West Essex's Iavarone Excels
In Continuing QB's Lead Role

NORTH CALDWELL- Gaetano Iavarone retained quite a lot last fall in watching the work of his predecessor at quarterback, Jake Long lead the way for West Essex.

“Jake set the standard,” said the current Knights starting QB, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in his team’s 21-0 North 2, Group 3 semifinal win vs. Montville. “We had a new offense with Coach (Dan) Fulton coming in last year and his style of play and toughness were just what that team needed.

“The quarterback in our offense needs to be ready to run 10 to 15 times a game, if not more, and also be able to read defenses in order to find open receivers.

“He did just that in an amazing season and working this season with (quarterback) coaches (Kyle) Kovacs and (Marty) Horn, I’ve tried to do whatever I can do to help keep our offense moving and – most importantly – help us win games.”

Long had high production both running and passing the ball last fall for the 6-4 Knights who were edged by Summit in the North 2, Group 3 semifinals with 1,474 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground and ,1359 yards and 15 TDs passing while earning Sideline Chatter’s Essex County Offensive Player of the Year honors.

Iavarone, who despite missing nearly three full games with a sprained ankle he absorbed in the first quarter of an Oct. 8th 13-2 win at Central, has still put up very solid numbers of his own completing 110 of 151 passes for 1,250 yards and 9 TDs with 5 Int. while also leading the team in rushing 137 times for 676 yards and 14 TDs.

He returned to full-time action for the first time since the 32-28 loss to neighborhood rival Caldwell on Oct. 2nd, when he started vs. eighth-seeded Weequahic in the first round of the N2G3 playoffs on Oct. 30 at Travis Field.

Despite offensive struggles vs. the improved Indians who the Knights had defeated 29-8 earlier in the season in Newark, Iavarone willed his team to victory rushing for a game-winning TD with just five minutes remaining in a come-from-behind 13-8 victory.

For his most recent efforts which included completing 15-of-19 passes for 198 yards and a TD, while also rushing 23 times for 87 yards and two more TDs in this past Friday night’s (Nov. 6) 21-0 shutout over fifth-seeded Montville, the senior leader for the 10-1 Knights is the latest Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week.

Top-seeded West Essex hosts second-seeded and 16th ranked Wayne Hills (10-1) 6:30 p.m. Friday night (Nov. 13) in the North 2, Group 3 sectional championship game.

Iavarone’s superb senior season, which has also been complemented by the strong play of sophomore Ben Ciriglione, who filled in so admirably in helping spearhead the Knights to victories over West Morris and Nutley, has been further testament to the success of the spread offense brought in by Fulton and his new staff after nearly a half century of the Knights running predominantly a Wing-T based attack.

Fulton, whose Hanover Park team captured a North 1, Group 2 state sectional playoff title during his final season at the helm with the Hornets, was able to rather quickly and successfully implement that spread offense thanks in large measure to the incredible season put forth by Long and now implemented for much of this season by Iavarone who last year was a complementary part as he served as a backup QB (completing 5-of-7 passes for 214 yards and 3 TDs) and running back (26 carries for 112 yards, 1 TD and 14 receptions for 187 yards and 3 TDs) and occasional DB.

Everyone watched Long do it all offensively for highly-competitive Knights, and now another talented QB has put forth another strong season as the team’s senior field general.

“Gaetano has stepped in this season and done a tremendous job, but I don’t know if he would be as good as he’s been if it weren’t for Jake who was such a great kid to emulate,” said Fulton. “Both kids put together terrific senior seasons and Gaetano has bounced back quickly from his injury to once again start for us in the playoffs.

“He won the starting job in the pre-season and that’s not to take anything away from Ben who has played well and is going to be a great one, but the kids just rally around Gaetano like nothing else, and he’s been the senior leader you look for at QB.”

While Iavarone has been able to bounce back from his mid-season injury other Knights have not been as fortunate. His younger brother, standout junior linebacker Frankie Iavarone, absorbed a season-ending, torn ACL during the same game at Central when his big brother was also injured.

Valuable senior wide receiver Luke Kesack (fractured ankle), junior WR Dylan Connolly and junior linebacker-lineman Nico Castelli are among the other Knights on the shelf, but the always-persistent and physical Knights persevere and keep winning.

“We have had injuries all over the place, but other kids keep stepping up,” said Iavarone. “I have great teammates who rally around each other all the time and now we’re hosting a playoff final.

“It doesn’t get any better than this and I’ve waited four years for this opportunity and now it’s here as we get ready for Wayne Hills. State rankings mean nothing, I see it as an even matchup and while we’re underdogs despite being the higher seed I actually like that and the fact that people will doubt us.”

Winning on Friday night means everything for Iavarone in his football career which started as an 8-yaer-old with the Fairfield Falcons Pee Wees team, but will end whenever his final playoff game arrives since he is heading to the University of Scranton next summer where he will become part of the Division III men’s lacrosse team there.

Iavarone, a 3-sport star who is also a high scorer for West Essex’s basketball team during the winter, is a standout short-stick defensive midfielder for the Knight laxmen during the spring.

He added even more strength for his senior school year during this past off-season when he added 15 pounds while working out hard at District Training in East Hanover.

This fall it’s been football where the veteran Knights team leader has shown what dedication and perseverance can mean towards success.

“I enjoy all my different teammates and playing for three different head coaches in three sports I love being a part of at our high school,” said Iavarone. “I’m enjoying every minute that I have remaining with this football team and their goal is also mine which is winning a state championship!”

NOTES- Iavarone’s dad, also Gaetano, who now works in construction in New York, played his high school football at Cresskill and was a 6-4, 265-pound D-lineman for Boston College…Mom Eyse, who is from Parsippany and attended the University of Massachusetts, is a school teacher in East Rutherford…As a freshman football player for the Knights, Gaetano served as a ballboy during West Essex’s Group 3 state final vs. Delsea at Rutgers Stadium…His favorite subject at West Essex is Math and he hopes to concentrate on Business and Finance studies at Scranton...Iavarone average 16 points per game last winter for the West Essex basketball team that finished 9-17, and he will enter his senior hoops campaign with 857 career points which means he should easily surpass the 1,000-point plateau...Scranton men's lacrosse, under the direction of head coach Michael Hofmeister,finished 14-7 last spring including a perfect 9-0 mark in the Landmark Conference. Among the other Jersey laxmen on the Royals include Iavarone's former high school teammate, freshmman defenseman Matthew Capra of West Essex and Verona resident Colin Giarrusso, a former Seton Hall Prep standout midfielder, and son of former SHP and MKA head coach Dave Giarrusso.

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