The 67-year-old Anello, who retired from his full-time job at Ramapo in December of 2021, returned to his original home once again, first as the line coach on Johnson’s staff and then also serving for two years as the Mounties’ ‘interim’ athletic director, a post now manned on a permanent basis since February by Matt Belford.    

Anello’s new-look 2025 MHS coaching staff includes former Verona head coach Kevin Batty as the offensive coordinator, and ex-Clifton coach and Verona native Steve Covello as the defensive coordinator.

With the overriding fact that the current MHS team is an extremely young and inexperienced unit, the Mounties are certainly more of an unknown in terms of what they can ultimately accomplish on the field as they are set to begin its 2025 gridiron campaign 6 p.m., Friday, Aug. 29 with the season opener at St. Thomas Aquinas (formerly known as Bishop Ahr) in Edison.

The Trojans, who have had their own variation of upheaval with a flurry of coaching changes this past off-season, have also seen a number of still-eligible players transfer to other high schools, including third-team all-state defensive back Josiah Zayas who is now playing at Piscataway.

St. Thomas Aquinas, which finished 8-3 and was ranked No. 13 in the final 2024 nj.com state rankings, saw last season end with a 35-31 loss to Holy Spirit in the Non-Public B playoff semifinals.    

The new-look Mounties have a 69-man roster according to the pre-season list provided by the MHS football boosters with just 9 seniors, 16 juniors, 21 sophomores and a healthy number of 23 freshmen.

Also, according to available 2024 statistics, none of the returning quarterbacks, running backs or receivers threw a pass, had a pass reception or ran the ball in a varsity contest last fall.

It will be interesting to see just how well the Mounties can fare against their formidable schedule which includes Freedom Red Division showdowns with neighboring rivals East Orange Campus and West Orange, both of whom were N1G5 playoff finalists last fall with the Jaguars capturing the sectional title; along with what promise to be very challenging tests against the likes of Ridgewood (on the road in week 1, Friday night Sept. 5), reigning N1G4 champion Ramapo, and always-formidable Union City.

“I never talk about winning and losing and instead try and stress doing things the right way, while staying mentally focused every day, because how you practice during the week is usually the way you’re going to play on Friday night or Saturday afternoon,” said Anello. “Our players have been outstanding throughout the summer and they’ve been a joy to be around.

“We’ve had good experiences in three different 7-on-7’s (held in Teaneck, Cedar Grove and Wayne Valley) we’ve been in, and the players have been picking things up quickly as they learn more about our offense and defense.”

As pre-season practice was moving briskly along there has been a wide-open race for the starting quarterback job. Among the candidates is a promising 14-year-old freshman Andrew Reynolds (6-1, 185) who comes from strong athletic stock as his father is former major league infielder Harold Reynolds.

Senior Jake Martin (6-1, 165), who is also a safety on defense, and junior Eli Miller (6-0, 190), are two QB candidates with sub-varsity experience at the position, and Martin also had a few varsity reps last fall, while junior Samad Jiles (6-0, 180), who  is a talented wide receiver, has also been taking some snaps behind center this summer along with sophomore Nate Van Note (6-0, 175), who is also a highly-regarded Mounties’ baseball player.

The running back position will have new varsity performers as well, including junior Zahkir Huff (5-8, 170), who is showing promise, while the O-Line has a strong center with experience to help anchor that unit in senior Aaron Smith (6-0, 240), who missed most of 2024 after suffering a knee injury in the season opener.

Junior Avery Burden (6-1, 245), who is also the team’s long snapper, is another top 2-way lineman to watch for MHS.

Two valuable senior additions to this fall’s football team are veteran lacrosse players Dylan Kaelin-Panico (6-1, 200) and Adam Schmitt (6-4, 205) who will lend their strong athleticism on both sides of the ball this season with the former able to play any number of positions including ‘H’ Back, wide receiver and inside linebacker, and the latter providing a strong option at both wide receiver and outside linebacker.

An important area of the team where strength appears to be quite apparent is in the kicking game with a pair of veteran seniors in the outstanding punter Oscar Crosbie-Smyth (6-0, 150), a definite college football prospect, who can provide a 40-yard punt with good hang time on a steady basis, and placekicker Quinn Previdi (5-10, 175), who is remembered for delivering a last-second, winning field goal in a N1G5 playoff semifinal victory at Watchung Hills in 2023, and is ready to have a strong upcoming campaign.   

“We have a lot of potential at a number of spots on the field and we’ll see where that all takes us,” said Anello. “We really like this group and they continue to have a great attitude and work hard to learn as much as they can with everything we throw at them every day.”

NOTES- The Mounties, who were scheduled to travel to Clifton on Monday, Aug. 18, for their first-pre-season scrimmage, also held a team get-together at Woodman Field on Sunday, Aug. 17, including family and also members of the media…St. Thomas Aquinas returns a first-team all-state linebacker in senior Anwar Witherspoon (6-2, 220), who is a University of Buffalo commit…Former Mounties all-state linebacker Willie Matthews, who played college ball at Kansas and Southern University, is a member of Montclair High’s 2025 coaching staff…MHS first-year defensive coordinator Steve Covello, who like OC Batty starred scholastically at Verona, was a former assistant on Anello’s staff at Clifton and followed his mentor as the next Mustangs head coach.   

MONTCLAIR 2025 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE:
 Scrimmages:
  Monday, Aug. 18, at Clifton, 10 a.m.
  Friday, Aug. 22, at West Morris, 7 p.m.

  Regular Season Games:
  Friday, Aug. 29: at St. Thomas Aquinas, 6 p.m.
  Friday, Sept. 5: at Ridgewood, 7 p.m.
  Saturday, Sept. 13, vs. Bloomfield, 1 p.m.
  Saturday, Sept. 20: vs. East Orange Campus, 1 p.m.
  Friday, Sept. 26, at Ramapo, 6 p.m.
  Saturday, Oct. 4: vs. Union City, 1 p.m.
  Saturday, Oct. 11: vs. West Orange, 1 p.m.
  Saturday, Oct. 18: vs. Barringer, 1 p.m.
  Friday, Oct. 24, at Livingston, 7 p.m.