St. Joseph had a big, big win over Bergen Catholic on Saturday night. But was that the biggest win of the week? (George McNish/Special to The Record)
Each week of the fall season, The Record football staff will have an e-mail roundtable. Check out Varsity Aces every Monday for an extra helping of football knowledge, as we offer opinions, analysis and insight on all the weekend’s happenings. Feel free to join in on the conversation in the comments.
DePaul, St. Joseph and River Dell all had big wins this weekend. But which football team had the most meaningful win of all? Our staff debates. Also, you can vote below who you think had the biggest win.
Ed Mills, Staff Writer: Most meaningful win was probably DePaul. Bosco had lost the two out of state games but this loss and DePaul’s win kind of altered the balance of power in the area. Means right now there are only a big two with Paramus Catholic and St. Joseph – Bosco, Bergen Catholic (its big loss and St. Joseph’s big victory was second most meaningful win) and DePaul are not quite in same league with top two. No more parochial school top five — now a tandem at top and then rest.
Jim McConville, Contributor: I’m going to go a different route. The most meaningful was St. Joseph over Bergen Catholic. The Green Knights didn’t just smack down the Crusaders, they sent the message across North Jersey and basically the entire country that they are 100 percent for real. Think about this for a second. SJR doesn’t get the opportunity to play against their rivals in the postseason, and because of that they don’t get the consideration they should. Heck, even the NJSIAA treats them like a second class citizen every year, farming them off to Rutgers or Kean or wherever and denying them the big stage at MetLife. They crunched Bergen by 43 points; the same BC team that was representative against John Curtis and should have beaten Bishop Gorman. You want to earn respect across the board, that’s what you do. You leave no doubt. That’s the definition of meaningful.
Darren Cooper, Local Sports Columnist: Jim, you are 100 percent correct about what Joes did, but let me ask this question, if they did have to play Bergen/Bosco, or PC a second time, would the results be that much different? It’s not easy to beat a team twice in HS football. That said, what Joes did Saturday night was remarkable.
But I’m tired of talking about the non-publics. Northern Highlands had a great win beating Paramus and it sets up a huge game with Ramapo now, under the portable lights at Highlands. Hey, did River Dell salvage its season Friday night or what? That was a real gut-check for them. I’m going to throw 2 more at you, Bogota beating Park Ridge was a big deal, and if you look at their schedule the next 3 weeks, the Bucs could be 5-1 really easily. And Secaucus beating New Milford is a big win.
I’m also going to tip my hat to Glen Rock for downing Elmwood Park. Rock (never call them the Panthers) is 2-1, and now they have some big games coming up with Pompton and Lodi…and we really should be talking more about Lodi. They are 3-0. Someone email me a good Lodi story.
Mark Czerwinski, Staff Writer: I think it has to be DePaul. This is the sort of win this program has been waiting for for years. The Spartans desperately needed to beat one of the Big Four this season, and beating Don Bosco carries with it a real sense of accomplishment, even if this isn’t the best Bosco team of the last decade. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we now have a Big Five, but I can see the Spartans beating Bergen Catholic. This win means they can call themselves the best team in Passaic County.
Brian Giuffra, Staff Writer: Great point Mark. I think DePaul has been waiting a long time for this kind of win and it’s not diminished in the slightest just because it’s not the best Bosco team. The Spartans gained some confidence staying close with Paramus Catholic for a half and that confidence carried over. How far can they take it? Who knows. But this is the sort of win programs can build off of, not only this year, but for years to come. That doesn’t mean it will happen. But that’s how big this win could be for DePaul, providing they keep focused and beat a few other big-name programs.
Andy Vasquez, Staff Writer: Huge, huge wins from DePaul, St. Joseph and Northern Highlands. But as Darren alluded to, River Dell was in a must-win situation on Friday night, and came up with a clutch performance. Not many people — including me — thought the Hawks had much of a chance against an up-and-coming Dwight Morrow program. And the stakes were high: with a loss, River Dell would have been 0-3 and basically out of the hunt for the Big North Patriot. Now, they’re right back in it. River Dell’s been a great program for a long time, and it’s no accident. Next time, I won’t be so quick to doubt them.
Keith Idec, Staff Writer: River Dell desperately needed to beat Dwight Morrow and the Hawks saved their season by doing so. But DePaul produced the most meaningful win of the weekend. The Spartans had to beat at least one of the four Bergen County parochial powers this to strengthen the program’s credibility, especially when you consider how much talent DePaul has on its roster. Don Bosco obviously isn’t as good as it has been in recent years, but this was still a huge win for DePaul, in some respects bigger than if the Spartans go on to win a Non-Public, Group 2 championship later this season.
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