Several pundits have pointed to North, Group 5, with a powerful field including Ramapo, West Orange, Phillipsburg and Passaic Tech as one of the more talent-laden array of playoff combatants out there as the NJSIAA’s much-anticipated high school football post season gets underway.
But don’t tell that to West Essex coach Dan Fulton, whose 8-1 Knights are situated as the top seed in North 2, Group 3, and welcome eighth-seeded Weequahic in a first-round contest this Friday night (Oct. 30).
“I think Group 3 is toughest,” said the second-year head coach who previously won a state sectional title in his final season at Hanover Park in 2024. “You take a look at the teams in both brackets and there are a lot of teams that could win multiple games.”
Old Tappan (8-0), the highest ranked public school in the state (No. 7), is the top seed in North 1, Group 3 with very good teams behind them in 2-Cranford (7-1), 3-Shabazz (7-1) and 4-West Morris (6-3). In N2G3 along with West Essex is another state-ranked team in No. 18 Wayne Hills (8-1) along with other potential land mines in third-seeded Holmdel (6-3) which plays a very challenging Shore Conference schedule, and 4-River Dell (7-2) and is red-hot at the moment with five straight wins.
As strong as North, Group 3 or Group 5 may be, there are other formidable groups to get through such as in North, Group 2 where Caldwell (7-1) is the No. 2 seed in N1G2, and has others to watch in its section such as third-seeded Rutherford and top-seeded Westwood, while a talented Hoboken team is atop N2G2.
Top-seeded Cedar Grove (7-1), which is fresh off a tremendous regular season win at Caldwell, and could be considered a clear favorite in North, Group 1 and is the No. 1 seed in N2G1 with a first-round game vs. 8-Glen Ridge which it defeated 44-0 earlier this season.
West Essex posted a 29-8 victory at Weequahic back on Sept. 25; however, Fulton is very wary of the Indians (4-3, who have played a tough schedule and have now extra rest in order to prepare for this Friday’s rematch in North Caldwell.
“We’re fully focused on Weequahic and we have a lot of work to accomplish this week in order to be prepared to meet them again,” said Fulton. “Our first game with them was closer than the final score would indicate and they have gotten better since then while having a couple of tough losses against Chatham and Hoboken, plus they’ll have two weeks now to be able to prepare for this game.
“We’re excited about earning a top seed in our section and be playing at home, but we also know at this point of the season - regardless of anyone’s record – that nothing is guaranteed and that we have so many very capable teams in our bracket.”
West Essex can present different looks offensively enhanced by the fact that it has two talented quarterbacks to turn to in senior Gaetano Iavarone (83-of-112 for 966 yards, 8 TDs, 6 Int. and 67 carries for 480 yards, 11 TDs rushing) and promising sophomore Ben Cirigliano (33-of-60 for 341 yards, 2 TDs, and 360 yards, 5 TDs rushing).
Cirigliano is coming off a superb performance this past Friday night when he completed 10-of-14 passes for 151 yards and had 25 carries for 138 yards and 3 TDs in a 21-14 win over Nutley.
Both QBs benefit from strong coaching with former Knight Kyle Kovacs and ex-Millburn and Lehigh star and former longtime Madison assistant Marty Horn on hand to combine their talents as teachers.
“Kyle is a West Essex alum who is great on X’s and O’s and Marty is a whisperer of sorts with his work on technique, footwork, etc., as both of them do great work with our quarterbacks,” stated Fulton. “Gaetano has been a great leader for us out there his senior year and Ben is a talented, young guy who could be the best QB I’ve coached before it’s all said and done.”
The West Essex O-Line has been a strong point for the team all season led by a mix of strong underclassmen including juniors in right tackle Harry Teaster, left tackle Jon Napholz, right guard Rocco Maglione, left guard Luca Cifelli and sophomore center Giovanni Duva.
Veteran seniors such as tackle DJ Fiore and end Ny’Shawn Muldrow help anchor the sturdy D-Line. The experienced secondary is led by seniors Rocco Pontrella and Anthony Conforti.
