Happy October!

My favorite month! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October

My look back at the weekend

Somerville senior running back Mason Robinson is a terrific football player. He ran for two touchdowns and took a Dan DiLella shuffle pass 59 yards for another score as the Pioneers rallied to win at Voorhees 28-21. Robinson is the real deal. DiLella threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Dan Cuozzo for the game-winnining points in the fourth quarter, but Robinson kept the Pioneers in the game. Somerville's defensive front also played very well. Voorhees' fans should't fret. The Vikings are a good team, but they'll need to bounce back quickly -- they have a very difficult game at Ridge Friday night. Scotch Plains-Fanwood may be without its top running back Tom Pennella for the rest of the season with a knee injury, but the Raiders had enough to knock off Plainfield 21-7 as senior Greg Brand and sophomore Marcus Green took up the slack in the backfield. The Raiders look like a balanced team directed by junior quarterback Mike Chevenryak. North Warren's 21-16 win over Delaware Valley surprised me a bit. The Patriots (3-1) have won two straight since losing to Bound Brook. The Crusaders (4-0) rallied to beat St. Joseph of the Palisades 27-20 as Chris Jeskie filled in for injured running back Eduardo Rosario, who is hobbled a bit by an ankle sprain. Manville (4-0) routed Bernards 49-6 as senior quarterback Mike Knitowski threw for two touchdowns and for three more. Quite a season in Manville -- oh yes, and Bound Brook too. :)

Oldtimer has local connection

The New York Times ran a great story Tuesday (9-26-06) written by Alan Schwarz about soon-to-be 111-year-old Silas Simmons, who was born in 1895 -- the same year as Babe Ruth and opera singer Rudolph Valentino. Simmons played the outfield in what was the equivalent of the black major leagues between 1912 and 1929. Simmons worked as an assistant manager in Plainfield at the old Rosenbaum's Department Store, according to the story. He retired in 1971. He now lives in a nursing home in St. Petersburg, Fla. He'll turn 111 Oct. 14. The story said that Simmons isn't the oldest living American, that distinction belongs to Lizzie Bolden of Memphs who turned 116 in August. The oldest living person who played in the Major Leagus is Rollie Stiles, 99, who pitched for the St. Louis Browns in the early 1930s.

Playoff picture

Most schools will be playing their fourth football games of the season this weekend -- halfway to eight and the cutoff number for the state football playoffs. This weekend includes a couple of games that will go a long way in determining where our schools will sit for the next few weeks. Central Jersey Group II and North Jersey, Section 2, Group IV are very intriguing to us because of all the local activity. Tonight, Rahway (3-0), currently the second seed in Central Jersey Group II plays at North Plainfield (3-0), currently the third seed in the section. Somerville (2-1) is 12th right now, but could move up a long way with a win against Group III Voorhees tonight. Governor Livingston is 14th and plays at Bishop Ahr in Edison. North Jersey, Section 2, Group IV is headed by the two schools who've played each other for the sectional title the last two years -- Phillipsburg and Piscataway. Phillipsburg, the top seed and defending champ, is 3-0 and currently the top seed. Piscataway, beaten by the Stateliners last year for the title, is No. 2 and also at 3-0. Piscataway beat Phillipsburg two years ago for the title. Piscataway will play at East Brunswick tonight and Phillipsburg plays host to winless Bridgewater-Raritan (0-3). Watchung Hills (2-1) is fifth in the section with Westfield (2-1) at six and North Hunterdon (1-1) at seventh. Union is eight followed by Franklin (1-2), which seriously needs a win at Immaculata tonight. Immaculata, by the way, is atop the state Parochial Group III field with a 3-0 record. South Plainfield (2-1), Scotch Plains-Fanwood (2-1) and Voorhees (2-0) are listed at five, six and eight respectively in North 2, Group III. Bound Brook (3-0), Manville (3-0) and Middlesex (2-0) are two, four and seven respectively in Central Jersey Group I. Brearley (3-0) and New Providence (1-1) meet Saturday afternoon in New Providence in a game the Pioneers need to move up in the North 2, Group I field. Brearley was beaten by Florence in the CJ Group I final last year at Rutgers. Brearley (2-0) is currently seventh and New Providence is 10th. New Providence was beaten by Verona in the North 2, Group I final last year.

