The time for accountability on the gridiron has arrived.
Beyond whatever dividends were gained for the aerial attack through the now-customary 7-on-7’s in June and July, or the three weeks of official pre-season drills which commenced Aug. 11 - including a couple of scrimmages to get ready for it all - the 2025 New Jersey high school football season will get underway in Week 0, this Thursday, Aug. 28, through Saturday, Aug. 30.
While some teams may not begin until the post-Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4-6, - which is considered as Week 1 on the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s football calendar - the importance of season openers can be talked about ad nauseam regardless of one’s start date, but just how important are those very early games in dictating the tone – positive or negative - for a team’s entire autumn campaign?
Perhaps a season-opening defeat can deflate some teams, but that was certainly not the case for Ramapo last fall as coach Nick Guttuso’s Green Raiders were 0-3 out of the gates and then jet-started the remainder of their season with a 24-14 win at Montclair’s Woodman Field on Sept. 28, 2024.
The Bergen County school proceeded to win eight straight games before falling to a superior Phillipsburg team, 35-6, in the NJSIAA North 1, Group 4 playoff final.
Ramapo will entertain Irvington (4-4 in 2024) in one of the intriguing Week 0 season openers this Friday evening (Aug. 29).
Montclair Kimberley, coming off a superb 8-1 season in 2024, hosts Hawthorne at noon Friday (Aug. 29) in its season opener.
Veteran coach Anthony Rea’s Cougars graduated an all-time great running back in Kalvin Thomas (Howard University), but still has a number of solid veterans to turn to including college-bound players in wide receiver-defensive back Nate Chou (Wesleyan University) and two-way lineman Charlie O’Hara (Washington & Lee).
Seton Hall Prep, aiming to get off to strong start vs. St. John Vianney, 1 p.m., Friday, while also seeking to begin road toward improving on last year’s 2-8 campaign, will look to running back Bryce Robbins to help spearhead the ground attack and standout kicker Declan Farrell to lead the special teams for the Pirates.
West Essex lost twice to a mighty Old Tappan team last season including 19-7 in its season opener, yet the Knights then reeled off six straight wins and finished a solid 8-3 on the season.
The Knights are now led by first-year head coach Dan Fulton, a former Montclair State player and one-time graduate assistant for the Red Hawks, who did a terrific job during his tenure at nearby Hanover Park. A new-look Wessex squad entertains Old Tappan, Friday night at Travis Field, to kick off its 2025 season.
Longtime Wessex head man Chris Benacquista is now coaching at Wayne Valley with the high school in the town where he lives, and the Indians have an interesting season opener on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 30, taking on Group 1 juggernaut Cedar Grove in a 1 p.m. kickoff at West Point Prep in New York as the Panthers reload after losing some very key pieces from last fall’s superb 13-1 squad.
