The calendar reads August and for St. Peter’s Prep head football coach Rich Hansen, that’s all that matters. Hansen can’t even begin to think about December and what possibly lies ahead.
“We’re focused on what we have in front of us now,” Hansen said as he prepares for his 26th season as the head coach of the Marauders. “We’re a work in progress. There is no December if we don’t care of business now. We have to make sure we take care of every little step along the way. We have a lot of road to hoe before we can think of anything else.”
But it’s very hard to avoid the idea that the Marauders have watched their entire season end at the hands of the very same team in each of the last five seasons.
When the NJSIAA Non-Public Group 4 playoffs have arrived in December, the Marauders have fallen – and fallen hard – in each of the last five years to national power Don Bosco Prep, who begins the 2011 season as the No. 1-ranked team in the entire country.
The numbers are startling. Last year, the Marauders capped a 9-2 season with a 37-0 loss to Bosco in Ramsey. In 2009, it was 35-15 in the title game at Giants Stadium. In 2008, it was more of the same, a 38-13 loss. In 2007 and 2006, the Marauders were undefeated before facing the Ironmen and lost 42-14 and 41-0, each time in the state championship game at Giants Stadium.
That’s a combined score of 193-42 over the last five years, since the Marauders defeated Don Bosco in the 2005 state championship game.
A lot of people consider the Prep-Bosco showdown as a rivalry, but in reality, it’s not much a rivalry when one team pretty much dominates the other.
That fact is hard to dodge.
For now, the Marauders will be once again one of the top teams in the state and certainly the best squad in Hudson County, where they have not lost a single game in over a decade. The last loss inside Hudson County took place in 2000. The last league loss occurred in 1999. There have been 93 local opponents that have tried to topple the mighty Marauders to no avail.
“The barometer for us is always the same,” Hansen said. “We want to win in our own home and we’ve won 93 straight games, which is an awesome record. We want to win our league first and then move on to bigger and better things.”
The Marauders lost some big names to graduation, none bigger than two-time Hudson Reporter Most Valuable Player Savon Huggins, who took his 1,800-plus yards and 35 touchdowns to Piscataway and the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers.
“We’ve had some great players over the years and no question, Savon was a special guy,” Hansen said. “But this is an opportunity for the others to step up and come together as a team.”
Leading the returnees is senior quarterback Brandon Napoleon (5-11, 180), who is one of three Marauders to already give a verbal commitment to a major Division I college. Napoleon, who threw for 1,000 yards and rushed for 600 more last year, is headed to West Virginia next fall, the school where his father, Eugene, once starred.
“The experience of being a starting quarterback for a year has to help,” Hansen said. “It’s always great to have a returning starter at quarterback. He has to do a lot more this year, make plays. We have a lot of slogans and sayings, but one is to prepare with conviction and perform with passion. That’s what Brandon has to do.”
While the Marauders may miss Huggins and what he brought to the table, they won’t lose much with senior Jared Crayton (6-0, 200) carrying the bacon.
“He’s waited for his time and that time has come,” Hansen said. “I don’t want to compare him with Savon, but I believe in Jared and I believe in his talents. He’s a warrior and has a great passion for the game. I’m totally buying into him.”
Crayton rushed for 500 yards and six touchdowns last year as Huggins’ understudy. He’s the real deal and it’s his show this season.
But Crayton is not alone in the backfield. Senior D.J. Singleton (6-2, 200), who gave Wisconsin a verbal commitment last week, will see time there, along with junior Trajon Dinkins (5-10, 170), sophomore Jaleel Brown (5-7, 190) and the extremely athletic sophomore John Hilliman (6-0, 205), who just might be the best all-around athlete in Marauder camp since Will Hill.
“We have a stable of guys in the backfield who are now getting into the varsity game mentality,” Hansen said.
The Marauders are also deep at wide receiver, with five different players capable of hauling in a Napoleon pass.
Junior Charlie Callinan (6-4, 200) has the look of being a top-flight receiver and he’s already receiving top college scholarship offers. Junior Tre Bell (5-10, 170) has been “phenomenal” in preseason, according to Hansen. Senior J.R. Robinson (6-1, 190), who had 18 receptions to lead the team last year, returns. Juniors Brian Githens (6-1, 180) and Kyle Shivers (6-1, 170) are also in the mix and are more than capable.
“On paper, it’s the deepest group of receivers we’ve ever had,” Hansen said.
That’s not even mentioning the best tight end in New Jersey in senior Michael Giacone (6-5, 250), who has already given his verbal nod to Rutgers. Giacone had 16 receptions and six touchdowns last year and he’s the best tight end in school’s history.
Last year, the Marauders had three top college prospects in Huggins, Keith Lumpkin (also Rutgers) and Sheldon Royster (South Carolina), but none of them had decided upon college before the season. This year, the Marauders top three prospects already have their college papers in hand.
“It definitely has to help them,” Hansen said. “It’s been able to give them a piece of mind.”
If there’s a concern about the Marauders, it lies within their offensive line, which returns only one starter from last year in senior guard Keon Williams (6-2, 275).
“It’s always a concern,” Hansen said. “We need a young group to step up and make an effort to get better.”
Sophomore Caleb Hebron (6-4, 230) and junior Brian Rabasca (6-3, 245) are the tackles, with junior Marquise Watson (6-2, 265) joining Williams at guard. Junior Joe Stevenson (6-1, 245) is the center.
Defensively, the Marauders will feature a true freshman at defensive end in Clay Kemp (6-0, 280). He’s only the third Marauder to ever start as a freshman, with the aforementioned Hill and former Hudson Reporter Male Athlete of the Year Mike Brown being the others.
“He is very talented and has a chance to be a great player,” Hansen said of Kemp.
Watson, an All-Area selection as a defensive lineman last year, returns, with senior Ryan Medina (5-9, 280) at nose guard.
The outside linebackers are Singleton and Crayton, with senior Tony Pafumi (5-10, 190), junior Shane Huber (6-2, 210) and sophomore Almanny Conde (5-10, 220) battling for time at inside linebacker. Napoleon leads the secondary, along with Bell, Dinkins and senior Garland Greene (5-7, 170). Robinson returns to his safety slot, along with Githens and sophomore Shamir Bearfield (6-1, 170).
The Marauders open the 2011 season facing Montclair at Rutgers Stadium on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. They open their home schedule Sept. 17 against St. Joseph of Montvale at Caven Point Cochrane Stadium, also at 7 p.m.
“The talent is there,” Hansen said. “We’re still a work in progress.”
Whether there will be another showdown with the nemesis from Bergen County later on remains to be seen.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com.