome to have. It was rewarding to watch a plan that we put into place work so well.
Added Voorhees, “There’s nothing that they wouldn’t do for each other. There’s no job that they’re unwilling to do. It’s really a team and that’s what I’m really proud of.”…
It was a weekend for great gridiron performances throughout the county.
It was a great weekend for former Reporter Athletes of the Week. Hoboken’s Wilden Germain scored four touchdowns. Lincoln’s Kamani Addison had 184 yards on just nine carries and three touchdowns. Union City’s Kevin Paul had 123 yards on just five carries and a touchdown. And last week’s honoree Jahleel Baker of Snyder did last week one better, throwing for 300 yards and five touchdowns in the Tigers’ win over Tenafly.
Needless to say, there doesn’t seem to be an Athlete of the Week jinx this year.
As for others, let’s start with Algenis Baret of Bayonne, who had another great game, collecting 200 yards on just six carries and a touchdown in the Bees’ rout of Kearny. Izayah Reyes of Union City had 144 yards on six carries and three touchdowns.
St. Peter’s Prep receiver Jorge Portorreal had four receptions for 100 yards and three TDs. Hudson Catholic do-everything Aziz Wilson had two carries for 130 yards, both of which went for touchdowns. For good measure, Wilson had an 80-yard punt return for a score.
Memorial’s Smelvyn Morel (yes, that is his name) had 98 yards rushing and made 13 tackles in the Tigers’ 24-21 win over Dickinson.
Lincoln QB Darius-George Hilburn completed 13-of-19 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns.
It was certainly a great week with a bunch of Athlete of the Week candidates…
It’s time for No. 5 in the list of Top 25 Characters over the last 25 years of Hudson Reporter sports and it’s the late, great Bill DeFazio of St. Anthony and Marist girls’ basketball fame.
If anyone saw DeFazio coach, they would know he was a character. He was once described by me as a “Tasmanian Devil,” the whirling, spinning dervish of Warner Brothers cartoons. He loved that name so much that he had a welcome mat entering his home in Jersey City with the Tasmanian Devil on it.
Watching DeFazio on the sidelines was worth the price of admission, because you never knew what he was going to do. I once saw him do a standing broad jump clear over the bench at Dickinson High School, because he was enraged at an official’s call.
And DeFazio used to get mad at officials quite often.
But the man was a brilliant coach, one with few peers. He was a student of every game he coached. He was a genius football coach during his heyday, coaching CYO football with his native St. Paul’s (Greenville). I always told him that he would have been a legendary high school football coach if he was given the opportunity.
By the time he stepped away from coaching due to illness, he was the premier Hudson County leader in coaching victories in girls’ basketball. He won countless HCIAA and NJSIAA state titles, the only coach in Hudson County history to win basketball state titles at two different schools.
But he was a character for his actions and what he had to say, both on and off the record. He was one of the funniest men in the world and was also one of the most caring with the biggest heart. He’s also someone who went from being my coach as a kid to my close friend as an adult.
He deserves his spot among the cast of Top 25 characters here…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Football Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (4-1). 2. Union City (4-1). 3. Hoboken (3-2). 4. Lincoln (3-2). 5. Hudson Catholic (4-1).
Hudson Reporter H.S. Boys’ Soccer Top Five: 1. North Bergen (11-2-1). 2. St. Peter’s Prep (11-3-1). 3. Bayonne (10-3). 4. Union City (8-4). 5. Secaucus (9-4). – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com