blowout rule

Sports Illustrated had a brief story this week on how the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Association upheld an appeal by Bridgeport Central coach Dave Cadelina to not serve a one-game suspension for beating Bassick High 56-0. The state associaton calls for a one-game suspension for coaches who win by 50 points. Cadelina was quoted in the magazine as saying "I was nervous they might make an example out of me." Part of the appeal's success was the testimony of Bassick coach George Loughery. Cadelina said he pulled his starters in the first half; the clock ran continuously after Central took a 35-0 first-quarter lead; in the second half Central only ran between the tackles. Bassick came into the game with a 46-game losing streak. In 76 games so far in the Courier News area -- through the weekend of Sept. 24 -- the biggest margin in the area was Mountain Lakes' 53-0 win over Pingry. Does New Jersey need a 50-plus rule? What do you think?

South Plainfield

The South Plainfield-North Brunswick football game we had listed scheduled for Thursday night is actually tonight (Friday 9-22-06) at 7 p.m. at South Plainfield.

Manville resurgence

We have gotten caught up in how Manville has gotten off to a 2-0 start. It's a very good story. This group of players have been together for quite some time, playing through the Manville Youth Athletic League Pop Warner teams.
The Mustangs beat Newark Central 26-0 and Jonathan Dayton of Springfield 45-7 to open the year. Manville will go 3-0 for the first time since 1968 if it can beat St. Joseph of the Palisades Friday night at Panfile Field. Manville is hoping to record its first winning season since 1991 when it went 5-4. Current Manville coach Brett Stibitz was a junior that season. He scored five touchdowns. The star of the team was Jackie Leonard, the quarterback, who threw for 13 touchdowns, ran for five more, returned two punts for score and went 78 yards to score on a kickoff return.
Mustangs' assistant coach Chris Cebula, who went on to play at Rutgers, was also on that team. Manville opened with wins against Bound Brook and the now-defunct McCorkle School, then lost three straight before beating New Providence 22-20. They beat Middlesex 29-21 Thanksgiving Day that year to clinch a winning season.
The Mustangs could qualify for the Central Jersey Group I playoffs for the first time. The game with St. Joseph will be very critical since the Blue Jays are 1-1, the win coming against Newark Academy. Manville would pick up a point from that victory if it wins.
There are 19 schools in the Central Jersey Group I power point race. Bound Brook (2-0) is currently No. 1 with nine points; Manville is second with 6. Bound Brook is trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1978, the only time it has ever qualified.

League news

There has been some talk out there about Immaculata playing Phillipsburg and Hillsborough in football in 2007. But I spoke to Skyland Conference president Carl Weigner Tuesday and he said that won't be happening soon. The league is at the start of a two-year cycle. In regards to Immaculata's schedule, the Spartans' non-divisional game is precious -- its opener with Somerville. Immaculata's other non-divisional games are with Bridgewater-Raritan, Franklin and Hunterdon Central, all of whom play in the Skyland Conference Delaware East Division. Immaculata plays in the Delaware West.

Somerville Immaculata game

The Immaculata-Somerville football game gave us a wild ride last Friday night. More than 4,500 turned out at Brooks Field in Somerville to see Immaculata pull out a 21-14 victory, its second in the re-born series. And we almost had an overtime game. Senior Mason Robinson returned a kickoff 96 yards for an apparent touchdown before it was wiped out because of a holding call. Immaculata had just taken the lead on A.J. Albert's 4-yard run. Robinson, headed to play at a Division I school, nearly carried Somerville back into the game. Afterwards, I found Robinson to be very pragmatic about the game and its result. He was very calm when describing his feelings about penalty. It was a real lesson for everybody to take from a teenager, who understood how the game works. It was too bad that Immaculata sophomore Theo Riddick had to leave the game with what was reported as a concussion. He had 73 yards on eight carries in the first quarter before leaving while tackling Robinson on the Somerville side of the field. His status is game-to-game.

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Covering high school sports has been a passion for 26 years