The last of the North Jersey Big Five, Bergen Catholic, announced its 2015 football schedule Tuesday and, as is usually the case with the Crusaders, there really are no soft spots. Seven of BC’s nine finished ranked in the Top 100 last season — and that doesn’t even include DePaul, who finished just outside — and they’ll take on three defending state champions. The biggest thing you first notice is the abundance of home games for the Crusaders (6 of 9), so they’ll be plenty of Crusader Crazie-filled Saturdays in Oradell this fall.
The big “get†this year from Bergen Catholic was IMG Academy, a Florida powerhouse which was the only team to beat state champion St. Peter’s Prep last season. ESPN released its Top 300 juniors a few weeks ago and IMG players littered the list, including the No. 2 (DE Shavar Manuel, uncommitted), No. 3 (QB Malik Henry, committed to Florida State) and No. 20-ranked (Saivion Smith, committed to LSU) recruits. They were ranked as high as No. 16 in the nation last year by MaxPreps. BC will host IMG on Sept. 19 (Game 3).
Speaking of St. Peter’s Prep, Bergen Catholic will get its shot at redemption after falling to the Marauders twice last season — once in last year’s Non-Public semifinals. Brandon Wimbush and Minkah Fitzpatrick might be gone, but there’s still some talent leftover in Jersey City. Unlike last year’s two meetings, Bergen Catholic will get St. Peter’s (11-1 last year) at home on Sept. 12 (Game 2), one week before IMG. St. Peter’s Prep ended last season at No. 8 in the country by HSFB100.
The reason it took so long to finalize the schedule was the opener. Bergen Catholic finally agreed to take on American Heritage, another Florida school, on Sept. 5 (Game 1). Out of Delray Beach, Fla., American Heritage finished 11-2 last season and lost in the FHSAA Class 3A state final. American Heritage, home to ESPN’s No. 11-ranked junior recruit in the country (WR Dredrick Snelson, uncommitted), ended ranked No. 69 by HSFB100.
Following the Crusaders’ three-game homestand to open the year, they will hit the road for the first time and travel to Ohio, in a rematch against St. Edward on Sept. 26 (Game 4). These two teams played a classic last year at Overpeck Peck, won by Bergen Catholic, 14-10, with BC putting together an 8-play, 80-yard drive with 3:19 to go (the Corey Gaarn bomb down the right sideline being the highlight of the drive), capped by Jarrett Guarantano’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Mike Aniello with 26 seconds remaining. The win came just one week after St. Edward was considered the No. 1 team in America… and they finished ranked No. 3 by MaxPreps and No. 9 by HSFB100.
After opening with four non-conference opponents, Big North United play will begin with Bergen Catholic hosting Paramus Catholic on Oct. 3 (Game 5). This will be new Paramus Catholic coach Blake Costanzo’s coaching debut in the Big North United. The Paladins defeated the Crusaders, 44-7, last year, finished 10-2 and ended up ranked No. 24 by MaxPreps and No. 32 by HSFB100.
Following PC, Bergen Catholic will hit the road again and play its first (of just two) Friday night game at DePaul on Oct. 9 (Game 6). Last year, BC came-from-behind to defeat the Spartans, 25-14. As previously mentioned, DePaul is one of just two teams on Bergen’s schedule this year that did not finish inside the Top 100 last season, but could be this upcoming season. DePaul is the two-time defending Non-Public Group 2 state champion.
After DePaul, it will be back home for Bergen Catholic when it hosts St. Joseph on Oct. 17 (Game 7). In one of the most thrilling games in North Jersey in recent memory, the Crusaders defeated the Green Knights, 37-34, in double overtime, getting late-game heroics from slot-receiver-turned-emergency-QB Corey Gaarn (2 TD Passes), WR Gene Coleman (2 TD receptions) and RB Corey Russo (walkoff 25-yard TD Run in 2OT). St. Joe’s finished last season 8-3 overall and No. 85 in the country by HSFB100.
Bergen Catholic will then have two weeks to prepare for rival Don Bosco on Oct. 30 (Game 8), a 7 p.m. start in Ramsey, which will mark the 66th all-time meeting between the Crusaders and Ironmen. Last year, Bergen Catholic became the first opponent during the Greg Toal era at Don Bosco to hold the Ironmen without a touchdown in a 10-3 victory, with Gaarn starting at QB. It was Corey Russo’s 42-yard touchdown run with 2:03 left in the fourth which proved to be the game-winner. Don Bosco ended last season 7-4 and ranked No. 90 by HSFB100.
To cap its regular season, Bergen Catholic will take on one more non-conference opponent, Friendship Collegiate Academy out of Washington D.C on Nov. 7 (Game 9). The two schools had played in each of the three previous seasons prior to last year, with BC winning the most recent meeting in 2013, 27-8. Friendship finished 4-6 last year.
Bergen Catholic finished 8-3 in 2014, reached the Non-Public semifinals and finished No. 48 nationally by HSFB100. The Crusaders earned a share of the Big North United title and defeated a pair of opponents who were, at one point, ranked No. 1 nationally (Don Bosco and St. Edward). They played four eventual state champs last year (SPP, DePaul, Bentonville (Ark.) and St. Edward.